Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 106

(Ayah 107,106) ➊ The meaning of abrogation is to annul a previous command with a later command, just as initially Bayt al-Maqdis was appointed as the qiblah, then the command was given to face the Ka'bah, and just as in our Shari'ah, many commands of the previous Shari'ahs were abrogated. The Jews denied abrogation, which is why they rejected 'Isa (peace be upon him), saying why did he abrogate some commands of the Torah. They also objected to the Qur'an, saying that if the first command was from Allah and was correct, then why was it abrogated? Allah gave several answers to this; the detail of the first answer is that the first command is, in reality, only for a set period, and abrogation is the announcement of the end of that period. Until then, the first command was full of wisdom, and later, when there was a need for another command similar or better, it was implemented. This is observed at all times in the universe. From a drop of fluid to a clot, then a lump, then bones, then a fetus, then childhood, youth, old age, death, and resurrection—all are forms of abrogation. The changing seasons, such as winter, then spring, then summer, then monsoon, and likewise the cycle of day and night, are examples of this. A doctor prescribing one prescription for a patient, then prescribing another for a new situation, is also an example; this does not mean the first prescription was wrong. Another answer given to this objection is that if Allah could not abrogate His command, He would be rendered powerless, so it is said: "Do you not know that surely Allah is fully capable of everything." Further, it is said: "Do you not know that the dominion of the heavens and the earth belongs only to Allah." What kind of king would He be if He could not enforce a new command in place of the previous one?

➋ The Qur'an can be abrogated by the Qur'an and by the Sunnah, and likewise, the Sunnah can be abrogated by the Sunnah and by the Qur'an, because both are divine revelation, and divine revelation can be abrogated by divine revelation.
Example of abrogation of Qur'an by Qur'an: In Surah al-Nisa (15), Allah prescribed the punishment for women who commit adultery that they should be confined to their houses until death takes them or Allah makes a way for them, then at the beginning of Surah al-Nur, the command was given to flog the adulterer and the adulteress one hundred lashes each. See also Surah al-Anfal (65, 66) and al-Mujadilah (12, 13).
Example of abrogation of Sunnah by Qur'an: For example, in the beginning, after sleeping following Maghrib during fasting, eating, drinking, and approaching one's wife was forbidden, then Allah said: «{ فَالْئٰنَ بَاشِرُوْهُنَّ وَ ابْتَغُوْا مَا كَتَبَ اللّٰهُ لَكُمْ وَ كُلُوْا وَ اشْرَبُوْا …}» [ البقرہ : ۱۸۷ ] The change of qiblah is also an example of abrogation of Sunnah by Qur'an.
Example of abrogation of Sunnah by Sunnah: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْ زِيَارَةِ الْقُبُوْرِ فَزُوْرُوْهَا وَ نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْ لُحُوْمِ الْأَضَاحِيِّ فَوْقَ ثَلاَثٍ، فَأَمْسِكُوْا مَا بَدَا لَكُمْ ] "I had forbidden you from visiting graves, so now visit them, and I had forbidden you from storing the meat of sacrificial animals for more than three nights, so now keep it as long as you wish." [ مسلم، الأضاحی، باب بیان ما کان من النہی … : ۹۷۷، قبل ح: 1976، عن بریدۃ رضی اللہ عنہ ]
Example of abrogation of Qur'an by authentic Sunnah, even if it is not mutawatir: As in Surah al-Nisa, Allah mentioned those women whom it is forbidden to marry, including the prohibition of combining two sisters in one marriage, then He said: «{ وَ اُحِلَّ لَكُمْ مَّا وَرَآءَ ذٰلِكُمْ }» [ النساء : ۲۴ ] "Other than these, all women are lawful for you." According to this verse, it is permissible to combine a maternal aunt and her niece, or a paternal aunt and her niece in one marriage, but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade this, so it became forbidden, and the Ummah is agreed upon this.
Note! In reality, this is an example of an additional ruling to the Book of Allah by the Sunnah; some people call an addition to the Book of Allah abrogation, so according to their statement, this is an example of abrogation, otherwise Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih al-Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said that he did not find any satisfactory example of abrogation of the Qur'an by the Sunnah.

➌ Abrogation occurs in commands, not in reports, otherwise every liar, when his prediction or any report of a past or present event turns out to be false, would say it was abrogated, as is the case with the followers of Mirza Qadiani.

➍ Some verses and commands which were not intended to be preserved, Allah caused to be forgotten, as He said: «{ سَنُقْرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنْسٰۤى(6) اِلَّا مَا شَآءَ اللّٰهُ }» [ الأعلٰی : ۶، ۷ ] "We will surely make you recite, so you will not forget, except what Allah wills."

17. 1. The literal meaning of "naskh" is to abrogate, but in the technical Islamic sense, it means to replace one ruling with another ruling. This abrogation is from Allah Almighty, such as in the time of Adam (علیہ السلام), marriage between real brothers and sisters was permissible, but later it was made forbidden, etc. Similarly, in the Quran as well, Allah Almighty abrogated some rulings and revealed new rulings in their place. The Jews considered the Torah to be un-abrogable and objected to the Quran as well due to the abrogation of some rulings. Allah Almighty refuted them, saying that the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth is in His hand; He does whatever He deems appropriate, enacts whatever ruling is in accordance with His wisdom and expediency at any time, and abrogates whatever He wills. This is a manifestation of His power. Some ancient deviants (such as Abu Muslim Isfahani Mu'tazili) and some modern reformists today have also denied the concept of abrogation in the Quran, just like the Jews. But the correct view is the one mentioned in the above lines; the belief of the righteous predecessors was also affirmation of abrogation.

Whenever We abrogate [125] a verse or cause it to be forgotten, We bring forth one better than it or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah is capable of all things?

[125]
The Discussion of Abrogation:

Among the various ways the Jews played a role in turning people away from Islam was this: to cast doubt upon the Quran. They would say to people that if the Quran is also revealed from Allah, and the Torah is certainly revealed from Allah, then why is there a difference between the rulings of the Quran and the Torah? The second aspect of this objection was that a ruling is revealed in the Quran, and then another ruling replaces it—did Allah not know what He had commanded before and what He is commanding now? Allah Almighty answered such objections of the Jews in this verse and said that the fault lies neither in the previous ruling nor in the later one. The type of rulings needed according to circumstances and occasions are given accordingly, and you should know that Allah is the Sovereign; He can command as He wills. He can abrogate previous rulings and give new ones. From this verse, it is understood that changes in Allah’s verses have occurred in the Quran in two ways: one through abrogation, the other through causing to be forgotten. Here, we will explain both types in detail:

The early scholars took the concept of abrogation in a very broad sense. They even considered gradualism in rulings as abrogation, and thus counted the number of abrogated verses up to five hundred, whereas applying abrogation to gradualism in rulings is not correct. Abrogation means the removal of a ruling; in this sense, Shah Waliullah (may Allah have mercy on him) counted only five abrogated verses, examples of which are as follows.

Examples of Abrogation from the Quran:

1. Allah Almighty said in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 181, that ﴿كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ اِذَا حَضَرَ.. .. .. بالْمَعْرُوْفِ﴾. According to this verse, it was obligatory for a dying person to make a will in favor of parents and close relatives before death. Then, when in Surah An-Nisa, verses 11 and 12, Allah Himself fixed the shares of inheritance for parents and relatives, the ruling of this verse was abrogated, and making a will was no longer obligatory for the deceased. Now, he can only make a will in favor of non-heirs, and that too up to a maximum of one-third of the wealth, and this will is not obligatory but optional and recommended.

2. Allah Almighty prescribed in Surah An-Nisa, verse 15, that the punishment for a fornicating woman is that she should be confined to her house for the rest of her life. Along with this, it was also mentioned that perhaps Allah will prescribe a new punishment for them. Then, when Surah An-Nur was revealed, in which it is mentioned that the fornicating man and woman should be flogged one hundred lashes each, the previous punishment was removed by this ruling, i.e., it was abrogated.

3. According to Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 240, it was obligatory for the heirs of the deceased to not expel his widow from the house for a year and to bear her expenses. Later, when the waiting period (iddah) for the widow was fixed at four months and ten days, and according to the verse of inheritance, the wife’s share in the husband’s estate was also fixed, the ruling of this verse was abrogated. Now, the ruling for the widow is that she should spend the days of iddah at her deceased husband’s house. After that, she is free, and during this period, her maintenance is also the responsibility of the heirs and from the estate, and the issue of a year’s maintenance is resolved by her share in the inheritance.

The above examples are such in which the ruling of the previous verse is completely abrogated. Now we will mention some examples in which both types of rulings continue side by side according to the demands of circumstances, for example:

1. In Surah Al-Anfal (which was revealed immediately after the Battle of Badr), verse 65, Allah Almighty set the standard of faith-based courage for Muslims, saying that one Muslim should prevail over ten disbelievers. This ruling was for those Muslims who were firm in knowledge and practice, had endured all kinds of hardships, and had complete trust in Allah Almighty. Later, for those Muslims who embraced Islam and had not yet been fully trained, Allah greatly reduced the standard in the next verse, saying that even among them, one Muslim should at least prevail over two disbelievers. Now, the later ruling did not abrogate the first; rather, whenever a movement of jihad begins in any region, both types of rulings will apply according to the circumstances.

2. In Surah Muhammad, verse 4, Allah Almighty said that after the battle, prisoners of war may be released either by taking ransom or as a favor. From this verse, it appears that Allah forbade making prisoners of war into slaves. On the other hand, according to Surah Al-Ahzab, verse 50, not only ordinary Muslims but even the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was permitted to make prisoners of war into male and female slaves and to benefit from them, and neither of these types of rulings abrogates the other. Rather, according to the demands of circumstances, one or the other will be implemented, and there are many more such examples in the Quran.

The second form of change in the verses, Allah Almighty has stated, is that We cause that verse or phrase to be forgotten. As stated in Surah Al-A'la: ﴿سَنُقْرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنسَىٰ إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهُ﴾ [87: 6، 7] meaning, We will make you recite, and you will not forget except what Allah wills. And the way this forgetting occurred was that every year in Ramadan, the Prophet ﷺ would review the revealed Quran with Jibreel ؑ, and during this, whatever words or phrases Allah intended to abrogate, the Prophet ﷺ would forget them, and Jibreel ؑ would not repeat them. Some examples of such abrogation are as follows:

1. Allah Almighty said in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 26, that “Allah is not ashamed to set forth the example of a mosquito or something even more insignificant.” From this, it is understood that Allah had revealed a verse in which the example of a mosquito was given, which the disbelievers mocked, and since the verse about the mosquito is not present in the Quran, it can only be said that it was caused to be forgotten.

2. In Surah An-Nisa, verse 24, after the verse ﴿فَمَا اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِهٖ مِنْهُنَّ﴾, the words ﴿اِليٰ اَجَلٍٍ مُسَمًّي﴾ were also revealed, according to which temporary marriage (mut‘ah) was permissible for the warriors during battle. But when its permanent prohibition was established, these final words were also caused to be forgotten by Allah and could not be included in the Quran.

3. The verse of stoning (rajm) is also of this kind, about which Umar ؓ said in a sermon during the last part of his life: “There was also a verse about the ruling of stoning in the Book of Allah, which we read, memorized, and acted upon. Stoning was carried out during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and we also carried it out. I fear that after some time, someone may say that we do not find the ruling of stoning in the Book of Allah. It should not happen that they abandon this obligation which Allah revealed in His Book and die neglecting it. The ruling of stoning in the Book of Allah is absolute truth for whoever commits adultery and is married, whether man or woman, provided there is legal evidence or pregnancy.” [بخاري، كتاب المحاربين۔ باب رجم الحبليٰ]

The Denial of Abrogation by the Mu'tazilah:

As for the question that if this verse was abrogated or caused to be forgotten, how did its ruling remain? For details, see under Surah An-Nur, verse 2. Here, the point is only that, according to Allah’s wisdom, some verses, phrases, or words from the divinely revealed revelation were caused to be forgotten, and some rulings were also abrogated. Since there is also a sect among Muslims that does not accept any kind of abrogation in the Quran, it was considered necessary to present these examples, and we have sufficed with them, although there are more such examples in the Quran.

The Ways the Jews Turned People Away from Islam:

In some narrations, it is mentioned that some Companions ؓ used to say that we used to recite such-and-such verse, which was later abrogated. The reality of these narrations is only this: sometimes the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in explaining a verse, would say a phrase, but the Companions ؓ thought it was part of the verse itself. Then, when such phrases were compared with those parts of the Quran that the Prophet ﷺ had dictated, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) realized that those phrases were not part of the Quranic verse, and there are many such examples in the hadith.