Naskh (Abrogation) — Seerah Encyclopedia

The principle that Allah may reveal a ruling and later replace it with another — a topic of Usul al-Fiqh introduced into the Seerah at the change of the qibla, its first instance.

Definition

Allah reveals a law, then reveals a new law that supersedes it. The two verses do not contradict (the abrogated ruling is simply no longer implemented). Classic example: a widow’s waiting period, first “one year” (Q 2:240), then “four months and ten days” (Q 2:234). All four directions are logically possible — Quran abrogating Quran or Sunnah, and Sunnah abrogating Sunnah or Quran (the qibla ruling itself was originally by Sunnah). Ahl al-Sunnah affirm naskh; the Mu’tazila and Shia deny it.

How it appears in the Seerah

First case: the qibla turns from Jerusalem to the Ka’bah; Allah reveals the concept itself — “Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it” (Q 2:106).
The muakha inheritance was likewise abrogated by Q 8:75 after Badr.

EP 040 treats a linked Usul question. The majority hold the Prophet ﷺ could make independent ijtihad, sometimes corrected by revelation (the Badr prisoners, Q 8:67; cross-pollination; forgiving the hypocrites at Tabuk, Q 9:43). Either way, whatever he ﷺ commanded is binding unless revelation changed it — the practical rule for the ummah.

At Badr he ﷺ addressed the slain in the well (“they hear me no less than you, but cannot reply” — Sahih Muslim). Scholars split: one camp (al-Nawawi, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim…) — the dead can hear a visitor; the other (A’ishah, Umar, al-Albani…) — Allah revived them to hear (Q 35:22). A theoretical ikhtilaf; no action is derived — by consensus one never petitions the dead.

Cross-references

The Change of the Qibla · The Muakha (Brotherhood of Muhajirun & Ansar) · The Battle of Badr · Salah (the Five Daily Prayers) · Muhammad ﷺ · Seerah Timeline

Sources

S006 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 034, 038, 040. Tafsir of Q 2:106, 2:234/240; Sahih Muslim (the well of Badr); Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmu’ al-Fatawa vol. 5.