Abrogation of Qur'an

[Nonson]

Abrogation (Naskh)
There are various types of Naskh:
1. Naskh of Hukm (verdict).
The existence of this category is agreed upon. It can be subdivided into various categories:
Naskh without any replacement (e.g. wudu from cooked food)
Naskh with an equivalent replacement (e.g. change of Qiblah)
Naskh with an easier replacement (e.g. fighting 1:10 then 1:2)
Naskh with a harder replacement (e.g. house confinement for adulterers then whipping/stoning.)
2. Naskh of qira'ah (recitation)
This category is not accepted universally. However, some scholars say that there were verses which were revealed and which used to be recited, but then their recitation was cancelled, and they were either replaced by similar of better verses, or they were not replaced but their Hukm remained in effect. This was the opinion of `Umar regarding the verse of Rajm. He said,
"O people! The obligations have been ordained for you, and the sunan have been established, and you have been left on the clear [way]. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah used to stone [adulterers], and we used to stone. And we used to recite the verse of Rajm, <al-shayK wa al-shayKatu 'idhA zanayA farjumUhumA al-battah nakAlA min Allah. Inna Allah `azIz HakIm>, and were it not for the fact that people might say, '`Umar has added to the Book of Allah' I would have written it." [Al-Muwatta']
Another example is in Sahih al-Bukhari : `A'ishah said there was a verse about ten sucklings being needed to establish kinship by suckling, which was later abrogated in recitation, and its verdict was also abrogated, reducing the number of sucklings to five.
Still another example is the message from the Muslims martyred at Bi'r Ma`unah. They said, "Convey to our people on our behalf that we have met our Lord, and that He is well-pleased with us and we with Him."
Other scholars, among them `Abdullah al-Ghumari, rejected this notion. They reasoned that the style and expression of the claimed verses is nothing like that of the Qur'an, and hence they cannot have been part of the Qur'an.


According to the Shafi`i school, the sunnah cannot technically abrogate the Qur'an. According to the Hanafi school, sunnah can abrogate Qur'an if it is mutawatir or mustafeeD (close to mutawatir). According to Imam al-Shafi`i also, the Qur'an cannot abrogate the sunnah, his rationale being that if a verse of the Qur'an abrogated the verdict of a practised sunnah, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would then act on the abrogation, and so it would be his new sunnah which is actually abrogating the earlier sunnah; otherwise the door is opened for deviants to reject sunnahs by claiming they were abrogated by the Qur'an.

Stoning of married adulterers
This is not total naskh, because it is not saying don't whip any adulterers. It is takhSeeS (specification), specifying a new verdict for a subset of the original population. The ahadith of stoning are mustafeeD. Also, there is the authentic hadith from `Umar on this issue, which suggests that even if it was not part of the Qur'an, it was a very strong sunnah, to the extent that `Umar thought it equivalent to the Qur'an. The Khawarij rejected the stoning due to their fanatic insistence on the Qur'an and rejection of a large quantity of hadith.

Wallahu a'lam.