Researched by: A. Muhammad [taken from the book by the author titled
‘THE LIE OF ABROGATION’ ]
INTRODUCTION
The abrogation of Quranic verses, arguably the greatest lie
against the Quran, was originally invented during the fourth century A.H. (late
10th century A.D.) by some Muslim scholars notably Ahmed Bin Ishaq Al-Dinary
(died 318 A.H.), Mohamad Bin Bahr Al-Asbahany (died 322 A.H.), Hebat Allah Bin
Salamah (died 410 A.H.) and Mohamad Bin Mousa Al-Hazmy (died 548 A.H.), whose
book about Al-Nasekh and Al-Mansoukh is regarded as one of the leading
references in the subject.
This concept invented originally by these scholars, claims that
there are some verses in the Quran that have been abrogated and invalidated by
other verses!
The verse that is the abrogator they call (Al-Nasekh) while the
abrogated verse they call (Al-Mansoukh).
These scholars have come up with hundreds of cases of abrogated
verses to the extent that they have formulated a whole science of the subject
filling lengthy books and references.
Although the concept was originally invented by Muslim scholars
as a result of their poor understanding of the Quran, yet it has been widely
exploited by non-Muslim writers to tarnish the perfection and divinity of the
book.
Abrogations or Contradictions?
The lie invented by the Muslim scholars suggests that some
Quranic verses have been abrogated by other verses. On the other hand, the
non-Muslim writers claim that these cases, and other cases they put forward, are
in fact contradictions inside the Quran. Consequently, they use these cases as
evidence to refute the divinity of the Quran.
It is noted that the examples used by Muslim scholars as
‘abrogated verses’ are not always the verses used by non-Muslim writers and
which they simply refer to as ‘contradictions in the Quran’.
Although it can be said that the common aspect shared by the two
groups is their poor understanding of the Quran, yet it can also be added that
in the case of the non-Muslim writers, and particularly those who do not speak
Arabic, we often find many of their claims for contradictions to be a product of
their acquisition of corrupted and misleading translations of the Quran.
Both of these types of false claims can be dealt with in the
light of the Quran. It can be demonstrated that these claims are no more than
cases of poor understanding of the book.
Abrogation claims of
Muslim Scholars
"A.L.R.
This is a book whose verses have been perfected" Sura 11, verse 1
"……the words of God are unchangeable"
10:64
Although God asserts that the Quran is perfect and harbours no
contradictions, yet sadly these scholars have invented the greatest lie about
the Quran, claiming that there are verses in the Quran that abrogate and
invalidate other verses.
They base their claim on a corrupted interpretation of two
verses:
FIRST VERSE 2:106
"Whichever Ayah
We relinquish or cause to be forgotten We replace it with its equal or with that
which is greater, did you not know that God is capable of all things?"
2:106
What the interpreters claim is that this verse confirms that
some Quranic verses are invalidated by others. They interpret ‘Ayah’ in this
verse to mean a verse in the Quran.
However the word Ayah, as used in the Quran, can have one of
four different meanings:
a- It could mean a miracle from God as in:
"And We supported Moses with nine
profound Ayah’s (miracles)."
17:101
b- It could also mean an example for people to take heed from as
in:
"And the folk of Noah, when they
disbelieved the messengers, We have drowned them and set an Ayah
(example) of them for all people."
25:37
c- The word ‘Ayah’ can also mean a sign as in:
"He said, ‘My Lord, give me an
‘Ayah’ (sign).’ He said, ‘Your Ayah
is that you will not speak to people for three consecutive nights."
19:10
d- It could mean a verse in the Quran, as in:
"This is a book that We have sent
down to you that is sacred, perhaps they will reflect on its ‘Ayat’
(verses)." 38:29
Now if we consider verse 106 of Sura 2, we can easily spot that
the word ‘Ayah’ in this particular verse
could not mean a verse in the Quran. It can mean any of the other meanings
(miracle, example or sign) but not a verse in the Quran. This is because of the
following reasons:
1- The words "cause to be forgotten"
could not be applicable if the word ‘Ayah’
in this verse meant a verse in the Quran. How can a verse in the Quran become
forgotten? For even if the verse was invalidated by another (as the interpreters
falsely claim) it will still be part of the Quran and thus could never be
forgotten.
2- The words "We replace it with its
equal" would be meaningless if the word
‘Ayah’ in this verse meant a Quranic verse, simply because it would
make no sense for God to invalidate one verse then replace it with one that is
identical to it!
3- If the word ‘Ayah’ in
verse 106 meant a miracle an example or a sign, then all the words of the verse
would make perfect sense. The words "cause to be
forgotten" can apply to all three meanings and that is what
actually happens with the passing of time. The miracles of Moses and Jesus have
long been forgotten. We only believe in them because they are mentioned in the
Quran.
Similarly the words "We replace with
its equal or with that which is greater" is in line with the
miracles of God. God indeed replaces one miracle with its equal or with one that
is greater than it. Consider the following verse :
"And We have sent Moses with Our
Ayah’s (miracles or signs) to Pharaoh and his elders proclaiming : ‘I am a
messenger from the Lord of the universe’. When he brought them our
Ayah’s
they laughed at him. Every Ayah
We showed them was greater than the one that preceded it."
43:46-48
SECOND VERSE 16:101
"When We substitute one Ayat
(revelation) in place of another, and God
is fully aware of what He reveals, they say, 'You made this up'. Indeed most of
them do not know"
The substitution spoken of here is concerned with one of two
things:
a- The substitution of one Scripture in place of another.
b- The substitution of one verse or law within a Scripture with
another in a subsequent Scripture
a- The first meaning is given evidence to in the following
verse:
"Then we revealed to you this
scripture, truthfully, confirming previous scriptures, and superseding them."
5:48
Here, the words "superseding
them." confirm that the previous scripture were substituted
with the Quran.
b- The second meaning is also given evidence to in the Quran
where various issues that were prohibited to the previous people of the book
were made lawful in the Quran.
As an example, we are told in 2:187 that sexual intercourse
between married couples during the nights of the fasting month was made lawful,
while it was prohibited previously.
We are also told in 6:146 that God prohibited for the Jews all
animals with undivided hoofs; and of the cattle and sheep the fat was
prohibited. These were made lawful in the Quran.
This verse 16:101 does not speak about the substitution of one
verse in the Quran with another.
The evidence to that is given within the same verse (16:101):
The key to the meaning of the verse lies in the words:
"........they say, 'You made this
up"
Here we must stop and ask, who is likely to tell the messenger
"You made this up" ?
and why? For sure it cannot be his followers, his followers are not likely to
tell him
"You have made it up"................it
has to be those who do not believe in him, which focuses on the followers of
previous scripture who feared that their scripture was in danger of being
"substituted" with the Quran............
What more evidence to that more than the fact that till this
day, the Jews and Christians accuse Muhammad that he fabricated the Quran
himself! If this accusation is from the Jews and Christians we must then ask,
are they accusing Muhammad of substituting one verse in the Quran with another?
The Jews and Christians do not care if one verse in the Quran is substituted for
another, after all they do not believe in the whole book............. they will
not complain that one verse in the Quran is being substituted with another!
However, and if their Scripture is being substituted by the Quran, they will
immediately accuse the messenger that the Scripture he brings (Quran) is not
from God but that he "made it up" himself.
These glorious words "You have made
it up" indeed stand as true indicator from God Almighty that the
substitution spoken of in this verse is not related to one within the Quran, but
indeed a substitution between two scripture.
As mentioned before, the substitution of the previous scripture
with the Quran is confirmed in 5:48
As a result of the corruption of
the meaning of 2:106 and 16:101, and the claim that some Quranic verses
invalidate other verses, the interpreters have demonstrated their failure to
uphold two main characteristics of the Quran, those being that the Quran is
perfect and harbours no contradictions (11:1) and also that the words of God are
unchangeable (10:64).
It is well worth inquiring here into the motive behind the
interpreters corruption of the meaning of 2:106 and 16:101.
Perhaps the major reason is not connected to the Quran at all
but to the ‘hadith’. It is well accepted among the hadith scholars that the
concept of abrogation applies to the hadith since it is found that many ‘hadith’
contradict one another. The examples of these are too numerous. The following
are only some examples:
P.S. (the first number is the number of the book (chapter), and
second number is the number of hadith. For example Muslim 18/58 means the 58th
hadith in the 18th book of Muslim. In other quotations the name of the chapter
is given instead of its number.
1- "I am
the most honourable messenger" (Bukhary
97/36).
This hadith contradicts the following hadith:
"Do not make any distinction among the
messengers; I am not even better than Jonah" (Bukhary 65/4,5; Hanbel
1/205,242,440).
2- "The Prophet never urinated in
standing position" (Hanbel 6/136,192,213). This contradicts:
"The prophet urinated in standing position"
(Bukhary 4/60,62).
3- "The prophet said, ‘The sun was
eclipsed the day Ibrahim (the prophet’s son) died’…(Bukhary 7/page
118)
This contradicts:
"The prophet said, ‘the sun and moon are signs
from God, they are not eclipsed for the death or life of any one" (Bukhari
2/page 24)
4- "If two Muslims fight each other
with their swords, the killer and the killed will go to hell"
(Bukhari 1/page 13, Muslim 18/page 10).
This hadith contradicts the hadith of the ten who were foretold that they will
go to heaven by the prophet (Ahmad 1/page 187-188, also narrated by Abu Dawood
and Al-Tarmazy). That is because among those ten were those who fought and
killed one another in battle, specifically Ali, Talha and Al-Zobair. According
to the first hadith they will go to hell but accoding to the second hadith they
are foretold paradise!
5- In various hadith, specifically in the chapters of the
‘Hereafter’ in the books of Bukhary and Muslim we read numerous predictions by
the prophet detailing what will take place there. This contradicts the hadith by
Aesha, the prophet’s wife where she says "Anybody who
says that Muhammad knows the future is a liar" (Bukhary 8/ page 166,
Muslim 3/ page 9-10)
6- "The prophet said, ‘Take your
religion from the words of Aesha (the prophet’s wife)"
This contradicts: "The
prophet said, ‘Aesha is immature in mind and faith."
(Bukhari and others)
The heart of the matter is directly connected to the following
verse:
"Why do they not study the Quran
carefully? If it were from a source other than God, they would have detected
within it numerous contradictions." 4:82
This verse confirms that anything that contains contradictions
cannot be from God, and since the hadith contains numerous contradictions, as
shown, it cannot be from God. But the hadith advocates claim that the hadith was
inspired by God and that the hadith Al-Qudsy is God’s own words spoken to
Muhammad! If that is so, how could they explain the contradictions in hadith?
How could it be from God when it is full of contradictions? According to 4:82
nothing that contains contradictions can be from God.
To wiggle out of this tricky situation, the hadith advocates
devised the concept of the abrogation of Quranic verses.
The plan was as such: If the Quran can be shown to contain
contradictory verses, yet no one will dispute that it is from God, then the
hadith with its contradictions can also be described to be inspired by God !!!
Quite a sly plot except for one minor detail;
It is the intention of
this book to review the most common cases of abrogation and, God willing,
demonstrate that they are all based upon poor understanding of the Quran. Each
case presented will be accompanied by Quranic evidence that confirms the absence
of any contradiction between the relevant verses, and as a result will expose
the interpreter’s poor understanding of the Quran.
CLAIMS OF
ABROGATION
P.S. (The following are a few examples, the complete number of
claimed abrogated cases appear in the book by the author).
CASE ONE:
The first example is concerned with the following verses:
Abrogated
"Whether you declare your inner
thoughts or you conceal them, God holds you accountable to them."
2:284
Abrogator
"God never burdens any soul beyond
its means, to its credit is what it earns, and against it is what it commits."
2:286
The claim is that these two verses contradict one another, the
first verse states that God holds people accountable to their intentions while
as the second verse indicates that we are only accountable to our deeds.
Therefore this stands as a candidate for abrogation where the second verse is
the abrogator and the first verse is abrogated.
Thus they claim that the underlined words in 2:284 were
invalidated by the underlined words in 2:286
However, one only has to read the verse immediately before verse
284 to realise that there is no contradiction between 284 and 286:
The last words of verse 283 together with verse 284 read as
follows:
"Anyone who withholds a testimony is
sinful at heart. God is fully aware of everything you do. To God belongs
everything in the heavens and the earth, Whether you declare your inner thoughts
or conceal them, God holds you accountable for them."
By reading the two verses together it becomes apparent that the
subject of verse 284 is testimony and not one’s intentions in general.
Verse 284 confirms that God holds those who conceal a testimony
accountable. Furthermore, the words used in verse 284 are
‘declare’ and ‘conceal’ while
as the words used in verse 286 are ‘earn’
and ‘commit’. The words
‘declare’ and
‘conceal’ are consistent with the subject of testimony. Testimony can
indeed be declared or concealed. On the other hand, the words
‘earn’ and ‘commit’
which are used in verse 286 speak of our deeds.
Indeed verses 283 and 284 are related to the same subject
(withholding testimony) since they are consecutive. For all that, it becomes
clear that there is not the slightest contradiction between verses 284 and 286.
CASE TWO:
Abrogated
"Surely those who believe, and the
Jews, and the Christians and the Sabaeans, those among them who believe in God
and the hereafter, and who works righteous deeds, will receive their recompense
from their Lord, they have nothing to fear nor will they grieve"
2:62
Abrogator
"Whoever seeks other than Islam as
his religion, it will not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he will be
with the losers" 3:85
Here the claim is that while verse 2:62 says that some Jews and
Christians will be rewarded, this was abrogated by 3:85 which states that all
who are not Muslim will end up in hell.
The misunderstanding and poor interpretation here stems from
their lack of understanding of the word Islam (Submission). In spite of the fact
that God tells us in the Quran that Islam (Submission to God Alone) is as old as
Abraham who was the first Muslim (see 2:128, 2:131, 2:133) and who was the first
to name us Muslims (22:78), still the Muslim scholars today insist that Islam is
confined to being the religion of the Quran !!!
By creating such a false statement, the Muslim scholars claim to
be the custodians of the message! In 3:67 God specifically tells us that Abraham
was neither Jewish nor Christian, but a monotheist Muslim. God also tells us in
5:111 that Jesus and the Disciples were Muslim. In 27:44 tells us that Solomon
was Muslim and in 5:44 we are told of all the prophets who were given the Torah
and who were all Muslim.
What all these verses are confirming is that there are Muslims
who followed the Torah and the Bible and who knew nothing of the Quran. These
Muslims were submitters to God Alone , Lord of the universe.
In effect the religion of Islam which was originally founded by
Abraham can be found, not only in the Quran, but also in the Torah and the
Bible. After all we are told that all the foundations of the religion, and which
Muslims call the pillars of Islam were first given to Abraham.
The Quran confirms the true meaning of a Muslim, as being he who
submits to God Alone and obeys the law of God Alone, and should not be confined
to he who follows the Quran.
Those among the Christians who believe in the Oneness of God and
who do not worship Jesus are Muslim in the sight of God. Similarly those among
any other religion who submit to God Alone and who set up no idols to partner
Almighty God are Muslim in the sight of God.
All these have their recompense from their Lord and have nothing
to fear (2:62). These people are also the subject of 3:85 since they chose to be
Muslim (submitters) to God. They could be Muslim submitters, Jewish submitters,
Christian submitters …..etc.
Consequently, there is no contradiction between 2:62 and 3:85
CASE THREE:
Some of the most ridiculous cases of abrogation are connected
with the difficulty of these scholars in understanding that some laws set by God
make allowance for exceptions. Whenever the scholars see a law that makes
allowance for an exception, they construe it as a case of abrogation!
There are many cases throughout the Quran of this poor deduction
and total irrationality, the following are some of them:
1- In 4:19 God address’s the men by saying:
"You shall not force them (the
women) to give up anything you have given them, unless they commit a proven
adultery"
Here the abrogation claim is that the first part of the verse
"You shall not force them (women) to give up
anything you have given them" has been
abrogated by the second part of the verse
"unless they commit a proven adultery" !!!!
Why does an exception to a rule that is made allowance for by
God obliterate the rule??? Obviously the rule still stands, because God states
that for all women who have not committed adultery, their husbands do not have
the right to regain anything they had previously given them.
The first part of the verse, which constitutes the general case
has not been abrogated. The second part of the verse which constitutes the
exception also stands.
2- In 2:159 we read:
"Those who conceal Our revelations
and guidance, after proclaiming them in the Scripture, are condemned by God;
they are condemned by all the condemners"
They claim that this verse (159) has been abrogated by the verse
that immediately followed it (160) which reads:
"Except those who repent, reform and
proclaim, I redeem them. I am the Redeemer, the Most Merciful"
Again we see that verse 160 says that those who had concealed
the revelation but then repented and reformed are redeemed by God. Verse 159 has
not been abrogated. It still stands, since all those who concealed the
revelations and have not repented and reformed are not redeemed.
3- In 3:86-88 we read:
"Why should God guide those who
disbelieved after believing…………….the retribution is never commuted for them, nor
will they be reprieved"
The claim here is that these verses have been abrogated by verse
89:
"Exempted are those who repent
thereafter and reform, God is Forgiver, Most Merciful."
Once again the claimed abrogation is non existent. Both verses
stand true.
Verses 86-88 are speaking about those who disbelieve after
believing and maintain their disbelieving until death. They are never reprieved
in the hereafter. Verse 89 speaks about those who repent and reform during their
life. Because God is Forgiver and Most Merciful they are reprieved.
The Quran confirms that only those who die as disbelievers are
not pardoned:
"Those who disbelieve and die as
disbelievers, an earthful of gold will not be accepted from any of them, even if
such a ransom were possible. They have incurred painful retribution; they will
have no helpers." 3:91
Once again the claim of abrogation is false and is based on poor
understanding of the Quran.
4- Another case of poor understanding is found in the following
verses:
"Also you shall not be married to
two sisters at the same time" 4:23
they claim that this has been abrogated by the words that
immediately followed :
"except that which has taken place
in the past"
and they interpret the last sentence, which in Arabic is (Ila ma
salaf) to have the meaning of (I have forgiven you).
Obviously this is all incorrect. What this last verse means is
‘do not break up existing marriages’. It has nothing to do with forgiveness.
In other words God is saying that this law is to be enforced
from that time onwards, but not to previous marriages so as not to break
existing families.
Again the abrogation is non existent.
The same is applied to :
"Do not marry the women who were
previously married to your fathers, except that which has taken place in the
past………….." 4:22
CASE FOUR:
Here they claim the underlined words in the following verse:
"To God belongs the east and the
west, so wherever you go you will always be facing God. God is
Omnipresent, Omniscient" 2:115
have been abrogated by the underlined words in the following
verse:
"We now assign a Qiblah that is
pleasing to you. Henceforth, you shall turn your face towards the Sacred Masjid.
Wherever you may, all of you shall turn your faces towards it."
2:144
The claim is that in the beginning God made it lawful for the
believers to face anywhere in Salat (Contact Prayers) (as in 2:115) then later
God cancelled that by appointing a set Qibla (2:144) for the believers.
Therefore, the claim is that 2:144 invalidates 2:115
First of all, it was never made lawful for believers to face
anywhere in their Salat. We are told in the Quran that the Qibla was changed,
but nowhere are we told that there was no Qibla.
We are told in the Quran that there was a Qibla that did not
appeal to the prophet, and that God changed it to one that is more appealing to
the prophet (see 2:144)
The obvious misunderstanding here is that while verse 144 is
speaking about Qiblah for the Salat, verse 115 is not speaking about Salat at
all. Verse 115 is speaking about the fact that God is present everywhere, and
thus wherever we may look or wherever we may go, we will always be facing God.
The presence of the word "Omnipresent" at
the end of the verse confirms that the subject of the verse is God’s Presence
and not the Salat.
Verse 144 does not abrogate verse 115. They are talking about
two completely different subjects.
CASE FIVE:
Abrogated:
"Had they, when they wronged their
souls, come to you and prayed to GOD for forgiveness, and the messenger
prayed for their forgiveness, they would have found GOD Redeemer, Most Merciful."
4:64
Abrogator:
"Whether you ask forgiveness for
them, or do not ask forgiveness for them - even if you ask forgiveness for
them seventy times - GOD will not forgive them. This is because they
disbelieve in GOD and His messenger. GOD does not guide the wicked people."
9:80
The claim is that the underlined words in
9:80 "even if
you ask forgiveness for them seventy times - GOD will not forgive them"
invalidate the underlined words in 4:64
"the messenger prayed for their forgiveness, they would have found GOD
Redeemer, Most Merciful."
Once again very poor understanding of the Quran.
Here we immediately note that these two verses speak about two
different groups of people. In 4:64 God is speaking about those who have wronged
their souls but have turned back to God and asked for His forgiveness. The fact
that they asked forgiveness from God denotes that they believe in God, and for
that we are told that "they would have found GOD
Redeemer, Most Merciful."
On the other hand, those spoken of in 9:80
are described by the words: "they disbelieve
in GOD and His messenger" ………and because they are disbelievers,
we are told that "GOD will not forgive them"
From these two verses we learn that forgiveness can be asked for
any believer who repents and reforms, but may never be asked for disbelievers.
No contradiction or invalidation exists between the two verses.
CASE SIX:
Abrogated:
"O you who believe, witnessing a
will when one of you is dying shall be done by two equitable people among you
(relatives or close friends). If you are travelling, then two others may do
the witnessing. After observing the Contact Prayer (Salat), let the
witnesses swear by GOD, to alleviate your doubts: "We will not use this to
attain personal gains, even if the testator is related to us. Nor will we
conceal GOD's testimony. Otherwise, we would be sinners." 5:106
Abrogator:
"Once the interim is fulfilled, you
may reconcile with them equitably, or go through with the separation equitably.
You shall have two equitable witnesses from among you (relatives or close
friends) witness the divorce before GOD."
65:2
The claim is that in 5:106 any two witnesses, who are not
necessarily relatives or close friends, can act as witnesses while in travel if
relatives are not available, but this was invalidated by 65:2 which stated that
the witnesses must be from among the relatives or close friends.
Once again, the claim is false for the following reasons:
1- The subject of 5:106 is witnessing the will of someone who is
dying, or near death. The subject of 65:2 is witnessing a divorce.
2- In the situation of travel, a dying person may not have much
time left, and since equitable relatives may not be available in time, thus God
wavered the condition of the witnesses being from among the relatives, so that
the will is witnessed in time before the death of the person.
3- The case of divorce does not present such immediate urgency,
and thus the condition of equitable witnesses from among the relatives stands.
4- Thus it is obvious that 65:2 does not abrogate 5:106 in any
way.
CASE SEVEN:
Abrogated:
"Say, ‘I fear, if I disobeyed my
Lord, the retribution of an awesome day." 6:15
Abrogator:
"We have bestowed upon you (O
Messenger) a great victory, whereby GOD forgives your past sins, as well as
future sins…….." 48:2
Here the claim is that the underlined words in 6:15 were
abrogated later by the underlined words in 48:2
The indirect outcome of this outrageous abrogation is one of
total idolatry.
If the scholars state that the words
"I fear, if I disobeyed my Lord, the
retribution of an awesome day" are invalidated, are they saying
that the prophet no longer has to fear God? !!!
To demonstrate the truth of these verses and their implications
it is necessary first to examine in the light of the Quran what is forgiven by
God, and which can be implied under 48:2, and what is never forgiven by God and
thus must be feared according to 6:15.
We are told in the Quran that God forgives all sins except
idolatry:
"God does not forgive idolatry, but
He forgives lesser offences for whomever He wills." 4:48 and 116
We are also told that this warning applies to all people,
including God’s messengers. To affirm that even Muhammad was not excluded from
that warning we see God specifically warning Muhammad against idolatry:
"It has been revealed to you (O
Muhammad), and to those before you that if you ever commit idolatry, all your
works will be nullified, and you will be with the losers."
39:65
Now when we come to the claimed abrogation of 6:15, we read the
following words:
"Say, ‘I fear, if I disobeyed my
Lord, the retribution of an awesome day."
However, when we read the words that immediately precede this
verse, we read:
"Say, "I am commanded to be the most
devoted submitter, and, `Do not be an idol worshiper."
6:14
If we put the two verses next to one another (verses 14 and 15
of Surah 6), it becomes obvious that the messenger is to say (I fear the
retribution of an awesome day if I should disobey God and commit idolatry).
It follows from that to conclude that verse 48:2 which promises
the messenger’s sins will be forgiven (past and future sins) is obviously
connected to all other sins, except idol worship.
There is no contradiction or abrogation between the two verses.
CASE EIGHT:
Abrogated:
"GOD has pardoned you: why did
you give them permission (to stay behind), before you could distinguish
those who are truthful from the liars?" 9:43
Abrogator:
"The true believers are those who
believe in GOD and His messenger, and when they are with him in a community
meeting, they do not leave him without permission. Those who ask permission are
the ones who do believe in GOD and His messenger. If they ask your permission,
in order to tend to some of their affairs, you may grant permission to
whomever you wish, and ask GOD to forgive them. GOD is Forgiver, Most
Merciful." 24:62
The claim here is that in 9:43 the prophet was not allowed to
give permission to the ones wanting to stay behind, before he could distinguish
those who are truthful from the liars, while in 24:62 he was not given the
permission to do so.
Again, the error is quite obvious. Verse 9:43 is specifically
talking about going out for battle while 24:62 is talking about leaving a
community meeting to attend to some personal matters!
We read in the two verses preceding 9:43, namely 9:41 and 42:
"You shall readily mobilize,
light or heavy, and strive with your money and your lives in the cause of GOD.
This is better for you, if you only knew.
If there were a quick material gain, and a short journey, they would have
followed you. But the striving is just too much for them. They will swear by
GOD: "If we could, we would have mobilized with you." They thus hurt themselves,
and GOD knows that they are liars."
The underlined words
"mobilize" and if it were a
"short journey" indicate that the subject is mobilizing to go out
for the purpose of battle.
However, the words "community
meeting" in 24:62, denotes that the situation then is not one of
battle but a normal community meeting where a request for permission to be
excused for some personal matters would not exactly be classified as an
unforgivable sin!
Once again 24:62 does not contradict or abrogate 9:43, the
subject of the two verse is different.
PRAISE ALMIGHTY GOD
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