WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.480 Have you ever wondered what Muslims do when different 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.280 verses in the Quran seem to contradict one another? 00:00:05.500 --> 00:00:07.799 And what happens when some teachings appear to 00:00:07.799 --> 00:00:11.480 change over time? Abrogation in Islam is the 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:14.199 idea that certain revelations to Muhammad cancel 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:17.940 or override earlier ones. In cases of contradiction, 00:00:18.199 --> 00:00:20.480 the later revelation is treated as abrogating 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:23.239 the earlier one. This doctrine is usually based 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:26.769 on a verse in Surah 2, verse 106. which says 00:00:26.769 --> 00:00:29.710 that when Allah causes a revelation to be abrogated 00:00:29.710 --> 00:00:32.770 or forgotten, He brings another one like it or 00:00:32.770 --> 00:00:35.469 better than it. But what does that actually mean 00:00:35.469 --> 00:00:38.409 in practice? If this verse is talking about replacing 00:00:38.409 --> 00:00:41.490 forgotten or lost verses with better ones, then 00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:43.990 it cannot logically be used to cancel verses 00:00:43.990 --> 00:00:46.590 that are still known and still present in the 00:00:46.590 --> 00:00:49.729 Quran. Yet in Islamic tradition, that is exactly 00:00:49.729 --> 00:00:52.530 what often happens. Verses that everyone can 00:00:52.530 --> 00:00:55.799 still read are declared abrogated. and no longer 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:58.359 binding even though they have not been forgotten 00:00:58.359 --> 00:01:02.140 or removed. To make sense of this, Muslims have 00:01:02.140 --> 00:01:04.780 generally described four types of abrogation. 00:01:05.159 --> 00:01:07.760 First, there are cases where the abrogating verse 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.659 is in the Qur 'an and the abrogated verse is 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:13.560 also still in the Qur 'an. Second, there are 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:16.599 cases where both verses are in the text, but 00:01:16.599 --> 00:01:18.900 the earlier one is considered cancelled in practice. 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:21.840 Third, there are cases where the abrogated verse 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.879 is no longer in the Qur 'an at all. Fourth, there 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:27.439 are cases where the abrogating verse itself is 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:30.659 not in the Qur 'an. That last category is especially 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:33.459 troubling. If a verse was supposedly revealed 00:01:33.459 --> 00:01:37.200 to replace another but is now lost, then it directly 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:41.920 clashes with the idea in Surah 2 verse 106 that 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:44.420 a better or similar verse will be brought in 00:01:44.420 --> 00:01:46.959 its place. How can that promise be fulfilled 00:01:46.959 --> 00:01:50.439 if the replacement verse itself no longer exists? 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:53.540 What about verses that were not lost but still 00:01:53.540 --> 00:01:56.200 declared cancelled? Consider a famous example. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:00.319 In Surah 2, verse 256, we read that there is 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:03.099 no compulsion in religion and that the right 00:02:03.099 --> 00:02:06.379 path is clear from error. This sounds like a 00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:09.120 principle of religious freedom, but later in 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.360 the Quran we find verses commanding fighting 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:14.560 until certain conditions in society are changed 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:18.219 and until Islam prevails. Many Muslim scholars 00:02:18.219 --> 00:02:20.419 have taught that these later fighting verses 00:02:20.419 --> 00:02:23.699 override the earlier call to no compulsion in 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:26.620 religion. The earlier verse remains in the text 00:02:26.620 --> 00:02:29.500 but is treated as no longer binding. How did 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:32.439 this shift happen? Some Muslim scholars describe 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:34.780 a historical progression in Muhammad's teaching 00:02:34.780 --> 00:02:37.439 on fighting. At first fighting was forbidden. 00:02:37.659 --> 00:02:40.780 Then it was allowed in self -defense. Later it 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:42.939 was commanded more broadly against those who 00:02:42.939 --> 00:02:46.120 opposed Islam or associated partners with Allah. 00:02:46.750 --> 00:02:49.729 The more militant Medinan verses are then said 00:02:49.729 --> 00:02:52.389 to abrogate many of the more tolerant Meccan 00:02:52.389 --> 00:02:55.729 verses. We even see abrogation inside the Qur 00:02:55.729 --> 00:02:58.550 'an interpreted through hadith. For example, 00:02:58.550 --> 00:03:01.310 there is a report where a companion asked about 00:03:01.310 --> 00:03:03.250 the forgiveness of someone who intentionally 00:03:03.250 --> 00:03:06.650 kills a believer. He quoted a Meccan verse from 00:03:06.650 --> 00:03:09.430 Surah al -Furqan that offered hope of repentance 00:03:09.430 --> 00:03:12.509 and forgiveness. Another companion replied that 00:03:12.509 --> 00:03:15.289 this verse had been abrogated by a later Medinan 00:03:15.289 --> 00:03:17.879 verse that threatened hellfire for those who 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:21.000 intentionally kill a believer. Both verses are 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:24.360 still in the Quran, but one is treated as cancelled. 00:03:24.860 --> 00:03:28.319 Oddly, many abrogated passages remain part of 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:30.860 the Quranic text, even though they are said to 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:34.139 have no legal force for Muslims today. Some writers 00:03:34.139 --> 00:03:37.280 have counted over 100 verses that call for patience, 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:40.699 tolerance, or peaceful coexistence, which they 00:03:40.699 --> 00:03:43.560 claim have been cancelled and replaced by later 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:46.849 commands to fight, and slay polytheists wherever 00:03:46.849 --> 00:03:50.310 they are found. According to this view, one single 00:03:50.310 --> 00:03:53.189 fighting verse can override a very large number 00:03:53.189 --> 00:03:56.530 of verses about patience and restraint. There 00:03:56.530 --> 00:03:59.129 is also a striking example showing how a revelation 00:03:59.129 --> 00:04:02.250 could be revised almost immediately. One report 00:04:02.250 --> 00:04:05.210 describes how a verse was revealed that praised 00:04:05.210 --> 00:04:08.210 those who fight in the cause of Allah above those 00:04:08.210 --> 00:04:10.870 who stay at home. When this was written down, 00:04:11.090 --> 00:04:14.090 a blind man who could not fight asked the Prophet 00:04:14.090 --> 00:04:16.750 what applied to him. Then a slightly revised 00:04:16.750 --> 00:04:19.670 verse was revealed, adding an exception for those 00:04:19.670 --> 00:04:22.589 who are disabled, such as the blind or lame. 00:04:22.970 --> 00:04:26.009 The earlier wording and the revised wording are 00:04:26.009 --> 00:04:28.750 both preserved in the tradition. Does this not 00:04:28.750 --> 00:04:31.410 raise an important question? If verses can be 00:04:31.410 --> 00:04:34.189 revised on the spot, and if peaceful verses can 00:04:34.189 --> 00:04:36.750 later be treated as cancelled by more militant 00:04:36.750 --> 00:04:39.350 ones, how can anyone simply say that the Qur 00:04:39.350 --> 00:04:43.060 'an is one timeless, unchanged message? without 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:46.259 tension or development. And if some abrogating 00:04:46.259 --> 00:04:49.339 verses and some abrogated verses are said to 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:52.399 be lost entirely, how does that fit with the 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:55.319 claim that the revelation has been perfectly 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:58.899 preserved? These are not minor details but central 00:04:58.899 --> 00:05:01.639 issues. Anyone who wants to understand the Qur 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:04.879 'an deeply has to wrestle with how abrogation 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:08.720 works, what it changes, and what it implies about 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:11.120 the stability and clarity of the text Muslims 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:12.079 follow today.