Bismillah
The Quran has been, being and will continue to be the foundation of Islam, it has always been, still is and will continue to be under attack in terms of authenticity.
The main goal of any one who desires to invalidate Islam is to invalidate the Quran which contains what Islam is.
Now what is Quran? Quran is the methodology, the curriculum of life, the manual of a Muslim. Being so, it is a comprehensive book containing detailed texts on the life related matters, including but not limited to marriage, death, inheritance, treatment of self and others, family, manners, food, punishment, economy, social texture, …etc. only to name a few topics. It sets rules and regulation related to different situations including fighting in the name of Allah, prayer during fighting, traveling and more. Now if I say that Allah revealed rules, then abrogated them, it makes it seem like Allah Changed His mind (astaghferu Allah). As I explained regarding the first Ayahs I quoted.
And I will take the chance of reviewing the following Ayahs again:
"To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and whether you disclose what is in your ownselves or conceal it, Allah will call you to account for it. Then He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. And Allah is Able to do all things." (Quran 2:284)
"Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned." (Quran 2:285)
Those who call this abrogation miss the point that there is not change of rule or any contradiction but rather a warning from Allah for us to take His Capabilities well in consideration. Just to keep in mind that whatever we conceal or disclose in ourselves Allah knows because He is the Allah Knowing who at the same time Does not burden a soul more than it can take. This is even explained more in the following Ayah:
"And there is no sin on you if you make a hint of betrothal or conceal it in yourself, Allah knows that you will remember them, but do not make a promise of contract with them in secret except that you speak an honourable saying according to the Islamic law (e.g. you can say to her, "If one finds a wife like you, he will be happy"). And do not consummate the marriage until the term prescribed is fulfilled. And know that Allah knows what is in your minds, so fear Him. And know that Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Forbearing." (Quran 2:235) No contradiction, know that Allah Knows what is in your minds but also He is Oft Forgiving Most Forbearing.
Sobhan Allah. How can we say that the second Ayah annulled the first one. Both complement each other and serve as a warning tool for us to try and be careful even with what we conceal.
There is a very famous topic that people refer to as abrogation, that the Quran included an Ayah setting the punishment of stoning, then Allah removed it, but the ruling remained to be taken from the Sunnah. Even when one reads the claimed Ayah, anyone can easily see that the style can never be a part of Quran.
A number of scholars quote Omar saying that stoning was included in Quran. With a simple thought of this quote one can easily make out that what Omar meant was that Allah by virtue of the following Ayah:
“It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, he has indeed strayed in a plain error.” (Quran 33:36)
Allah Gave the legislation authority to His Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam. Based on this Omar sees that if the Messenger sat the stoning rule, he did this according to his legislative authority given in Quran as above.
If we take in consideration that there are many people who tried to take the challenge and compose Quran, an early example is even Musaylema the laiar. We can understand how this worked.
But I think wallhu a`lam that the issue is related to I want to be very careful in expressing this, when old scholar couldn’t make the link between two Ayahs they saw it as abrogation. However if we follow this, we will say that for example the Quran that was revealed in Medina abrogated that revealed in Mecca. What is the point of keeping it in the book then what is the point of revealing it then. This is Allah Talking to mankind.
To be continued Insh a Allah