Pragmatic wrote:
This is the most prevalent definition of abrogation among pro-abrogation scholars (chosen by Zaid in his book as well). Al-Jabri sheds light on the reason for the specific choice of words. On page 19 of
his book, he mentions that حكم شرعي (
juristic ruling) is meant to exclude rules that were followed without a specific text requiring them from being considered 'abrogated'. He also mentions that دليل شرعي (juristic
evidence) rather than حكم شرعي (juristic
ruling) is meant to allow abrogation without a substitute ruling.
Makes sense that these are the motives for choosing this definition, and shows how the definition is tailored to accommodate a particular, already existing view of what abrogation encompasses.
I'd humbly argue that this is an excellent definition that, if properly applied, will find no cases of abrogation in the Quran! That's because the "subsequent juristic evidence" has to be a ubiquitously reported text (متواتر) because of the gravity of the claim and the rule established by 2:106. There is not one ubiquitous narration or Quranic verse which unambiguously states that any verse in the Quran was abrogated. That's been the main argument of Dr. N. A. Tantaawi as well.
What comes close, but falls short of unambiguous abrogating words, is that there are exactly four Quranic verses which use words that may legitimately be understood as abrogating. They are:
And
And
And
In 2:187, the words
أحل لكم (it has been made lawful for you),
علم الله أنكم كنتم تختانون أنفسكم (God knew that you have been betraying yourselves),
فتاب عليكم وعفا عنكم (So, He forgave you and pardoned you) and
فالآن (Now), all give credence to the assumption that 2:187 has abrogated something. See why, IMHO, it does not, in
this post.
In 8:66, the words
الآن خفف الله عنكم (Now, God has eased it on you) and
وعلم أن فيكم ضعفا (and He knew that in you is weakness), may be reasonably understood to have abrogated the prior requirement. Read
this topic for more information.
In 58:13, the words
فإذ لم تفعلوا (Since you have not), and
وتاب الله عليكم (and God has forgiven you), may be understood to imply abrogation of what was previously recommended. See
this topic for details.
Lastly, in 73:20, the words
علم أن لن تحصوه فتاب عليكم (he knew that you could never do it, so He forgave you), may imply abrogation to many. This case is discussed in
this topic.