`Afaana, in his book الرأي الصواب في منسوخ الكتاب, pages 38-42, cites the following verses as evidence against the abrogation doctrine,
He cites what Ar-Raazi wrote about it in his exegesis,
ثم إنه تعالى جعل الأصل في هذا الباب شيئا واحدا وهو أن يواظب على تلاوة الكتاب الذي أوحاه الله إليه، وعلى العمل به، وأن لا يلتفت إلى اقتراح المقترحين، وتعنت المتعنتين...وفي الآية مسألة وهي: أن قوله (اتل) يتناول القراءة، ويتناول الاتباع أيضا؛ فيكون المعنى: الزم قراءة الكتاب الذي أوحي إليك والزم العمل به. ثم قال: {لا مبدل لكلماته} أي يمتنع تطرق التغيير والتبديل إليه، أي الزم العمل بمقتضى هذا الكتاب، يذلك يقتضي وجوب العمل بمقتضى ظاهره. فإن قيل فيجب ألا يتطرق النسخ إليه، قلنا هذا هو مذهب أبي مسلم الأصفهاني فليس يبعد
Translation:
"God, may He be exalted, made the foundation in this category one thing: To be studious in reciting the Book He revealed to him and to apply it without paying attention to those who suggest otherwise! That there can be no change nor replacement in it. That means having to comply with what is apparent from its rulings. So, if it is said that this means it cannot be abrogated, we'd say that was Al-Asfahaani's school of thought and it's not far fetched."
He cited what At-Tabari wrote about it in his exegesis,
فاجعلوه (أي القرآن) إماما تتبعونه وتعملون بما فيه...واحذروا الله في أنفسكم أن تضيعوا العمل بما فيه؛
Translation:
Make it (the Quran) a leader to follow and apply what's in it. And watch out in your souls for God that you squander the application of what's in it.
He wonders how can a verse so clear in its mandate of its entire Chapter be claimed abrogated! We asked the same question. But it happened. Then he cited what Mujaahid and Qataada said about it, as reported by Ibn Katheer in his exegesis, part 3, page 260. They interpreted
{وفرضناها} to mean "Made clear in it what's allowed and what's forbidden, commands of what to do and what not to do, and the legal penalties. They also interpreted
{آيات بينات} to mean "verses that are explanatory and clear."
He asks: What is the use of verses which have been "perfectly set then detailed" if their rulings are abrogated?! He adds that the words "whose verses have been perfectly set" are absolute, because the verse did not include exceptions. That means all the verses enjoy that perfect setting.
He asks again: What is the use of verses that have been detailed if they are abrogated?! He also points out the words "An Arabic Quran" and asks: Does Arabic separate between words and their meaning? He challenges anyone to show one example in Arabic heritage of a sentence whose meaning has been annulled, but the sentence remained still.
It's as if the pro-abrogation scholars don't know Arabic well enough!
He highlights the famous words "Today, I have completed for you your religion and perfected upon you My favor and approved for you Islam as a religion", and concludes that if there had remained verses in the Quran that have been abrogated and God didn't tell us about them then the religion was incomplete!
He, however, maintains that verses that have been abrogated were gone forever and not written in the bound volume of the Quran, which is his main thesis in his book.
He says that the words "Explanation of everything" mean that annulment of any ruling in it is tantamount to covering up what's in it, which is forbidden. This is a good prelude to the last verse he cited,
He analyzes this verse quite a bit and concludes that At-Tabari's exegesis of it (Part 3, page 249) was erroneous. At-Tabari understood it to refer to the Jews and Christians, but `Afaana draws attention to the verse that followed it,
which makes it clear that Muslims are the addresses here, because a non-Muslim has to believe in Islam first then repent. Good point, but actually, a non-Muslim who accepts Islam erases all his past sins, thus he needn't repent
![Wink ;-)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
He backs up this interpretation by citing this narration, reported and authenticated by Al-Bukhaari,
قال نصر بن علي الجهضمي: حدثنا حاتم بن وردان قال: حدثنا أيوب السختياني عن أبي هريرة قال: لولا آية من كتاب الله ما حدثتكم، وتلا {إن الذين يكتمون ما أنزلنا...} الآية. وعن عثمان مثله؛
Translation:
Abu-Hurayra said: If it weren't for one verse in the Quran, I wouldn't have narrated to you. And he recited 2:159. Uthmaan said the same thing.
`Afaana says that the fact that both Abu-Hurayra and Uthmaan saw the verse addressing them disproves At-Tabari's opinion, and means something quite serious: Annulment of any ruling in the Quran is a cover-up of something that God made clear, and incurs upon the one who does that a curse from God!
May God keep us on the Straight Path and save us from saying things about His verses and rulings which He has not authorized.