Answering Objections to Islam · Theology & Doctrine
Abrogation (Naskh) and the Charge of Contradiction
In short
- 1.It only ever touches rules of practice, never statements about God or history.
- 2.Scholars argued a lot about how many cases there are: al-Suyuti counted about 20, later scholars as few as five.
- 3.The standard example is alcohol, banned in steps — that is teaching people gradually, not contradicting itself.
The claim being examined
Q 2:106 says some verses were replaced. People ask: why would an unchanging God revise His own book — and does this let Muslims drop verses they do not like?
The Islamic position
Later rulings replacing earlier ones is teaching in stages, not God correcting a mistake. It changes rules for a community as its situation changes — the same way the law in the Bible develops from Moses (PBUH) onwards.
Analysis
Early commentators used the word loosely. Sometimes they meant "this verse narrows that one" rather than "this verse replaces that one", which is why the old counts look so high. Al-Shafi'i tightened the definition and the numbers came down. The idea behind it is simple: a lawgiver speaking to a real community over 23 years gives rules that fit where that community is. That is exactly the kind of revelation the Qur'an describes itself as. Christians hold the same shape of belief. They say the ceremonial law of Moses (PBUH) is fulfilled and no longer binding — Hebrews 8:13 calls the first covenant obsolete. So this is not an objection they can press without answering it themselves.
From the Qur'an
۞ مَا نَنسَخْ مِنْ ءَايَةٍ أَوْ نُنسِهَا نَأْتِ بِخَيْرٍۢ مِّنْهَآ
mā nansakh min āyatin aw nunsihā nati bikhayrin min'hā
Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it.
وَإِذَا بَدَّلْنَآ ءَايَةًۭ مَّكَانَ ءَايَةٍۢ ۙ
wa-idhā baddalnā āyatan makāna āyatin
When We substitute one verse for another — and Allah knows best what He reveals.
From the Bible
Greek
Thus he declared all foods clean — an abrogation of Levitical dietary law.
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