The suspicion of abrogation and abrogated

 

Copying in the language:


is removal and erasure. It is said: the sun copied the shadow, meaning it removed and erased it, and replaced it with light.

Then this meaning developed so that copying came to be used for writing, whether it was a copy from a written document, or the writer started it without copying.



The copyists or papermakers were a group of professional writers who used to copy the books of scholars (they would transfer what was written in them to new papers in several copies, like printing books now). As for copying in Islamic law, it has several definitions or controls, which can be expressed in the following phrase:

“Abrogation is the cessation of the implementation of a ruling that was indicated by a previous legal text from the Qur’an or the Sunnah, and the replacement of another ruling in its place that was indicated by another later legal text from the Qur’an or the Sunnah, for a wisdom intended by the Shari’ah, while the implementation of the ruling of the previous text is valid, before the arrival of the later text (1). Abrogation is found in small quantities in the Noble Qur’an, such as the abrogation of the imprisonment of adulteresses in their homes until death, and the replacement of the ruling of one hundred lashes, and stoning until death in place of that imprisonment (2).

Suspicion of rose:

Abrogation and its occurrence in the Qur’an, on the grounds that the Qur’an is not a revelation from God. Here we mention a statement of theirs in which they portrayed this doubt:
“The Qur’an alone, without all other religious books, is distinguished by the presence of abrogating and abrogated in it, although the true word of God does not permit abrogating and abrogated; because the abrogating and abrogated in the word of God is against His wisdom, truthfulness and knowledge. The short-sighted person is the one who sets laws and changes and alters them according to what appears to him of conditions and circumstances.
But God knows everything before it happens. So how can it be said that God changes, alters, abrogates and removes His word?
God is not a human being that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent?!


* The response to this doubt:

We do not deny that there is abrogation in the Qur’an. Abrogation is found in the Qur’an among a few verses. Some Muslim scholars limit it to less than the fingers of one hand, while some of them categorically deny the occurrence of abrogation in the Qur’an (3).


As for the majority of jurists and scholars of the principles of jurisprudence, they acknowledge it without hesitation, and they have devoted extensive chapters to abrogation in their works on the principles of jurisprudence. Few of them, ancients and moderns, have not mentioned it. What we also deny is that the existence of abrogation in the Qur’an is a defect or a blemish on it being a book revealed from God. That is the assumption of those who disbelieve, so woe to those who disbelieve from the Fire.

The abrogating and abrogated in the Qur’an was one of the educational and legislative features during the period of the revelation of the Qur’an, which continued to educate the nation and move it from one stage to another, according to the will of God, the All-Wise, who knows the corrupter from the reformer, and He is the Almighty, the All-Wise.


As for what you mentioned of the verses of the Qur’an, mocking the principle of abrogation and abrogated in it, come and listen to the verses that you mentioned in the tables of abrogated and abrogating, and they are of two types:

One of them actually contains abrogation (abrogated and abrogating).

The second one does not contain abrogation or abrogated, and we excuse you for this “confusion” because you have taken a path that you do not know how to take.

Section One: What contains abrogation:

Among the verses that contain abrogation, and they mentioned them in the table of abrogating and abrogated verses are the following two verses: ( And those of your women who commit lewdness, bring against them four witnesses from among you. And if they testify, confine them to houses until death takes them or Allah ordains for them a way (for them )) (4). Then the Almighty said: ( The adulterer and the adulteress, flog each of them with a hundred lashes. And let not pity for them detain you in the matter of Allah’s religion ...) (5).
These two verses contain actual abrogation, and the abrogated is the ruling of confining adulteresses to their homes until they die, or Allah ordains another ruling for them.

This was in the early days of Islam. So this ruling is the ruling of confining adulteresses to their homes. When Allah the Almighty legislated it, He hinted in the verse itself that it is a temporary ruling, with a specific time in Allah’s knowledge from eternity. The evidence that this ruling was temporary in Allah’s knowledge, and that another ruling will replace it at the time that Allah has decreed, is His statement: ( Or Allah will make for them a way ). This is the ruling that has been abrogated now, even though the verse that included it remains in the Qur’an to be recited until the Day of Judgment.

As for the abrogating verse, it is the statement of Allah the Almighty in Surat An-Nur in the verse that preceded it, in which Allah explained that the ruling for the adulterer and adulteress is one hundred lashes. This ruling does not apply to all adulterers, but rather to the adulterer and adulteress who are not married. As for the married couple, who are those who have been previously married, the Sunnah has explained verbally and practically that their ruling is stoning to death.

There is nothing strange in this, as the development of legislative rulings, the suspension of a previous ruling, and the replacement of another later ruling in its place are among the requirements of the educational approach in Islam. There is no dispute that the ruling of flogging for the unmarried, and stoning for the married adulterers, is more decisive in the matter and more effective in eliminating the source of corruption.
This does not mean that when God sent down the punishment of imprisonment for adulteresses, He did not know that He would send down another punishment to replace it, which is flogging and stoning, God forbid.


Abrogation in general is something that suits God’s wisdom and good management . As for it being an infringement on God’s perfection, this can only be imagined by those with sick minds or those who are stubborn against the clear truth that God sent down. This abrogation was practiced in the laws that preceded the law of Islam.

One of the most conclusive proofs of this is what God related about Jesus, peace be upon him, in his saying to the Children of Israel: “And to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you ” (6).

In the Gospels of the Christians there is a group of rulings that they mentioned, in which there is abrogation of rulings that were practiced in the Old Testament.

Those who raise these doubts against the Qur’an are well aware of the occurrence of abrogation between some matters of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Despite this, they insistently claim that the Torah and the Gospels are now completely identical (7).

The following two verses also fall under this category:
“ O Prophet, urge the believers to fight. If there are twenty among you, patient, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are a hundred among you, they will overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve because they are a people who do not understand .” (8) And the Almighty’s saying: “ Now Allah has lightened your burden, and He knows that there is weakness in you. So if there are a hundred among you, patient, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are a thousand among you, they will overcome two thousand by permission of Allah. And Allah is with the patient. ” (9)

Both verses contain clear abrogation. The first verse requires the believers to confront their enemy in a ratio of (1:10), and the second verse requires the believers to confront the enemy in a ratio of (1:2).This legislative development has shown the legislative wisdom in it, which is to lighten the burdens of combat on the group of believers. So what do the opponents of Islam see as a defect in it?

If these envious people were sincere seekers of truth, they would have been guided to it by the shortest path, because God Almighty did not leave room for doubt that a doubter might have in these two verses. But they are looking for “flaws” in a religion that God has perfected and completed His blessings in it, then He chose it for the people as a religion.

God Almighty said about their examples: ( And if We had sent down to you a book on paper and they had touched it with their hands, those who disbelieved would have said, “This is not but obvious magic ”) (10).

Also from this category are the following two verses: ( And those of you who die and leave wives behind them, they shall bequeath to their wives a year’s maintenance, without turning them out… ) (11). And the Almighty’s saying : And those of you who die and leave wives behind them, they shall wait concerning themselves four months and ten days…) (12).

Yes, these two verses contain abrogation; Because their subject is one, which is the waiting period of a woman whose husband has died.

The first verse: specified the waiting period as one full year.
The second verse: specified the waiting period as four months and ten nights.

The abrogated verse in terms of ruling, not recitation, is the first verse, even though its order in the surah is after the second verse.

The abrogating verse is the second verse, which specified the waiting period of a woman whose husband has died as four months and ten nights, even though its order in the surah is before the verse whose ruling was abrogated.


The wisdom of the legislation in this abrogation is clear, which is to make things easier , as the abrogating verse excluded from the waiting period stipulated in the verse whose ruling was abrogated eight months approximately. It is known that moving from the more severe to the less severe is more likely to lead to compliance with the command and obedience to what is ruled. It also shows the mercy of Allah Almighty to His servants. This is a great educational goal for those with understanding.



The second section:
As for the second section, they mentioned verses in it that there is abrogation in them, but there is no abrogation in them. Rather, they were woodcutters at night, not distinguishing between wood and snakes, and that is foolish enough. Here we present two examples of what they considered to be abrogation, but they are far from being abrogated.


The first example:
( There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the right course has become distinct from error ) (13). ( Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden and do not adopt the religion of truth from among those who were given the Scripture - until they pay the jizyah with willing submission ) (14).

They claimed that there is abrogation between these two verses, one of the verses forbids compulsion in religion, and the other commands fighting and compulsion in religion, and this is a grave error, because the Almighty’s saying ( There is no compulsion in religion ) is a permanent practice until the Day of Resurrection. The second verse did not and will not abrogate this great Islamic principle; because the subject of this verse “ Fight ” is not the subject of the first verse: ( There is no compulsion in religion ).

Because the Almighty’s saying: ( Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day) It has a special reason for revelation. The Jews had broken the treaties that the Muslims had made with them. They conspired with the enemies of the Muslims to eliminate the Islamic state in Medina, and their presence there became a threat to its security and stability. So Allah commanded the Muslims to fight them until they ceased their harm by submitting to the authority of the state and paying the jizya without being arrogant.

Yes, this verse did not command fighting the Jews to convert them to Islam. If that were the case, Allah would not have made paying them the jizya a reason to stop fighting them, and the command to fight them would have continued whether they paid the jizya or not, until they converted to Islam or were killed. This is not intended and it has not been proven in the history of Islam that non-Muslims were fought to force them to convert to Islam.

Those who raise these doubts know very well that Islam approved of the Jews after the migration to Medina in their beliefs, and guaranteed them the freedom to practice their rituals. When they broke the treaties and showed their evil intentions, the Muslims fought them and expelled them from Medina. They also know that the Prophet (peace be upon him) concluded a peaceful peace treaty with the Christians of Taghlib and Najran, who were living in the Arabian Peninsula, then approved their Christian beliefs and guaranteed their social and religious freedoms. He did the same with some Christians of the Levant. All of these events declare the tolerance of Islam, its broad-mindedness, and that it did not oppress those who opposed it in religion and belief.

How could these opponents allow themselves to slander Islam with something that it is innocent of?

It is hatred and envy. And nothing else, except stubbornness.



The second example:
( They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, “In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit. ”) (15). ( Indeed, wine, gambling, idolatry, and divining arrows are an abomination from the work of Satan, so avoid them. ) (16). There is no abrogation or abrogated in the two verses. Rather, in the second verse there is confirmation of what is in the first verse, as it says in the first verse: “ In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit. ”) (17). Greater than their benefit " Then the second verse confirmed this meaning: ( An abomination from the work of Satan, so avoid it )
. So where is the abrogation then?

As for the benefits in wine and gambling, they are: the prices of selling wine, the returns from trading in it, and the possession of money in gambling. These are evil benefits that the Shariah did not approve of from the beginning, but it was a little lenient with them because of the value they had in human life before Islam. Then the Qur’an took wise steps towards prohibiting them before it prohibited them decisively, so as not to harm people’s interests.

After it gradually diminished their role in people’s economic lives and closed the outlets for their spread, and alerted people that the final decision to prohibit them was coming inevitably, and they began to turn to other economic activities, the verse of final prohibition came in this Surah Al-Ma’idah: ( An abomination from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may succeed ). This is the reality of abrogation and its legislative wisdom, and its educational value. Despite this, it is rare in the Qur’an.

Allah blots out what He wills and confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book. Erasure,


as we know, means removal, and confirmation means that the Truth keeps what He sees as fixed.

Some people have understood - wrongly - that every ruling in the Qur’an came to be fixed and will remain so forever; but when applied, it became clear that some rulings required changing, that Allah changed them for a wisdom that is good for humanity.

We say: No, that did not happen, but there were temporary rulings; and they had a specific duration, and that is why the Almighty said:

(And with Him is the Mother of the Book) [13:39

], meaning: with Him is the Preserved Tablet in which the rulings that have a specific duration were specified; and as soon as they end, another ruling is revealed in its place. Based on this meaning, we can say: There was no abrogation of the rulings, because the meaning of abrogation is to remove a ruling from its time, and here we did not find a ruling that was removed from its time; because every ruling is timed to a specific time; As soon as the time ends, a new ruling begins.

I say this to alert some to the necessity of sitting together to study this, so that some do not differ in saying: Is there abrogation or not? I say: Let us first define abrogation, because some think that there was a ruling that should have applied to all times, then another ruling came to replace it for a wisdom required by the interest of humanity and what God intended from it.

There is no ruling that ended a ruling and the time of its end occurred to it; rather, all rulings were predestined from eternity; and accordingly, there is no abrogation of any ruling, but there are rulings whose time that God had predestined for them ends; and a ruling comes to me that was predestined from eternity so that people can continue to take it; and as long as this is the case, there is no abrogation.

Let us look at the words of Allah, the Almighty:
“
Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We


bring forth [one] better than it or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things?” It is clear from the wording and meaning of the verse that when a ruling is abrogated, Allah brings forth something similar or better than it.

So: there is no abrogation, rather there are rulings that perform their function at one time, then a time comes when a ruling is needed that is better than it or similar to it in ruling, but one that is in accordance with the public interest and the will of Allah .

And someone may say: as long as it brings forth something better than the abrogated or forgotten verse, then that is better, but why bring forth something similar?

I say: because if something better than it comes to you, you may accept it, but when we move on to something similar to what the verse brought; this is the test of faith.

The example is the direction of prayer towards Jerusalem at the beginning of the call, then the command to change the Qiblah to the Kaaba; there is no difficulty in that.

But here the commitment of faith to the assignment is tested, and here is the obedience to the command that Allah sends down, which is a ruling that was predestined from eternity; and in this is a test of the certainty of faith in the management of the direction of the one who directs this journey.

Likewise in the Hajj, the Messenger, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, comes to kiss the Black Stone; then he throws stones at the stone that symbolizes Satan, and we do that following the example of the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and both are stones, but we comply with the command of the Messenger, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, all of this in response to the command of the commander.

And when the Truth, the Almighty, says:
{
Allah blots out what He wills and confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book}


, He means that He, the Almighty, ends the time of the previous ruling, the time of which ends in the Mother of the Book, i.e. the Preserved Tablet; then the new ruling comes.

An example is the ruling on alcohol. God Almighty first dealt with it in a manner consistent with the capacity of society. The first requirement was to establish the creed. Then the rulings came after that.

There is a difference between the creed - which is the origin - and the rulings, which carry the style of contractual commitment. The ruling on the matter of the creed was binding and continuous.

As for the rulings, such as the ruling on alcohol, its prohibition was gradually made in a manner consistent with people’s familiarity and habit. God Almighty reduced the time spent in the company of alcohol, then came the prohibition and the command to avoid it and not to get close to it.

The example is in our lives; where we find someone who wants to abstain from smoking, the time gap between one cigarette and another is widened, until he gently reduces it and eliminates it from his life completely.

We find the Qur’an saying about wine:
“
And from the fruits of the palm trees and grapevines you take intoxicant and good provision. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who reason

.” Here God is blessing them with what He has provided them with; however, people of taste pay attention to the fact that He did not describe wine as being among the good provisions; rather, He described dates and grapes as being good provisions because a person consumes them without spoiling them.

Thus, people of taste notice that wine may have a ruling later on, then God Almighty sends down a sermon that says:
Al-Baqarah 219
They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, “In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit.” And they ask you, “What they should spend.” Say, “The excess.” Thus does God make clear to you His signs that you may give thought.

Thus God Almighty clarified the tendency of wine and gambling toward sin more than their tendency toward benefit. Then after that came His saying with a preliminary ruling:
An-Nisa’ 43
O you who have believed! Do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated until you know what you are saying.

This means that there should be intervals between drinking alcohol, so that one should not drink alcohol throughout the day and part of the night. This is training to stay away from alcohol.

Then comes the complete prohibition in the words of Allah the Almighty:
Al-Ma'idah 90
: O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.

Thus, the ruling to prohibit alcohol took its gradual approach appropriate to people's customs, and alcohol was prohibited gradually and in stages.

Thus, we understand abrogation as the end of the previous ruling in time and the beginning of the new ruling. Thus, it means that the first ruling was not extended to all time, then We removed it and brought another ruling; but the cessation of the first ruling - eternally - has ended; and the new ruling has begun.

Thus, there is no room for disagreement on the meaning of abrogation, because God Almighty referred erasure and confirmation to the Mother of the Book; in it the time and timing of each ruling are determined; and the time of the coming of the ruling following it.

As long as every matter is decreed eternally; then those who say that the beginning is forbidden to God should pay attention to the fact that this erasure and confirmation is not a beginning; because beginning means that you do something, then its corruption becomes apparent to you, so you change it.

God Almighty did not see the corruption of the rulings or verses that He revealed; rather, He decreed everything eternally in the Mother of the Book, and He made for every ruling a time, a birth, and an end.

It is correct to expand the meaning of the words of the Truth, the Most High:
“
Allah blots out what He wills and confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book”


to include the abrogation of one message by another message; so He erased one thing and confirmed another

. For example: God, the Most High, commanded our master Adam, peace be upon him, to marry his brother to his sister, and this command was for the purpose of increasing humanity; but after a certain period of time, God, the Most High, erased this ruling and replaced it with another ruling; and now it is not permissible for a Jew, Christian, or Muslim to marry his sister.

Everything that changes for the good can be erased or confirmed, and it is from the Watcher, the Ever-Prepared:
Q18
Not a word does he utter except that by him is an observer, ever-present

. That is, He is able to command the Watcher and the Ever-Prepared to confirm the obligatory and forbidden things, and to leave the permissible things. He is able to erase whatever sins He wills, and to confirm whatever repentance He wills.

And God knows best. May

God accept from us and from you righteous deeds .

 {Allah blots out what He wills and confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book} (39) Surat Ar-Ra`d

{And when We substitute one verse for another - and Allah is most knowing of what He sends down - they say, "You are only an inventor." Rather, most of them do not know} (101) Surat An-Nahl