it is conceivable that من in 2:106 means 'from', hence the object of abrogation might be part of a verse,
I wasn't actually arguing that. I was arguing that من آية means "the smallest sign". But, even if it means "a part of a verse", the part abrogated had to be
replaced, per what the rest of the verse states. It then begs the question: why not just replace the whole verse, repeating the parts that were not abrogated and changing the part that was?
I can also see some people saying that من آية means "any aspect of the verse", by which they may claim that the ruling is an aspect of the verse that can be abrogated. If that were true, the question remains: Why keep the verse? If it contains a ruling, that would be very confusing to people if the ruling is no longer to be enforced. That is not to mention that we have no way of knowing any of that since neither God nor His messenger has told us what, if any, was abrogated or how to find out. That seems like a major detail that neither God nor His Messenger would leave for Muslims to guess!
All that said, the context actually confirms that
من آية does mean "the smallest sign" or "even one sign". This is the preceding verse,
Notice the words
من خير? They means "the smallest good" or "any good at all."
The main argument in the literature for making the object of abrogation a ruling rather than a verse is that nothing can be better than a Quranic verse, therefore "better" in 2:106 must refer to something other than a verse. People went on to argue that a ruling fits nicely since a stricter ruling can be better because of its higher reward, and a lighter ruling can be better because of reducing the burden.
I offered in my
previous post my humble explanation of how a sign can be better than another. In addition to what I said earlier, I can also quote this verse for more evidence,
In which God clearly declares that some signs as bigger than other.
The insistence that آية in 2:106 means verse is what is causing this round-about arguing. The notion of abrogating a ruling has support in the Sunna, but not in the Quran.