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wa-ʾidhā baddalnā ʾāyatan makāna ʾāyatin wa-llāhu ʾaʿlamu bi-mā yunazzilu qālū ʾinnamā ʾanta muftarin bal ʾaktharuhum lā yaʿlamūna
When We change a sign for another in its stead—and Allah knows best what He sends down—they say, ‘You are indeed a fabricator.’ Indeed, most of them do not know.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah An-Nahl – Verse 101
101. “And when We exchange a verse in the place of another verse, and Allah is well aware of what He sends down, they say: ‘You are only a forger.’ Nay, most of them do not know.”
The Occasion of the Revelation
Ibn-i-‘Abbas says:
The pretext seeking pagans used to claim that Muhammad (S) had made an object of ridicule out of his companions, whenever a verse was revealed and contained some harsh commandments in it and at other time another verse was revealed and a more lenient decree was involved in it, they used to say:
Today he decrees one thing while tomorrow he forbids that same order, all of which exhibits the fact that Muhammad (S) claims everything by himself and not from the sphere of Allah. It was at this time that the verse was revealed and provided them with the appropriate answer.
This verse explains the objections which the pagans had with regard to the Divine verses. Firstly, the Holy Qur’an implies that when Allah (s.w.t.) converts a verse into another one (thus abrogating a decree), that is, He replaces one verse with another one, pagans say: You are involved in accusations. However, most of them do not know the truth, for Allah is knowledgeable about the commandments which He sends. Therefore, He sends orders according to those circumstances which are required.
The verse says:
“And when We exchange a verse in the place of another verse, and Allah is well aware of what He sends down, they say: ‘You are only a forger.’ Nay, most of them do not know.”
They do not know that the Qur’an is seeking to set up the human society which is pioneering in every respect and with a superior kind of spirituality. Despite all these, it is obvious that this Divine prescription sometimes required some changes and conversions from the side of Allah.
Certainly, they are unaware of these facts and know nothing about the conditions which have brought about the revelation of the Holy Qur’an, otherwise, they knew that the discarding of certain commandments and verses of the Qur’an is a pre-determined well-calculated and exact procedure of Islam for educational purposes without which the ultimate attainment of the evolutionary process can not be achieved and can not be regarded as reasons allegedly for contradictory statements by the Prophet (S) or false accusations to Allah:
“Nay, most of them do not know.”
Nevertheless, most of them do not know that this abrogation is done by Him alone or they are unaware that such a process is allowed, or what is the reason that a commandment alters.
Explanations
Sometimes a physician changes his prescription for his patient. This kind of change is found in the verses and commandments by the Wise, the Omniscient, which is called ‘abrogation’. The religion has got two sets of rules: constant and changeable, both of which cases are ordained by Him. Certainly, all the Divine rules are holding true at their own time and conditions. The changes of the Divine rules are not the signs of skepticism or regret, or because of scientific development, or experimental development and, finally, due to the weaknesses in the legislation system. On the contrary, they exhibit the fact that they are caused by precautionary measures taken and wisdom, as well as having the environmental conditions in mind. Allah knows.