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Apparently there are some verses of the Qur'an whose ruling no longer applies; this is known as abrogation (naskh). Which leads to the question...

Question: Which Qur'an verses are abrogated?

I'm wondering if there's a complete list of obsolete Qur'an verses to help the reader recognize them. Wikipedia references

We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth [one] better than it or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah is over all things competent? -- Qur'an 2:106

This indicates it should be possible to tabulate all the abrogated Qur'an verses.

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  • How do you tabulate something that was forgotten? Other than that, there are different kinds of naskh; if A is "recitation is abrogated" and B is "ruling is abrogated", then there are (A and B), (A and not B), and (not A and B), all of which occur. wiki lists those as well. Wiki might be wrong about (A and not B) being denied by many scholars, since stoning adulterers, to my knowledge, is pretty much a matter of consensus, and quotes by Sahaba that there was a stoning verse always seem to enter the argument - I might be mistaken there.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 4, 2017 at 11:28
  • How can a Quran verse be caused to be forgotten if its in the Quran in the first place? Isn't that illogical?
    – user21470
    Commented Mar 11, 2017 at 15:17
  • I am not adding this as answer because the word Aya may have other meanings as well, but one of its meanings is "a sign" and is used in case of Moses in 17:101.
    – user21470
    Commented Mar 11, 2017 at 15:20
  • related: islam.stackexchange.com/questions/1448/… "How to reconcile Allah's infallibility with Naskh?"
    – qdinar
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 13:21
  • By the way 2:106 is referring to abrogation of the Torah directives (not Quranic) by Quranic ones. See answering-1000mistakes.com/response/age-different-surahs/…
    – a_fan
    Commented Jun 6, 2017 at 0:23

3 Answers 3

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There are different of opinions about which verses are abrogated and which aren't. The opinions go from 0 to up to 500 (what I've heard and read at least). Because it is off topic whether or not there really are abrogated verses in the Quran or not, I will not mention that. What I will provide is a list of verses which some (or many) scholars call abrogated.

Is there a complete list of obsolete Qur'an verses?
I've been looking for a while and haven't found a list yet. There are plenty of books by scholars though which somehow includes a list of verses. Some more structured than others. Because there are different of opinions in this subject, there is no absolute list which could be used, rather the list of verses differ from scholar to scholar.

The abrogated verses

RowNr | Verse => Abrogated by -- According to Scholar x,Scholar y...

  • 1 | 2:109 => 9:5 -- النحاس
  • 2 | 2:115 => 2:144 -- مكي بن أبي طالب, Al-Suyuti
  • 3 | 2:180 => 4:7 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Al-Suyuti, الدهلوي, الزرقاني
  • 4 | 2:183 => 2:187 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Al-Suyuti
  • 5 | 2:184 => 2:185 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Suyuti, الزرقاني
  • 6 | 2:191 => 2:193 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب
  • 7 | 2:217 => 9:5 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Suyuti
  • 8 | 2:240 => 2:234 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Suyuti
  • 9 | 2:284 => 2:286 -- Al-Suyuti, الزرقاني
  • 10 | 3:102 => 64:16 -- Al-Suyuti, الزرقاني
  • 11 | 4:15 => 24:2 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Suyuti, الزرقاني, مصطفى زيد
  • 12 | 4:33 => 8:75 -- Al-Suyuti
  • 13 | 4:43 => 5:90 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi, مصطفى زيد
  • 14 | 4:63 => 9:5 -- Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 15 | 4:81 => 9:5 -- مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 16 | 4:90 => 9:5 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 18 | 5:2 => 9:5 -- Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Suyuti
  • 19 | 5:42 => 5:49 -- Al-Suyuti
  • 20 | 5:106 => 65:2 -- Al-Suyuti
  • 21 | 6:68 => 9:5 -- Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 22 | 6:106 => 9:5 -- Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 23 | 6:141 => 9:60 -- النحاس
  • 24 | 8:1 => 8:41 -- النحاس
  • 25 | 8:61 => 9:5 -- النحاس
  • 26 | 8:65 => 8:66 -- Al-Suyuti, الدهلوي, الزرقاني, مصطفى زيد
  • 27 | 8:72 => 8:75 -- النحاس, Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 28 | 9:41 => 9:122 -- Al-Suyuti
  • 29 | 15:85 => 9:5 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 30 | 15:94 => 9:5 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 31 | 16:125 => 9:5 -- النحاس
  • 32 | 24:3 => 24:32 -- النحاس, Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Suyuti, الزرقاني
  • 33 | 32:30 => 9:5 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 34 | 33:52 => 33:50 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Al-Suyuti, الدهلوي, الزرقاني
  • 35 | 39:41 => 9:5 -- مكي بن أبي طالب
  • 36 | 43:89 => 9:5 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 37 | 45:14 => 9:5 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب
  • 38 | 50:45 => 9:5 -- Ibn al-Jawzi
  • 39 | 51:54 => 9:5 -- مكي بن أبي طالب
  • 40 | 53:29 => 9:5 -- مكي بن أبي طالب
  • 41 | 58:12 => 58:13 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Suyuti, الدهلوي, الزرقاني, مصطفى زيد
  • 42 | 60:10 => 9:5 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Suyuti
  • 43 | 73:2 => 73:20 (or Five daily prayers) -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب, Ibn al-Jawzi, Al-Suyuti, الدهلوي, الزرقاني, مصطفى زيد
  • 44 | 73:10 => 9:5 -- النحاس, مكي بن أبي طالب

Notice

It seems not the whole verses are abrogated according to the scholars, but rather some words in the verses are. For instance in verse 3:102 only:

اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ
Fear Allah as He should be feared

is abrogated by the verse 64:16:

فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ
So fear Allah as much as you are able

Then I should mention that the scholars who deny the abrogation would for instance explain that 64:16 doesn't really mean it is abrogating the verse 3:102, rather it is just explaining it as it was intended to be understood in the first place. So because of the difference of methods the different scholars use when interpreting the Quran, they derive different conclusions about the verses (if they are abrogated or not). The majority opinion is that there are abrogation in the Quran.

Only two verses in this list are considered abrogated according to all these scholars:
They are: 73:2 and 58:12


You will notice that many verses are abrogated by the Sword verse (9:5) according to some scholars.

Ibn Kathir describes in his tafsir, that some scholars claimed the famous verse (2:256) to be abrogated by the Sword Verse (9:5), while some says the Sword verse is abrogated by the Jizya verse:

وقد ذهب طائفة كثيرة من العلماء، أن هذه محمولة على أهل الكتاب، ومن دخل في دينهم قبل النسخ والتبديل إذا بذلوا الجزية، وقال آخرون: بل هي منسوخة بآية القتال، وإنه يجب أن يدعى جميع الأمم إلى الدخول في الدين الحنيف، دين الإسلام، فإن أبى أحد منهم الدخول فيه، ولم ينقد له، أو يبذل الجزية، قوتل حتى يقتل

I haven't find Ibn Kathir state that he himself think the verse is abrogated. He seems to express the opposite when explaining that the Prophet never forced (a certain person):

فإنه لم يكرهه النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم على الإسلام، بل دعاه إليه

The majority scholars do not consider this verse to be abrogated. (If someone has evidence that Ibn Kathir thinks the verse is abrogated, please notify me with some references and explanation.)

Disclaimer:

This list is far away from done, it will take lots of time to add all verses ever argued to be abrogated. At the moment I have added the verses Al-Suyuti argues are abrogated (his conclusion is that there are 20) and 23 other (making it 43 here). Feel free to edit and help me.


References:
السيوطي - الإتقان في علوم القرآن
qurancomplex.gov.sa - نواسخ القرآن
الناسخ والمنسوخ في القرآن الكريم - النحاس
مكي بن أبي طالب - الإيضاح لناسخ القرآن ومنسوخ
بن الجوزي - نواسخ القرآن

Recommended books:
Ali Gomaa - al-Naskh ‘ind al-Usuliyyin (النسخ عند الأصوليين)
Abrogation in the Qurʼan and Islamic Law: A Critical Study of the Concept of "naskh" and Its Impact by Louay Fatoohi

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  • 2:256 by 9:5 ibn kathir? Commented May 23, 2017 at 8:37
  • @AbuAbdulQayyum see my edit, I added about ibn kathir
    – Kilise
    Commented May 23, 2017 at 19:44
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There is no contradiction in Quran as it is said in 4:82:

Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah , they would have found within it much contradiction.

I know an ayat which is present in Quran but is clearly abrogated by immediately following ayat: 8:65 and 8:66 and so there is no contradiction:

65. O Prophet, urge the believers to battle. If there are among you twenty [who are] steadfast, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are among you one hundred [who are] steadfast, they will overcome a thousand of those who have disbelieved because they are a people who do not understand. 66. Now, Allah has lightened [the hardship] for you, and He knows that among you is weakness. So if there are from you one hundred [who are] steadfast, they will overcome two hundred. And if there are among you a thousand, they will overcome two thousand by permission of Allah. And Allah is with the steadfast.

We can think that ayat 65 is not fully abrogated, as it is not deleted, still present and giving additional information, about what would be if there was no weakness.

So, according to the ayat 4:82, I do not believe that there are present abrogated verses in Quran which are not abrogated by clear reference by other ayat of Quran, like 8:65 is abrogated by 8:66, in which case 8:66 refers 8:65 by staying immediately after it. I believe that if there is contradiction between 2 ayats, that should be solved without taking in account which ayat was revealed later, because revelation time information is not part of Quran itself, and I believe that Quran must be self-sufficient in abrogating parts of itself, otherwise it would not be Al-Furqan (Criterion), which can be used to judge all other texts.

I believe that "Al-Furqan" in 25:1 is about Quran.

25:1 Blessed is He who sent down the Criterion upon His Servant that he may be to the worlds a warner -

And Quran is a book, as it is said in 2:2, and as it is written by God, it must be self-sufficient in abrogating parts of itself.

2:2 This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah -

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    This goes against what almost all scholars say about naskh.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 11:18
  • @G.Bach no, as i have seen from wikipedia, there are different opinions, but i cannot read english easy and have not understood it thoroughly.
    – qdinar
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 13:19
  • Wikipedia says that sunnis and shiites accept naskh, which is a fair representation of what Muslim scholars really say.
    – G. Bach
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 13:20
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    that is not enough, i also do not reject it, another important thing is whether the abrogated ayats are still present in the current, last version of quran
    – qdinar
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 13:25
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    The problem with this answer is that it isn't answering the question at all. She isn't asking whether naskh is contradicting the Quran or not, rather she is asking which verses that are obsolete (according to the ones who think there are obsolete verses)... So one should answer the question in accordance to that understanding.
    – Kilise
    Commented May 18, 2017 at 23:44
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Short answer: There are no abrogated verses in Quran.

Long answer: The context of this (2:106) verse is related to previous (holy) books (that is: Torah, Psalms, and Gospel). He mentions His practice that whenever He abrogates, He provides something better than previous one. Here, the interpretation is: consider Quran a super-set (which overrides) all previous revelations; if you (compare) and find something different, then the verse in Quran overrides because it is better, ignore the previous (revelation).

We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth [one] better than it or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah is over all things competent?

Therefore, your question (list of abrogated verses in Quran) would be valid if there is a new revelation by Allah, which certainly is not the case because the book (Quran) is considered the final word.

On a separate note, you may however do an internet search to compare Quran with previous revelation; if you find anything different, then verse from Quran takes the precedence.

Hope this clarifies.

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  • Your answer means that if a verse in the previous holy books is not abrogated by the quran (for instance if the topic it deals with is ignored), then this verse is still valid and should be granted the same status than a part of the quran. Commented Mar 4, 2017 at 12:30

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