(February 7, 2011 at 7:18 am)muhtesem insan Wrote: problem with your analogy is; science teacher is not all-knowing, all-powerful.
My point is that the teacher is showing his mercy to the students by making the task easier for them. He doesn't have to be omniscient to do that, does he?
(February 7, 2011 at 7:31 am)annatar Wrote: No, it says "shall overtake.." You know what that means right? As far as I know "shall" is an old form of "will" and it states a certainity if its used as "will" correct me if I'm wrong..
Anyway I have the turkish translation of the verse and it clearly states that Muslims will/can defeat infidels in such numbers if they are patient and whatever...
The word "shall" could also imply to be "should" in some cases, like the statements in the Ten Commandments ("Thou shall not kill," "Thou shall not steal," "Thou shall not commit adultery," etc). Secondly, you can't always rely on the English translation of the Quran word-for-word because the problem is that sometimes translators will use words which differ from each other. Therefore, you have to either refer to the Arabic one OR refer to the tafseer (interpretation) of the verses to understand them more clearly.
Here's an interpretation of the verses recorded in a hadith from Bukhari:
Quote:Narrated Ibn Abbas: When the verse: - "If there are twenty steadfast amongst you, they will overcome two hundred." (8.65) was revealed, it became obligatory for the Muslims that one (Muslim) should not flee from ten (non-Muslims). Sufyan (the sub-narrator) once said, "Twenty (Muslims) should not flee before two hundred (non Muslims)." Then there was revealed: "But now Allah has lightened your task .." (8:66). - Volume 6, Book 60, Number 175
This context of the two verses matches with another verse in the same chapter, which says, "O you who believe! When you meet those who disbelieve, in a battle-field, never turn your backs to them" (Surah 8:15). So, later the Quran specifies the minimum number to this rule by saying that 1 Muslim should not turn away 2 two non-Muslims because Allah has lightened the task for them (as implied in verse 66).
(February 7, 2011 at 7:31 am)annatar Wrote: Anyway, my points stand. Didn't god knew that that kind of ratio would be heavy for them?
Allah does know that it would be too heavy for them. He purposely made it difficult at first, so that later, He could reduce the number as a way of displaying His mercy toward the Muslims. That is essentially why He "lightened their burden," which is, to manifest His mercy to them only after giving them a difficult challenge. This is similar to how Allah reduced the number of daily prayers from 50 prayers to 5 prayers when Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) asked Allah to reduce the number because he knows that performing 50 prayers a day would be too much of a difficult thing for his followers. Then, Allah showed His mercy by reducing it to 5 prayers only and thus He made the task lighter for the Muslims.
