Abrogation

[reepicheep]

The hadith contain at least one clear example where Mohammad modified a passage in the Koran:

Bukhari Volume 6, Book 60, Number 118:
Narrated Al-Bara:


When the Verse:--"Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home)," (4.95) was revealed, the Prophet said, "Call so-and-so." That person came to him with an ink-pot and a wooden board or a shoulder scapula bone. The Prophet said (to him), "Write: 'Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive and fight in the Cause of Allah." Ibn Um Maktum who was sitting behind the Prophet then said, "O Allah's Apostle! I am a blind man." So there was revealed in the place of that Verse, the Verse:--"Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home) except those who are disabled (by injury, or are blind or lame etc.) and those who strive and fight in the Cause of Allah." (4.95)

As the above hadith shows: originally, Surah 4:95 stated that "not equal are those believers who sit and those who strive and fight". But Um Maktum, a blind man, pointed out that this wasn't really fair since blind men (for example) couldn't be expected to fight.


So, Mohammad changed Surah 4:95 to read "not equal are those of the believers who sit except those who are disabled...".


Since we know that Mohammad modified Surah 4:95, it is not unreasonable to assume that other verses were modified, too (for example, Surah 53:19-20 which reportedly included the "Satanic Verses" which Mohammad later deleted from the Koran).


Reepicheep.


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