The Abrogator and the Abrogated

The Abrogator and the Abrogated
In their attempt to polish Islam's image, Muslim activists usually quote the Meccan passages of the Quran that call for love, peace and patience. They deliberately hide the Medenan passages that call for killing, decapitating, and maiming.

Muslim activists also fail to reveal to people in the West a major doctrine in Islam called "al-Nasikh wal-Mansoukh" (the Abrogator and the Abrogated). This simply means that when a recent verse in the Quran gives a contradictory view to another verse that preceded it (chronologically), the recent verse abrogates (cancels and replaces) the old verse and renders it null and void.

This doctrine is based on the Quran, where Allah allegedly says in Surah 2:106, "None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar: Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things?" Also, in Surah 16:101 "When We substitute one revelation for another, and Allah knows best what He reveals (in stages), they say, "Thou art but a forger": but most of them understand not."

One of Islam's classical reference books, written by a recognized Muslim scholar, deals in great detail with the subject. The title of the book is "al-Nasikh wal-Mansoukh" (The Abrogator and the Abrogated) by Abil-Kasim Hibat-Allah Ibn-Salama Abi-Nasr. The book goes through every chapter in the Quran and points in full detail to every verse that has been canceled and what verse replaced it. The author noted that out of 114 Surahs (chapters) of the Quran, there are only 43 Surahs that were not affected by this concept.

An example of the abrogation: there are 124 versus that call for tolerance and patience which have been canceled and replaced by this one single verse: "Fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)....." Surah 9:5

One doesn't help but wonder: how Allah, the all-powerful, the all-knowing, needs to revise himself so often?