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Naskh (نسخ) is an Arabic word usually translated as "abrogation". In tafsir, or Islamic legal exegesis, naskh recognizes that one rule might not always be suitable for every situation. In the widely recognized^[1] and "classic" form of naskh,^[2][3] one ḥukm "ruling" is abrogated to introduce an exception to the general rule, but the text the ḥukm is based on is not repealed.^[4]

Some examples of Islamic rulings based on naskh include a gradual ban on consumption of alcohol (originally alcohol was not banned, but Muslims were told that the bad outweighed the good in drinking) and a change in the direction of the qibla, the direction that should be faced when praying salat (originally Muslims faced Jerusalem, but this was changed to face the Kaaba in Mecca).^[5]

With few exceptions, Islamic revelations do not state which Quranic verses or hadith have been abrogated, and Muslim exegetes and jurists have disagreed over which and how many hadith and verses of the Quran are recognized as abrogated,^[6][7] with estimates varying from less than ten to over 500.^[8][9]

Other issues of disagreement include whether the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, can be abrogated by the Sunnah, the body of traditional social and legal custom and practice of the Islamic community, or vice versa — a disagreement in Sunni Islam between the Shafiʽi and Hanafi schools of fiqh "jurisprudence";^[10][11][12] and whether verses of the Quran may be abrogated at all, instead of reinterpreted and more narrowly defined — an approach favored by a minority of scholars.^[13]

Several ayat (Quranic verses) state that some revelations have been abrogated and superseded by later revelations, and narrations from Muhammad's companions mention abrogated verses or rulings of the religion. The principle of abrogation of an older verse by a new verse in the Quran, or within the hadiths is an accepted principle of all four Sunni madhāhib, or schools of fiqh, and was an established principle in Sharia by at least the 9th century.^[14][15][16] Starting in the 19th century, modernist and Islamist scholars have argued against the concept of naskh, defending the absolute validity of the Quran.^[17]

An abrogated text or ruling is called mansūkh, and the text or ruling which abrogates it is called nāsikh.^[18]

Definition and etymology

In the Arabic language naskh (Arabic: نسخ) can be defined as abolition, abolishment, abrogation, cancellation, invalidation, copying, transcription, according to the Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic.^[19]

As an Islamic term, there is a lack of agreement among scholars on what exactly al-Naskh is, (according to several sources).

• According to Louay Fatoohi, "the term naskh never appears in the Qur'an in the meaning it acquired in Islamic law". A detailed examination of the two Quranic verses "seen by scholars as providing support to the principle of abrogation", shows that neither actually refers to "the concept of abrogation".^[20]
• Israr Ahmad Khan states that those who have read "the works of Abu Ubayd, al-Nahhas, Makki, Ibn al-Arabi, Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Zarkashi, al-Suyuti, and al-Dehlawi on the issue of abrogation will be confused regarding its definition".^[21]
• John Burton complains that the "greatest imaginable confusion reigns as to the definition of the term naskh", and that "an appalling degree of muddle" surrounds the meaning of verse Q.2:106^[22] — "the Abrogation verse". And that "the constant confusion of 'suppression' with 'supersession'" causes the reader "endless difficulty".^[23]
• Ahmad Ali Al-Imam states "most scholars ... differ on many points", of naskh, "particularly on its meaning, modes, and examples".^{[24][Note 1]}

Disputes over what defines naskh include

• whether the wording of the Quran can be abrogated while the ruling based on it is not (most scholars believe the ruling must be abrogated also),^[22]
• whether a verse in the Qur'an can abrogate a ruling in the Sunnah,^{[citation needed]} and
• whether any Islamic revelation may be abrogated at all, or whether when God talks about replacing revelation (in "the abrogation verses" of the Qur'an: Q.2:106 and Q.16:101, see below) He is referring only to revelation which came before the Quran^{[27][Note 2]}

Another issue was how broadly naskh should be defined, with early Muslim scholars having^{[Note 3]} including things that later scholars did not consider naskh, such as:^[30][31][32]

1. exceptions to earlier verses,^[33][30]
2. particularization of the meaning of a verse^[33][30] (known as taksees, see below), and
3. clarifications of earlier verses.^{[33][30][Note 4]}

Definitions of naskh given by Islamic scholars include:

• "abrogation, revocation, repeal. Theoretical tool used to resolve contradictions in Quranic verses, hadith literature, tafsir (Quranic exegesis), and usul al-fiqh (roots of law), whereby later verses (or reports or decisions) abrogate earlier ones," (Oxford Dictionary of Islam);^[35]
• an exegetical (explaining) theory of the repeal or abolition of a law for divine commands in the Quran and the Hadith, wherein the contradictory verses, within or between these Islamic scriptures, are analyzed (David S. Powers);^[7] Through Naskh, the superseding verse as well as the superseded verse(s) are determined for the purposes of formulating Sharia.^[7][36][37]
• "obliteration, cancellation, transfer, suppression, suspension" depending on the context, (Badshah, Naeem, et al.);^[38][39][40]
• suspension or replacement of one Sharia ruling by another with the conditions that the ruling that suspends/replaces is of a subsequent origin, and that the two rulings are enacted separately from one another, (Recep Dogan);^[5][41][27]
• removal of an Islamic command by a legally valid argument (raf al-hukm al-Shar'i bi dalil shar'i) (Al-Zurqani).^{[21][Note 5]}

Scriptural basis

Quran

According to non-Muslim scholar of Islam John Burton, "no single verse" in the Quran "unequivocally points to the naskh of any other verse", (nor does any "irreproachable" hadith identify "any one verse as having either undergone or effected naskh").^[45] Islamic Modernist mufti Muhammad Abduh (1849–1905) also stated "the Quran nowhere announced that verse so-and-so is naskh, or that verse such-and-such is mansukh."^[46][47]

Many of the verses believed to indicate the principle of naskh do not contain any form of the word naskh, i.e. any word with the triconsonantal root n-s-kh. Instead, they use "in place of" (baddal), "efface" (yamhua), "withdraw" (nadhhabanna لَنَذْهَبَنَّ), or "forget" (tansha تَنسَىٰٓ) which are all interpreted to refer to the process of naskh:

• Quran 16:101 ^{(Translated by Pickthall)}. "And when We put a revelation in place of (another) revelation, - and Allah knoweth best what He revealeth ..."^[15]
• Quran 13:39 ^{(Translated by Pickthall)}. "Allah effaceth what He will, and establisheth (what He will), and with Him is the source of ordinance."^[48]
• Quran 17:86 ^{(Translated by Pickthall)}. "... And if We willed We could withdraw that which We have revealed unto thee, then wouldst thou find no guardian for thee against Us in respect thereof. ...""
• Quran 87:6–7 ^{(Translated by Pickthall)}. "We shall make thee read (O Muhammad) so that thou shalt not forget, Save that which Allah willeth. Lo! He knoweth the disclosed and that which still is hidden.""

Of the four verses within the Qur'an that do contain some form of the word naskh — verses Q.7:154, Q.45:29, Q.22:52, and Q.2:106 — in two cases the word has nothing to do with abrogation of divine revelation, but is used in the context of texts and scribal activity:

• Quran 7:154 ^{(Translated by Yusuf Ali)}. "in the writing thereon"—and
• Quran 45:29 ^{(Translated by Yusuf Ali)}. "For We were wont to put on Record all that ye did"

The two verse that do involve abrogation are

• Quran 22:52, a verse allegedly referring to the Satanic Verse(s), (see below) and
• Quran 2:106, which is called a "Verse of abrogation".

Verses of abrogation

Q2:106 and Q16:101 are the two "verses of abrogation" contained in the Quran.^{[14][15][49][50]}

What We abrogate (of) a sign or cause it to be forgotten, We bring better than it or similar (to) it. Do not you know that Allah over every thing (is) All-Powerful? (tr. Abdel Haleem)^[51]

— Qur'an 2:106, ^[15]

When We substitute one revelation for (another) revelation, – and Allah knows best what He reveals (in stages),– they say, "Thou art but a forger": but most of them understand not.

— Qur'an 16:101, ^[52][15]

They establish the principle in Islam that an older divine revelation may be abrogated and substituted with another one,^[14][15][53] a principle that has been historically accepted and applied by vast majority of Islamic jurists of both the Quran and the Sunnah.^{[54][55][14][15][56]}

Only Q.2:106 uses a form of the word naskh (specifically "nanskh" meaning "we abrogate"). Although there "are no less than a dozen" readings/interpretations of verse Q.2:106 (according to Khaleel Mohammed citing John Burton),^[57] the "majority of exegetes" (scholars of the interpretation of the Quran),^{[Note 6]} find 2:106 indicative of two varieties of abrogation (see below):

• "supersession", i.e. the "suspension" and replacement of the old verse without its elimination (process known as naskh al-hukm duna al-tilawa, or ibdāl in Arabic)"^[4] or
• "suppression", i.e. the nullification/elimination of the old verse from the Mus'haf (the written Quran compiled after Muhammad's death) (process known as naskh al-hukm wa-'l-tilawa, or ibtāl in Arabic).^[4]

Two verse also suggest abrogation can refer to either these two meanings,

• 16:101. "We substitute one ayah for another""—suggests naskh is supersession/substitution (tabdīl, related to ibdāl).^[58]
• 22:52. "God eradicated (azala) and nullifies (yubtil, related to ibtāl) what the Devil insinuates"—refers "solely to eradication or nullification" according to scholar Al-Fakhr al-Razi.^[59][60]

In addition, traditional non-religious Arabic sayings, poetry, etc. used to determine the meaning of Quranic terms also suggest abrogation means either suppression or supersession.^{[Note 7]}

The verse Q.16:101 was employed by the founder of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence — Imam Shafi'i — as proof that a Qur'anic verse can only be abrogated by another Qur'anic verse. (see below)^{[citation needed]}

Dissenting views

Orthodox/pro-naskh scholars (like Ali b. Muhammad b. Ibrahim 'Ala al-Din, known as al-Khazin) argues that Abrogation Verse 2:106 was revealed in response to allegations by unbelievers in Mecca "that Muhammad decides a ruling, then abrogates it!". However, according to Mohammed al-Ghazali this explanation cannot be true because the verse was revealed in Mecca where at the time "no such laws" were being abrogated.^[62][13] Another argument against the orthodox interpretation of the verse is that the word translated as "revelation" (ayah) in the two Verses of Abrogation is ambiguous, and what is abrogated may be something other than a verse in the Quran. Ayah is more accurately translated (according to Khaleel Mohammed) as "sign" — as in a sign "sent down by God to guide humankind to Him" — revelation being only one kind of sign.^[13]

Satanic verses and abrogation

The one other Quranic verse using naskh in sense of abrogation is Q22:52.

• 22:52. "Never did We send a messenger or a prophet before thee, but, when he framed a desire, Satan threw some (vanity) into his desire: but Allah will cancel anything (vain) that Satan throws in, and Allah will confirm (and establish) His Signs: for Allah is full of Knowledge and Wisdom."^[63]

This verse is cited by historian and exegete Tabarī in connection with the incident of the so-called "Satanic Verses". Tabarī's interpretation (Tafsīr) states that God removed some of the early verses that the devil had cast into the Quran (making worship of other deities permissible) and replaced them in later verses.^[64] It supports an interpretation of naskh as eradication (izāla) so as not to be found in the written Quran (Mus'haf) and thus made acceptable the idea of naskh as the nullification of a verse and ruling — naskh al-hukm wa-'l-tilāwa — without any (immediate) replacement. Ibn Taymiyyah also identified "something that Satan has managed to insinuate into Revelation through Prophetic error" is naskh-ed by a divine verse, (which he calls al-naw' al-ikharmin al-naskh).^[65]

But later exegetes such as Makkī insist that since the verse was insinuated by the Devil into the Prophet's recital, and not revealed by God, that verse Q.22:52 only provides for establishes the Islamic legitimacy of the concept of naskh for satanic not divine revelation.^[66] According to the current orthodox interpretation, the verses were actually a fabrication by Quraysh tribesmen and enemies of Muhammad.^{[citation needed]} However "a number" of classical scholars like Musa b. 'Uqbah, Ibn Ishaq, Abu Ma'shar, al-Tabari, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Mardawayh and Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalam have accepted the report about this episode as genuine" (according to Ahmad Hasan), based on the isnad (chain of transmitters of the report), other eminent classical scholars reject the report which if it were true would mean "that Satan could tamper with the Divine Revelation".^[67]

Sunnah/hadith

Hadith/commentary abrogating Quranic verses

Evidence for the abrogation (or not) of Quranic verses comes from collections of hadith, and tafsir.^{[citation needed]} Eight hadith in Sahih Bukhari mentions abrogation:

• the abrogation of the direction of prayer (the changing of the Qibla from Jerusalem to the Ka'ba—at Mecca)^[68]
• the abrogation Quran 2:184 is denied in #4505,^[69] but this is contradicted in #4506,^[70] and #4507.^[71]
• Quran 2:240, which is supposed to have been abrogated by Quran 2:234, is referred to in #4530,^[72] and in #4531.^[73] Yet other scholars say it wasn't abrogated since Quran 2:234 is mandatory mourning period without remarrying after her husband dies while Quran 2:240 is that inheritors don't force her out of her husband's house for a year unless she wanted to leave, which is why it says "then no blame on the guardians".^[74]
• that Quran 2:284 is abrogated is mentioned in #4545,^[75] and #4546.^[76]

Several hadith in Sahih Muslim mention abrogation of Quranic verses, including.

• the abrogation of Quran 2:284 by Quran 2:285 in #125.^[77]

Three verses in Sunan Abu Dawood, two verses in Malik's Muwatta and two verses in Tafsir ibn Kathir mention abrogation.^{[citation needed]}

Abrogation of Hadith

As for abrogation of sunnah/hadith, there is no equivalent to the Quranic "Verses of abrogation" in the sunnah. No "generally accepted statements can be adduced from the sunnah to vindicate the application of the theory to Sunnah texts", according to John Burton.^{[Note 8]} However scholars state that hadith were abrogated just as the Quran was. Kitab al-I'tibar states that early Muslim Urwah ibn Zubayr declared, "I testify that my father told me that the Prophet would make a statement, then subsequently replace in with another statement, just as the Quran, in certain places, supersedes other parts."^[80][78] Abu al-'Ala' ibn al-Shikhkhir (d. 107/725), a Tabi'i, (i.e. one of the generation of Muslims who followed the Sahaba -- the companions of Muhammad) is reported to have said much the same thing according to a Sahih Muslim hadith.^{[Note 9]}

History

In "general terms", the idea of a divine process whereby the decisions of a monotheist God can be superseded by His later decisions precedes "even the foundation of Islam itself," (according to John Burton), being found in Epistle to the Hebrews 8:13;^[83] 10:9^[84] of the New Testament.^[85]

While Muhammad is reported to have abrogated parts of the sunnah by "explicit abrogation" (see below), there are no reports of him talking about abrogated verses in the Quran or explaining any theory of abrogation. Thus the classical theory of naskh "cannot go back to the Prophet". This is an argument against the theory according to its opponents — "it is inconceivable that the Prophet had left such an important problem to the discretion of the people ..."^[29]

Reports of companions emphasizing its importance

There are, however, introductory stories in almost all classical naskh works about how (younger) companions of Muhammad — some of his "oldest and most determined supporters" revered by pious Muslims — emphasized the importance of belief in and knowledge of the theory of naskh.^{[Note 10]} Many recount an incident where a Kufan preacher is banned from expounding the Quran on account of his ignorance of the principles of naskh by an early 'ilmic authority figure (usually Rashidun Caliph 'Alī, but sometimes also Ibn 'Abbās, cousin of Muhammad and hadith narrator).^[86][87][88]

In one report Ali told a judge who had no knowledge of nasikh that he was "deluded and misleading others", in another he evicted a preacher from a mosque for being ignorant of the science of abrogation. Umar is reported to have told Muslims that despite the fact that Ubay ibn Ka'b was "the best Quranic expert among us ... we ignore some of what" he says because he disregarded abrogation and told others he refused to "abandon anything I heard from the Messenger of Allah".^[89][90]

Another set of Hadith emphasize how those who speak publicly on fiqh (Islamic law) without expert knowledge in naskh not only endanger their own immortal souls but also the souls of those who listening to them.^[91]

Some (John Burton) have questioned the authenticity of these hadith, finding them suspiciously convenient for proponents of naskh and especially for experts in the field. (Not only do they provide validity for the theory from "the mouths of men believed to have known the Prophet's mind best",^[92] but the reports specifically call for judicial or religious offices in the community to be occupied by those trained in "this indispensable knowledge".)^[10]

Early reliable evidence

However even if these reports were later fabrications and the rules of naskh were not directly passed down from Muhammad to the Salaf Muslims, it is known that the idea that some Qur'anic verses were abrogated can be found towards the end of the first century of Islam, and the development of theories of naskh can be dated "with certainty" to the time of Imam Shafi'i (d. 204 AH).

The early schools of law that were in existence towards the end of the first century of Islam included the idea of abrogation in the Qur'anic verses. Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (d. 96 AH/714) is reported to have said that the part of verse Q.5:106 — which allows a non-Muslim to bear witness to the bequest of a Muslim during a journey if the Muslim is on their death bed — was abrogated to require the witness to be a Muslim.^[93]

The principle of abrogation (without its naskh terminology) makes an early appearance in the Muwatta' of Mālik (d.179 AH/795 ) according to John Burton and Ahmad Hasan.^{[Note 11]} At one point Malik notes that "his teacher Zuhrī had told him that the Muslims had adopted as standard the latest of all the Prophet's reported actions" when there is a conflict. In another chapter Mālik states that of the two conflicting Qur'an rulings, "one had replaced the other". Elsewhere, Mālik "rejects the notion that a ruling remains valid despite the withdrawal" of the (supposed) Qur'an verse the ruling is based on.^{[96][Note 12]}

However, according to Abdul-Rahim, "the earliest extant materials ever written" on the tafsir genre, naskh al-Qur'an came earlier than Malik. The two works — Kitab al-Nasikh wa al-Mansukh fi Kitab Allah Ta'ala by Qatadah ibn Di'amah al-Sadusi (d. 117/735) and Kitab al-Nasikh wa al-Mansukh by Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (d. 124/742).^[97] — begin "immediately to point to the abrogated in the Qur'an" feeling no need to elucidate what naskh is. According to Abdul-Rahim, the fact that these and other early works followed this practice indicates a "widespread understanding of naskh" in the Muslim world at that time.^[97]

Meaning

Naskh meaning evolved as early applications of the concept were abandoned (like other technical terms within Islamic exegesis — such as asbāb al-nuzūl, the historical context in which Quranic verses were revealed). In early works of tafsīr (before about 150 AH), Naskh was used to refer to a ruling that narrowed rather than replaced an earlier one (nasakha min — "an exception is provided to ").^[98][99] This usage was later reformulated by Shāfi'ī as takhsīs (specification/exception).

Theory

The "elaboration of the theories" of naskh can be dated with certainty to the last half of the second century of Islam, when Imam Shafi'i (d.204 AH/820), in his work Risāla, (and in the somewhat later Ikhtilāf al-Hadīth") worked to resolve the "apparent discrepancies between certain Qur'ānic verses and others; between certain hadith and others; and, most serious of all, between certain Qur'ānic verses and certain hadīths", according to John Burton.^[100] Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (d. 96/714) is reported to have said that verse Q.5:106 was abrogated^{[Note 13]} Naskh as "a technical term meaning 'abrogation'" was used "early on in exegesis, for example, in Muqātil's Khams mi'a āya and his tafsīr.^[101][102] "'Ilm al-Nasikh wa'l-Mansukh" (Knowledge of the Abrogating and Abrogated) became one of the Islamic sciences.^[13]

John Burton argues, naskh become more important following the establishment of the principle of As-Shafi'i that hadith of Muhammad overruled all other reports from Companions or others on the same subject. This doctrine led to the growth in hadith attributed to the Prophet. Since "far too many" of these hadith "were mutually contradictory"—some contradicting the Quran -- "their use might court the risk" of failing to follow divine law (the view of some of the Mu'tazila of the era). For proponents of the As-Shafi'i doctrine a practical problem was the contradictions would lead to an abandonment of basing Islamic law on prophetic hadith.^[103]

Medieval times

At least by the eleventh century the classical concept of naskh of the Quran and Sunnah was widely accepted enough for one scholar — Ibn Hilal al-Nahwi — to assert that "whoever says" that there is no abrogation in Islam "is not a believer, but rather a kafir, denying that with which Muhammad came. He must renounce his position or be killed".^[104]

Modernist dissent

A "celebrated icon" of deniers and rejecters of naskh was the fourth-century Hijri scholar, Abu Muslim al-Isfahani, who was very much in the minority and whose work on naskh Jami'al-Ta'wil (al-Amidi, al-Ihkam, v.3, 115), has been lost to history.^[82] But "concentrated criticism of the abrogation concept only started in the latter part" of the nineteenth century, according to Khaleel Mohammad.^[13] According to Karel Steenbrink, "most" of the modernist or reformist scholars of that era (Muhammad Abduh, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan, and Rashid Rida),^[13] considered the theory of abrogation of the Quran invalid.^[105] Muhammad al-Ghazali, writing in 1992, stated

"the position taken by all the modern scholars whom I have met, or listened to, or whose works I have read, is contrary to the understanding of naskh that became so widespread among the later exegetes, namely that there exists naskh (if accepted) as meaning the abrogation of verses of the Qur'an."^[62][13]

Two lesser known scholars who wrote work and spoke against naskh of Islamic revelation in more depth in the 20th century were Muhammad Amin (an Azhar graduate, active at the beginning of the 20th century),^[106] and 'Abd al-Muta'al al-Jabri (who wrote his Master's thesis—entitled Naskh As I Understand It In The Islamic Shari'ah—at the University of Cairo in 1949).^[107][13]

Need and scope

Dealing with apparent contradictions

Islam teaches that the Quran was revealed to Muhammad over 23 years (609–632 CE) until the year of his death. The customs and practices of Muhammad over this same period are known as the Sunnah, and reports of them are known as ahadith.^[7] From early in Islam's history, some scholars thought that contradictory commands existed in the Quran,^[108] among hadith of the Sunnah,^[109] as well as between verses of the Quran and the hadith.^[110]

Since Islam calls on humanity to obey the Quran and imitate the behavior of the prophet, and also because "a defining claim of Sunni Islam" is that no two authentic hadith could contradict each other or the Quran, (and because some verses in the Quran at least seemed to contradict each other) scholars worked to resolve these apparent contradictions^[111] in the verses that give regulations to Muslims.^[112] This became especially important, (as mentioned above), after the principle of fiqh was established that in forming Islamic law, hadith attributed to Muhammad overruled those attributed to all other early Muslims on the same issue. This led to the growth in the number of these hadith and contradictions between them, created a danger to their legitimacy as the basis of sharia law.^[103]

While hadith tell of rules of naskh being passed down directly from Muhammad's closest Companions (sahabah) and future Muslim leaders — others believe it more likely ideas about naskh originated later. Ahman Hasan speculates that the idea of the abrogation of certain Qur'anic verses "emerged" early in the history of Islam when commentators and the jurisconsults seeking to reconcile the "apparently contradictory verses", looked to the Quranic verses such as Q.16:110 — "... We put a revelation in place of (another) revelation ..." — to develop a theory that some later verses replaced the commands of earlier ones.^[93] John Burton argues that naskh was first employed by Islamic scholars ("usulis") in the second century of Islam working to develop principles (usul al-fiqh) for the Islamic law (fiqh) and seeking to explain why some fiqh rulings were not founded on Quranic/Sunnah revelation. By this time the Islamic empire spanned three continents and fiqh had been established in the different regions but usulis found rulings in certain verses of the Quran and parts of the Sunnah had been ignored in their formulation. To explain this, Burton argues, they developed the concept of naskh to declare that the verses/parts had been abrogated.^{[Note 14]}

In theory, naskh formed part of a hierarchy of techniques used by scholars of Islamic law working with hadith. Scholars first strove to "harmonize" hadith, (i.e. to make them fit together by reinterpreting them).^[113] If that failed they would look for signs of abrogation (that one saying/doing/inaction by Muhammad was earlier than the other and had been replaced by the later saying/doing/inaction). If there was no opportunity for abrogation, they would check the isnad—chains of transmission of the hadith—to see if the transmission of one hadith was superior to another. Finally, if they found no difference in the isnad, they would approve the hadith they found "closest to the overall message of the Quran and Sunnah".^[111]

Problem

But according to scholars such as David S. Powers and John Burton, while the doctrine of abrogation may have cleared up contradictions, it "poses a difficult theological problem" because it seems to suggest God was changing His mind,^[114] or has realized something He was unaware of when revealing the original verse. For an eternally all-knowing deity this was theologically impossible and logically absurd — in fact an act of "unbelief" in Islam itself.^{[115][7][116]} Also foreclosing on the possibility of any improvisation of Quranic verses was the belief of Sunni scholars that the Quran was not written/spoken during the course of its revelation, in fact not even created/written by God, but is as ageless as God himself, uncreated, an attribute of God (like being all-powerful, beneficent, merciful, etc.), its original copy being the "mother of the book" — umm al-kitab — kept in the presence of God (Q.13:39; Q.43:4), the earthly Quran being only a copy of it.^[117] (The Mu'tazila argued that the Qur'an could not be both eternal and subject to abrogation, with a new verse abrogating an earlier one.)^[118]

Skeptics such as Ali Dashti found the naskh process suspiciously similar to the human process of "revising ... past decisions or plans" after "learning from experience and recognising mistakes".^[119][120] When the Quran defends abrogation/naskh against those who scoffed at it ("Do not you know that Allah over every thing?" Q.2:106; "they say, "Thou art but a forger" ... Allah knows best what He reveals" Q.16:101), Dashti asks if the "scoffers" were suspicious "precisely because God is capable of everything", and so would have no need to abrogate a verse after revealing it.^{[119][120][121]}

Roslan Abdul-Rahim points out that after a verse was revealed criticizing Muslim slackers and urging Muslims to fight jihad, a blind Muslim ('Abd Allah ibn Umm Maktum) protested to Muhammad that his eyesight prevented him from fighting. "Almost instantaneously" another verse was sent down^{[Note 15]} amending the first with the qualifier "except the disabled". Quran 4:95. "Not equal are those among the believers who are 'seated' (at home) and those who strive in the path of God with their possessions and their selves ...""

Rationale

At least in part in answer to these criticisms, some explanations and defenses have been offered for the theory of abrogation — principally that the revising of commands by God to his creatures is all done according to a plan.:^[123]

• aspects of the Quran's message and the Prophet's teachings had to change as circumstances changed^[123] in the Muslim community encountered over the course of Muhammad's more than two decade term as prophet
  • "one rule might not always be suitable for every situation. Far from Allah changing his mind, abrogation demonstrates the wisdom of Allah in legislating rules for their appropriate time and context. For most rules in Islam, there exist circumstances that warrant an exception to the rule." (Abu Amina Elias)^[31]
  • Rather than a way for scholars to deal with contradictions in scripture, preachers argued that naskh was God's way of dealing with different situations the Muslim community encountered over the course of Muhammad's more than two decade term as prophet. It "was quite possible for something to be beneficial for them in one situation, and detrimental in another", (such as fasting during Ramadan, where eating is allowed at night, but forbidden in the day), so that God might well abrogate something after it was no longer beneficial. (Ibn Qudamah)^[124][13]
  • "Islam abrogates all previous codes of which it is the perfection — If contemporary law is subject to constant alteration to meet changing conditions, why is it impossible that laws given to one people at one time should be abrogated elsewhere at another time?" (Al-Shahrastani)^[125]
  • Naskh an expression of "the notion that aspects of the Quran's message and the Prophet's teachings developed over time". (Or, since God is all knowing, naskh was said to be what happened when the expiration points were reached for of those rulings God intended as temporary all along.) (J.A.C. Brown)^[42]
  • God "knows the temporariness or permanence of any ruling from the time He issues it." (Louay Fatoohi)^[126]
• Major changes in behavior called for by Islam (banning of consumption of alcohol) should be abolished gradually, meaning that the early lenient commands are abrogated by later stricter ones — demonstrating that this abrogation was pre-planned, not the correction of a mistake;^[31][123]
• Alternately naskh provides takhfīf (lightening), abrogation "was generally directed to making things easier", (al-Suyuti)^{[127][128][129][130]} either by introducing a more lenient rule—or if introducing a more onerous one, helping believers by giving them the opportunity to earn greater reward in the Hereafter by obeying the challenging rule.^[131]
• Verses are abrogated to replace them with something that will improve human welfare. (Al-Zamakhshari)^[132][131]
• The 'style' of Divine revelation is "direct and absolute", without "clauses, exceptions and qualification". This makes necessary the occasional modification of these broad commands with "more specific" meanings, which is "generally" what naskh does. (Cyril Glasse)^[133]
• It serves a way for God to test the obedience of believers, who may be troubled and confused that God changed divine law to declares something good that at one time was denounced as evil and vice versa. (Ibn Kathir)^[134][13]
• Finally, the question "why?" itself is out of line.
  • "abrogation as a mechanism that perfectly reflects God's omnipotence. God can change any ruling with another at any point in time He sees fit" (Louay Fatoohi);^[89]
  • "God orders men's actions as He pleases and must not be asked what He is doing" (Al-Shahrastani);^[125][135]
  • "The sound mind does not deny that there could be a Naskh in Allah's commandments, for He decides what He wills, just as He does what He wills" (Ibn Kathir).^[134]

Alcohol

see:Khamr#Scriptural basis

The "classical"^[31] and oft cited example of how naskh was used in stages to guide a major change in the behavior of the faithful was the banning of alcohol, implemented in three verses. It has been described as an act of wisdom, needed because an abrupt total ban would have been too harsh and impractical. "Arab society in the beginning was not ready to abandon drinking alcohol. They needed to strengthen their faith in order to overcome their desire to drink."^{[31][126][123]}

The first verse gently discouraged Muslims from drinking alcohol:^[31]

• Quran 2:2:219. "They ask you about intoxicants and games of chance Say, "In both of them (is) a sin great, and (some) benefits for people. But sin of both of them (is) greater than (the) benefit of (the) two."^[136]

The second prohibited Muslims from being drunk during one kind of activity—praying salat:

• Quran 4:43. "O you who believe! (Do) not go near the prayer while you (are) intoxicated until you know what you are saying and not (when you are) impure except (when) passing (through) a way until you have bathed."^[137]

And finally, once Muslim were "ready for it", alcohol (along with gambling) was totally prohibited:

• Quran 5:90. "O you who believe! Verily the intoxicants and the games of chance and (sacrifices at) altars and divining arrows (are an) abomination from (the) work (of) the Shaitaan, so avoid it so that you may (be) successful."^[138]

Ratio of enemy warriors to Muslimsedit

Two verses Imam Al-Shafi'i cites as "the clearest evidence"^[139] for naskh concern the number of enemies each Muslim warrior is expected to vanquish. (Unlike with those concerning alcohol, the abrogating verse is more lenient not more strict.)^[140]
A verse calling for overcoming ten unbelievers

• Quran 8:65. "Oh Prophet! incite the believers to war. If there be of you twenty patient believers, they will overcome two hundred; if there be of you one hundred, they will overcome one thousand of the unbelievers."^[141]

... is abrogated by one reducing the number of enemy Muslims are expected to fight to only two:

• Quran 8:66. "Now God has alleviated your burden, knowing that there is weakness in you. If there should be of you one hundred, they will overcome two hundred; if there should be of you one thousand, they will overcome two thousand ..."^{[142][Note 16]}

Another example of this takhfīf (lightening) is lifting the burden of lengthy nocturnal prayers in Quran 73:20 that had been required by Quran 73:1.^{[Note 17][130]}

The Sword verse(s)edit

A verse(s) of major importance in Muslim-non-Muslim relations is Quran 9:5 the "Sword verse" (as, to a lesser extent, are similar verses such as Quran 9:29). Among "medieval exegetes and jurists" there was "a broad consensus that Quran 9:5 and Quran 9:29^{[Note 18]} abrogated "all the other statements" in the Quran "on the issue of waging war".^{[Note 19]}

In modern times, the sword verse has been used by extremist groups and individuals to justify their killing of non-Muslims civilians, according to Lohay Fatoohi^[147] (although some dispute this),^[148][149] and Mahfuh Halimi argues extremist advocates of violence maintain the verse of the sword Q.9:5 abrogates "more than a hundred" verses of the Quran advising or advocating "peace, coexistence, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness as the basis for relations between Muslims and non-Muslims."^{[149][Note 20]} Critics have called this a case of passages called for killing abrogating ones calling for tolerance.^[151] and a classic example of determining the validity of a verse by determining when it was revealed.^[152]

"Many verses counsel patience in the face of the mockery of the unbelievers, while other verses call for warfare against the unbelievers. The former are linked to the earlier Meccan phase of the mission when the Muslims were too few and weak to do other than endure insult; the latter are linked to Medina where the Prophet had acquired the numbers and the strength to hit back at his enemies. The discrepancy between the two sets of verses indicates that different situations call for different regulations."^[152]

Verses counseling patience and forbearance that are said to be abrogated by 9:5 (according to Fatoohi) include:^[147]

• Quran 3:186. "You will certainly be tested in your wealth and yourselves. And you will certainly hear from those who were given the Book before you and from those who associate partners with Allah hurtful things many, and if you are patient and fear (Allah) then indeed, that (is) of the matters of determination."^[153]
• Quran 53:29. "So turn away from (him) who turns away from Our Reminder and not he desires except the life (of) the world."^[154]
• Quran 43:89. "So turn away from them and say, "Peace." But soon they will know"^[155]

Similarly verse Q.9:29 is considered by Nahhās "to have abrogated virtually all verses calling for patience or forgiveness toward the People of the Book" (according to Reuven Firestone).^[156] (The verse abrogates more early verses of the Quran than any other according to some Muslim Islamic scholars, while others have concluded it does not abrogate any verses.^{[157][158][159][147] [Note 21]}

Length of the period (`iddah) widows must wait before remarryingedit

This abrogation has been called a "'classic' instance" of the "'classic' mode" of naskh^[164] by Usulis (i.e. students/scholars of the principles of fiqh) that 'proves' "the fact of Naskh".^[3] It (is thought to have) shortened the `iddah, i.e. the waiting period for widows (also divorcees, but these verses refer only to widows) before re-marriage, from one year ....

• Quran 2:240. "And those of you who die and leave behind wives should bequeath for their wives a year's maintenance and residence without turning them out, but if they (wives) leave, there is no sin on you for that which they do of themselves, provided it is honourable (e.g. lawful marriage). ...."

... to four months and ten days:

• Quran 2:234. "And those of you who die and leave wives behind them, they (the wives) shall wait (as regards their marriage) for four months and ten days, then when they have fulfilled their term, there is no sin on you if they (the wives) dispose of themselves in a just and honourable manner (i.e. they can marry). ..."^[165]

But Q.2:240 makes no mention of a waiting period before marriage, but only financial provisions ("maintenance and residence", aka matāʿ) for widows. And other scholars say it wasn't abrogated since Q.2:234 is about the mandatory mourning period for a woman without remarrying after her husband dies while Q.2:240 is that inheritors don't force her out of her husband's house for a year unless she wanted to leave, which is why it says "then no blame on the guardians".^[74] This did conflict with "the details of the rules to govern inheritances laboriously worked out in the fiqh", (according to non-Muslim critic and scholar John Burton).^[166] Burton argues that protecting established fiqh rulings from the contradiction of Quranic verses such as Q.2:240 (and not addressing conflicts between different lines of revelation) was what motivated the usulis who developed the theory of naskh.^[164][167]

Questions raisededit

In reply to the rationale of gradual introduction of the ban on alcohol, some (Farooq Ibrahim) have noted that while hadith often explain events that the Quran refers to cryptically, there is no explanation or mention of a strategy of gradual banning of alcohol consumption found in any Sahih hadith.^{[citation needed]} Nor was a gradual process used in other Islamic prohibitions. The worship of multiple gods, and of having intercessors before God were both banned with no evident concern over whether they were too harsh or impractical.^{[citation needed]}

Burton suggests that the idea that naskh can be explained as takhfīf (lightening) is of limited usefulness because it is applied to both naskh that make things easier for Muslims in the temporal world — like no longer requiring lengthy nocturnal prayers or lowering the number of enemies each Muslim warrior is expected to vanquish; and abrogation that makes things more difficult — for example, the extension of the ritual fast from a few days (Quran 2:184) to the entire month of Ramadan (Quran 2:185). Here the changes are claimed to be lightening because they will help Muslims attain a greater reward in the Hereafter. Still other abrogation — such as the switching of the qibla — would seem to have no effect on the difficulty or ease for Muslims of either temporal life or the afterlife.^[131]

The doctrine (expressed here by Louay Fatoohi) that God "knows the temporariness or permanence of any ruling from the time He issues it",^[126] seems hard to square with two verses mentioned above;^[140][168] where God promises that Muslim warriors will overcome ten times that number of unbelievers (Q.8:65), before revealing an abrogating verse — "Now God has alleviated your burden, knowing that there is weakness in you," and lowering the number of unbelievers promised to be overcome to only double the number of Muslims (Q.8:66),^[140] suggesting that God abrogates after learning of an area of Muslims' weakness.

A question raised over how aspects of the Quran's message and the Prophet's teachings needed to change over the course of Muhammad's mission as times/circumstances changed,^[123] was why the need for change stopped with the death of Muhammad. Muhammad Abduh (reputedly) asks why naskh was employed during the 23 years of the Quran's revelation, but could not be employed over the next 1400+ years when social & life changes were far greater.^[169]

Limits of applicationedit

Scholars have proposed some limits on the application of abrogation.

Naskh concerns itself with only revelations pertaining to positive laws — commandments (amr) or prohibitions (nahy).)^[170][171] In Tabarī's words:

God alters what was once declared lawful into unlawful, or vice-versa; what was legally unregulated into prohibited and vice-versa. But such changes can occur only in verses conveying commands, positive and negative. Verses cast in the indicative and conveying narrative statements, can be affected by neither nāsikh abrogating material nor mansūkh abrogated material.^[112]

(However, according to John Burton, this was not true among "some of the oldest exegetes" who "included indiscriminately under naskh all and every verse where they noted a degree of contradiction, however slight ..."^[172])

Naskh is applied almost exclusively to the Qur'an and the Sunnah. According to Mohammad Hashim Kamali,^[173] its application to Ijma` and Qiyas — secondary sources of Sunni Islamic law unlike the Qur'an and the Sunnah not divinely revealed — "has been generally overruled", as abrogation "is not relevant" to Ijma (the consensus or agreement of Muslim scholars on a religious issue),^[174] and the theory of naskh "has no place" in Qiyas (the process of deductive analogy in Islamic scripture in order to apply a known injunction (nass) to a new circumstance and create a new injunction).^[175] Islamic jurists cannot abrogate, it is confined to the lifetime of the Prophet in the Qur'an and Sunnah.^{[176][177][173]}

In addition, subjects of Islam that Naskh does not apply to include:

• Attributes of God,
• Belief in the principles of the faith,
• the doctrine of Tawhid (monotheism/oneness of God)
• the doctrine of the hereafter.
• the Sharia of Islam itself
• the ulema (scholars of Islam) are also in agreement "that rational matters and moral truths such as the virtue of doing justice or being good to one's parents, are not changeable and are therefore not open to abrogation".^[178]

If these conditions are met, there are several more that must be satisfied concerning the text to be abrogated and the text abrogating:

• the two texts must of "equal strength in regard to authenticity (thubut) and meaning (dalalah)" — otherwise the weaker test is over ruled;
• the two texts must be "genuinely in conflict" — otherwise they should be reconciled with one another;
• the two texts must be "separate and are not related to one another in the sense of one being the condition (shart), qualification (wasf) or exception (istithna) to the other".^[178]

According to scholar John Burton three "elements" are necessary "in any one alleged instance of naskh", namely:

a) the divine origin of both injunctions;

b) a conflict between two enactments such that it is `quite impossible to implement the two texts jointly`

c) knowledge of the relative dates of both revelations.^[179]

Scholar Recep Dogan, gives "types of evidence" allowed for naskh. (These are also three in number, but only one — chronology — is the same as Burton's "necessary elements"):

a) report(s) from Muhammad or his companions,

b) ijma (consensus of the mujtahids upon naskh), and

c) knowledge of the chronology of the Qur'anic revelation.^[5]

Chronology

Since an abrogating verse must have been revealed after the verse it abrogates, the validity of abrogation requires a knowledge of the chronology of the primary sources.^{[15][180][181]} This has historically been a difficult task because the verses in the Qur'an are not arranged by chronology but rather by size of chapters, and even within a chapter, the verses are non-chronologically arranged, so that the context of each revelation is not ascertainable from verses near a verse, or the sequential verse number.^[182] Verses Q.2:190, Q.2:191 and Q.2:192, for example, were revealed to Muhammad six years after the verse Q.2:193.^[182] Thus chronology depends on "the agreement of scholars" (ijma) and on Tafsir reports or the recollection of Hadith transmitters to explain which verse or prophetic statement was revealed before another. (According to at least one non-Muslim scholar — Andrew Rippin — naskh texts in Islam have not demonstrated that verses rendered invalid by shariah law were revealed earlier, but simply assumed they must have been.)^[183][184]

Types/varietiesedit

Implicit and explicit naskhedit

Most cases of naskh are "implicit" (dimni) — i.e. as noted above they depend on "the agreement of scholars" (ijma) to determine if a verse was abrogated. However, a few revelations involve "explicit" (sarih) naskh, specifically mentioning some earlier command to be abrogated and replaced with another^[185] — though none of them use any form of the word naskh.

• Quranic verses 2:143-50 commands Muhammad and the Muslims to turn their faces away from 'the direction of prayer that you faced before' (Jerusalem) to a new one, one that 'pleases your heart,' (by which is meant the Kaaba in the Al-Haram Mosque of Mecca).^[185]
• In one hadith Muhammad is reported to have said: 'I had prohibited you from visiting graves, but visit them, for indeed in visiting them there is a reminder of death.' ^[186][187]

Total and partial naskhedit

Abrogation may be divided into two more types: total abrogation and partial abrogation:

"Total abrogation"

In the case of "total abrogation" (or naskh kulli), all of the specific statement within the Quran or hadith that the ruling is based on (the nass) is abrogated by another, and a new ruling (hukm) is enacted to replace the entire old ruling. An example is found in two Qur'anic verses on the waiting period (`iddah) of widows before remarriage.
Al-Baqarah 240 has been interpreted to prescribe a waiting period of one year:

• Quran 2:240. "And those of you who die and leave behind wives should bequeath for their wives a year's maintenance and residence without turning them out, but if they (wives) leave, there is no sin on you for that which they do of themselves, provided it is honourable (e.g. lawful marriage). And Allâh is All-Mighty, All-Wise"^[188]

But another verse shortened the waiting period to four months and ten days:

• Quran 2:234. "And those of you who die and leave wives behind them, they (the wives) shall wait (as regards their marriage) for four months and ten days, then when they have fulfilled their term, there is no sin on you if they (the wives) dispose of themselves in a just and honourable manner (i.e. they can marry). And Allâh is Well-Acquainted with what you do"^[165]

"Partial abrogation"

In the case of "partial abrogation" (naskh juzi), one verse is only partially abrogated by another. The part not abrogated remains operative. An example of this is the Qur'anic verse on slanderous accusations of adultery against women (known as qadhf). The "ayah of qadhf" — An-Nur 4 — establishes a general rule that anyone who accuses chaste women of adultery (zina) must produce four witnesses for proof:

• Quran 24:4. "And those who accuse chaste women, and produce not four witnesses, flog them with eighty stripes, and reject their testimony forever, They indeed are the Fâsiqûn (liars, rebels, those disobedient to Allâh)"^[189]

The "ayah of imprecation" (li'an) — an-Nur 6 — replaces the four witnesses requirement, but only for one kind of person — the husband of the alleged adulteress. It allowing him to pursue charges of zina against his wife provided he takes four different oaths to tell the truth and invoked the curse of God upon himself if he is telling a lie. This partially repeals Ayah Q.24:4.

• Quran 24:6. "And for those who accuse their wives, but have no witnesses except themselves, let the testimony of one of them be four testimonies (i.e. testifies four times) by Allâh that he is one of those who speak the truth"^[190]

takhsees

Takhsees 'specification', also spelled takhsis and istithnā (exception) resemble "partial naskh" described above. Like partial naskh, takhsees qualifies a general ruling aam, so that it only applies in certain cases.

Examples include

1. the qualification of the Quranic injunction in Q.5:38 to amputate the hand of the thief, the takhsees given by Muhammad requires that the thief must have stole something above a certain value.^[191]
2. the qualification on entering uninhabited houses. verse Q.24:27 states: 'Do not enter houses other than your houses,' but verse Q.24:29 gives an exception: 'There is no blame upon you for entering houses not inhabited in which there is convenience for you.' (At-Tabari)^[31]

Takhees is sometimes called another name for partial naskh. However (according to Deen Communication Limited), Takhsees differs from naskh in that

• it may involve revelations making observations, predictions, etc., rather than laws and rulings ahkaam;
Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Naskh_(tafsir)
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