" Revealed Books " No comments

 Abrogation of Some of the Ayahs

It seems there are three types of abrogations. 1. Verses which were abrogated, but the orders in them are still practiced e.g., stoning an adulterer. 2. Verses which were not abrogated from the Quran, but the orders in them were abrogated e.g., drinking. 3. Verses which were removed from the Quran; the orders given in them were also abrogated e.g. confining the accused (of adultery) woman at home. The second type is easily understood. The first and third are not. Allah can't make a mistake. Why were verses abrogated or orders removed?

Answer:

As wisdom of test and tribulations, in some Islamic matters concerning Islamic Law, Allah wants His believers to obey His orders with complete submission

“Such of our revelation as We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. Knowest thou not that Allah is Able to do all things?” (Al-Baqara, 106)
Some scholars have questioned the wisdom behind the verses’ being abrogated but the orders’ being still practised and whether or not it would be better for the recitation to stay eternally in order to join the practice of the orders with the good deeds (sawab) that one gets from reciting the verses.
The author of Funun’ul Afnan, Ibn-ul Jawzi answers this as the following:
The wisdom in this is to reveal whether or not and to what degree Muslims will obey the orders without investigating them, just by supposition.
As an example:
Narrated by Ibn-u Hubash, by Asim bin Abu Najud, by Mubarak bin Fudala, by Ismael bin Jafar, by Abu Ubayd:
Ubay bin Kab (ra) said to me:
“How many verses are there in Suratu’l Ahzab?”
I said:
“72 or 73 verses.” Ubay (ra):
“This chapter was equivalent to Baqarah Chapter. We even read the rajm verse in this chapter.” I asked:
“What is the rajm verse?” Ubay (ra) recited this verse as follows:
“If a married man and a married woman fornicate, stone (rajm) them as a punishment from Allah. Allah is Aziz (great) and Hakim (supreme).”
Abu Ubay (ra) narrated from Abdullah bin Salih, who narrated from Lays (ra), and from Halid b. Yazid (ra), from Said b. Abi Hilal (ra), from Marwan b. Uthman (ra), from Abu Umama b. Sahl (ra) who narrated from his aunt:
“Rasullullah (pbuh) recited the rajm verse as:
Punish the old man and woman from the satisfaction got.” (Al-Itqan fi Ulumi’l Quran)
After the abrogation of the rajm verse which was kept in practice but abrogated in recitation the following event took place:
The verse which is abrogated in recitation but kept in practice is narrated. Abdullah b. Abbas (ra) narrates that Omar (ra) said from the pulpit:
“Allah (swt) sent Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) with the truth and revealed him the Book. The rajm verse was one of the verses that were revealed. We read this verse, memorized it and understood it.” Rasulullah practiced rajm and after him we also practiced it.
I fear that after some time passes some people will say “We cannot find rajm in the book of Allah” and they will fall into perversion by abandoning a fard (obligation) of Allah. Certainly, rajm is a right against the person who fornicates on condition that he/she is married; there are witnesses, pregnancy and confession.” (Muslim)
The verse in question that Omar (ra) mentions is this:
“If an old man and old woman fornicate, stone (rajm) them.” (Ibn-i Maja, Ahmad bin Hanbal) Omar’s (ra) declaration of rajm from the Madinah Pulpit and the fact that no one in congregation including many of the sahabah opposed him shows that rajm exists. (Sahih-i Muslim Translation and Commentary)
Sarasi narrates from Omar (ra):
“If people would not say Omar added to the Book of Allah (swt), I would write this verse to the end of the Quran with my hands: If an old woman and man fornicate, certainly stone (rajm) them.”
Commentators explain these words of Omar (ra) as exaggeration and as an incitement of the practice of rajm. Thus, it is out of question for a person like Omar (ra) who is exalted in Islamic sciences and jurisprudence (fiqh) to add the verse in question to the Quran. His actions are a means of warning.
Thus Ibn-u Hajar:
“What Omar (ra) feared came to pass. Because most of the Harijis and Some Mutazila denied rajm.” (Kutub-i Sitta)
To sum up; “the verses that are abrogated both in practice and in recitation and verses that are abrogated in recitation but that continue in practice” show that these (nash and mansuh) verses are not a mistake or a flaw. On the contrary it is about disciplining humans. Because Allah (swt) informs us how Muslims’ obedience and trust should be on following Allah’s orders with this verse, “Such of our revelation as We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. Knowest thou not that Allah is Able to do all things?” (Al-Baqara, 106)
We can list the wisdoms (hikmahs) of nash as such:
Revealed jurisprudences are laws sent for reform and they vary depending on the state of a community
“As the need for food, dress and several medicine changes in four seasons, a person’s manner of education and discipline also changes in different periods of his life. As a necessity of wisdom and affair, depending on the stages of a person’s life there are changes in ahkam-ı far’iya (principles that are not part of the fundamentals). Because one of the subordinate principles can be useful at a certain time but harmful at a different time. Or a medicine can be cure for a person but harmful to another person. Because of this secret Quran has abrogated some of the subordinate principles. So, it has decreed that their time is up and it is time for other principles.” (Isharatu’l I’jaz)
The revealed measures are laws sent by Allah (swt) for the reform of people. In reality, they are all one. But Allah did not create them all as equals. As a natural result of this, some principles are more suitable for some people and not so suitable for others. Therefore, the revealed laws have abrogated each other parallel to the changes of time and people. There is no abrogation in moral principles, elements that regulate a nation and principles of tawhid (monotheism).
About the abrogations in Islamic Law, Allah assigned Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to a tribe which did not have a divine religion, did not follow any laws or regulations. If this tribe were to be ordered by the religious laws in one step, they could not tolerate it. Therefore, Allah revealed His laws in degrees, first sent the Prophet (pbuh) things that the people were strong enough for. Thus, they tasted the beauty of Islam and they disciplined their nafs (egos) with moral virtues and then they were held responsible for the religious principles. (Islamic Law Methodology)
Even a thing is perfect, Allah is able to create something that is more perfect than it
“And when We put a revelation in place of (another) revelation, - and Allah knoweth best what He revealeth - they say: Lo! thou art but inventing. Most of them know not.” (An-Nahl, 101)
These blessed verses reveal the falseness of the mistaken thoughts about Islamic Laws
Allah refutes these false beliefs with this verse:
“If (We) I, the great Ma’bud (Deity) (whatever from a verse) meaning: If, from the verses of a revealed book, any one of the decrees or part of a verse is abrogated and we order that it should not be practiced (or) we erase that verse from your memories (make you forget) or make you forget a verse that was sent to a Prophet in the past and over time it was forgotten and wiped from memories (we bring a more beneficial or an equal verse) we reveal it to the Prophet.
O man! (Don’t you know that Allah is certainly omnipotent.) No matter how perfect a thing is Allah is able to create a more perfect thing. There is no possibility to see this abrogation as improbable. The revealed verse can be more perfect and fuller of wisdom than the abrogated verse.” (Ömer Nasuhi Bilmen Commentary)
There are two views on Allah’s decree: “We produce a better one or an equal one.”
a) “A lighter one in terms of its decree,”
b) “We bring a more beneficial one.” The second one is more acceptable. Because, this view directs not a person to things easier on his nature, but more beneficial ones. If, according to this, “if the second decree is more beneficial than the first one it means that the benefits of the first decree are missing. Therefore, how could Allah order this?”, our answer to this is: “The first decree was more beneficial for the time that it was revealed. The second decree is more beneficial for the time that it is decreed. This way the question cancels itself. Know that scholars have derived many abrogation cases from this.” ((Imam Qurtubi, Al Jamiu li Ahkam-il Qur’an)) Kaynak: http://askaquestionto.us - Abrogation of Some of the Ayahs