What is the true meaning of the letter "أو" (or) in His (Allah's) saying: "And We sent him to a hundred thousand or more" (Quran 37:147), and does that mean Allah is unaware of the true number?

"Aw" (or) is one of the particles of meaning (harf min huruf al-ma'ani) that can have more than one meaning, such as choice, doubt, ambiguity, permissibility, division, and a shift in discourse. It can also come to mean "wa" (and) or "la" (no).

Scholars have differed on the meaning of "aw" in the verse: ﴿وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ﴾ (And We sent him to a hundred thousand, or even more). However, they agreed that it does not signify doubt. Some said it means "wa" (and), others said it means "bal" (rather), while others said it indicates ambiguity for the مخاطب (addressee). Some also held that it means the number does not fall outside one of these two possibilities: either a hundred thousand or more than that.

In conclusion, "aw" in the words of Allah does not indicate doubt, because doubt is not applicable to the news from the Knower of the Unseen. Furthermore, this meaning is not inherent to it in all its occurrences.