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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 03 May 2010, 04:04 
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Pragmatic wrote:
The interpretation of "قدير"
...
I thought I'd elaborate on what I am disagreeing about in this interpretation by Zaid. I believe that the description of God as most capable "قدير" at the end of 2:106 relates to His ability to bring a better verse when He abrogates a verse.

Al-Jabri mentions on page 156 of his book that both Sheikh Muhammad Mostafa Abu-Al'ila and Imam Muhammad Abduh interpret the use of "قدير" (most capable) in 2:106 as supporting the interpretation of آية as 'sign' rather than 'verse', saying that another description along the lines of wisdom or knowledge would have been more befitting if the intended meaning was 'verse'. They have a point, but upon closer inspection I respectfully disagree since the use of the description "قدير" is not about a verse per se, but about a better verse.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 03 May 2010, 04:22 
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Pragmatic wrote:
The interpretation of نسي

Verse 2:106 mentions a mode other than abrogation for annuling a verse, and that's causing it to be forgotten (ننسها).

Al-Jabri addresses the issue of (ننسها) on pages 161-162 of his book. He argues against the possibility of the Prophet (PBUH) forgetting a Quranic revelation. I am not sold on his argument, but he makes one point worth mentioning here. He interprets


as confirming that the Prophet (PBUH) would not forget any verses. His argument is that the exception from a statement using the will of God is actually affirmation of that statement. He gives two examples from the Quran.





Interesting argument, but IMHO unconvincing and unnecessary.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 03 May 2010, 04:32 
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The interpretation of مثلها

On page 163 of his book, Al-Jabri mentions a different parsing of the word مثلها in 2:106. He says it is possible that it is not attached (معطوف) to the word خير , meaning "better or similar," but rather attached to the ها part of منها , making the meaning "better than it or than what is similar to it." I thought I'd mention that for completeness.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 03 May 2010, 04:48 
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Alternative interpretation

Al-Jabri offers an entirely different interpretation of 2:106 and 16:101 on pages 164-165 of his book. He interprets the 'substitution' that 16:101 is talking about as reordering the verses in the Quran without eliminating any. He argues that the Prophet (PBUH) gave instructions for each verse as to where it belongs, and the substitution amounts to changing where the older verses belong upon the revelation of new verses.

He extrapolates this to 2:106 saying that نسخ means the same thing. He provides linguistic evidence! The origin of the word نسخ comes from the bees moving the honey from one cell to another. He goes on to substantiate his interpretation by mentioning that both the Quran and the honey were described as شفاء in different verses!

Here is my opinion. Al-Jabri is adamantly opposed to any form of abrogation, and he really tries to find interpretations that preclude the occurrence of abrogation of any form within Islam. While there is some merit to interpreting 16:101 this way, I find the use of شفاء as evidence the way he did to be bordering on the ridiculous.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 03 May 2010, 17:25 
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Pragmatic wrote:
The interpretation of "قدير"
...
Sheikh Muhammad Mostafa Abu-Al'ila and Imam Muhammad Abduh interpret the use of "قدير" (most capable) in 2:106 as supporting the interpretation of آية as 'sign' rather than 'verse', saying that another description along the lines of wisdom or knowledge would have been more befitting if the intended meaning was 'verse'. They have a point, but upon closer inspection I respectfully disagree since the use of the description "قدير" is not about a verse per se, but about a better verse.

I fully agree with you. God's capability which He asserts in 2:106 is in bringing signs that are ever more impressive than their antecedents. A convert to Islam, who used to be a pastor and studied the bible closely, wrote online that the Hebrew bible, the Tanakh, contains very eloquent verses and others that are sloppy, but that the Quran is outstanding prose that is superior to anything that he has ever read before.

Pragmatic wrote:
The interpretation of نسي
...
Al-Jabri addresses the issue of (ننسها) on pages 161-162 of his book. He argues against the possibility of the Prophet (PBUH) forgetting a Quranic revelation. I am not sold on his argument, but he makes one point worth mentioning here.

The argument is about a non-existent issue. Verse 2:106 does not say that verses will be forgotten, rather it says that verses will be caused to be forgotten. In other words, it's not human tendency but God's willful action.

Pragmatic wrote:
Alternative interpretation
...
Al-Jabri offers an entirely different interpretation of 2:106 and 16:101 on pages 164-165 of his book. He interprets the 'substitution' that 16:101 is talking about as reordering the verses in the Quran without eliminating any. He argues that the Prophet (PBUH) gave instructions for each verse as to where it belongs, and the substitution amounts to changing where the older verses belong upon the revelation of new verses.

He extrapolates this to 2:106 saying that نسخ means the same thing. He provides linguistic evidence! The origin of the word نسخ comes from the bees moving the honey from one cell to another. He goes on to substantiate his interpretation by mentioning that both the Quran and the honey were described as شفاء in different verses!

If we actually apply the honey semantic, we might argue that ننسخ means that God has moved His sign, the Book, from the Hebrews to the Arabs ;) As for ننسها that would apply to the scrolls of Abraham (PBUH).

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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 03 May 2010, 18:09 
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Linguistic wrote:
Pragmatic wrote:
The interpretation of نسي
...
Al-Jabri addresses the issue of (ننسها) on pages 161-162 of his book. He argues against the possibility of the Prophet (PBUH) forgetting a Quranic revelation. I am not sold on his argument, but he makes one point worth mentioning here.

The argument is about a non-existent issue. Verse 2:106 does not say that verses will be forgotten, rather it says that verses will be caused to be forgotten. In other words, it's not human tendency but God's willful action.

Good point which some authors tend to forget. :)

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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 06 May 2010, 23:23 
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Pragmatic wrote:
Interpretation by Muhammad Abduh

Imam Muhammad Abduh, a famous Egyptian scholar of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, is reported to have been anti-abrogation.

Al-Ghazali quotes the entire interpretation of Muhammad Abduh on pages 204-206 of his book. It sounds a bit more convincing than when I read its commented highlights in Zaid's book. Its emphasis is on the role of signs for Jews and Muslims, and it emphasizes a verse that comes shortly after 2:106


in arguing that آية in 2:106 refers to sign rather than verse. I am still not convinced by the interpretation, but it sounds less labored than my first impression of it, and Al-Ghazali describes it as 'the acceptable explanation'.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 27 May 2010, 17:09 
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In his book التبيان لرفع غموض النسخ في القرآن, pages 42-44, Dr. Az-Zalmi presents an interesting argument for why the word آية in 2:106 means a sign and not a verse. His opinion is that it refers to the miracles of each prophet. Those miracles were forgotten or abrogated by each subsequent prophet, until the last prophet came and therefore his miracle had to last, peace be upon him.

The argument he brings is this: the finish of the verse, namely, "Did you not know that God is over everything Powerful?" This particular finish suits the sense of sign or miracle rather than verse. Az-Zalmi says that if what was meant was a verse, the finish would have been something like, "did you not know that God is Knowledgeable and Wise?"

Indeed, the finish of verses in the Quran is always closely related to its start and fitting it. This style (مناسبة العقب للصدر) appears in the Quran in hundreds of verses.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 27 May 2010, 18:13 
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Linguistic wrote:
In his book التبيان لرفع غموض النسخ في القرآن, pages 42-44, Dr. Az-Zalmi presents an interesting argument for why the word آية in 2:106 means a sign and not a verse. His opinion is that it refers to the miracles of each prophet. Those miracles were forgotten or abrogated by each subsequent prophet, until the last prophet came and therefore his miracle had to last, peace be upon him.

The argument he brings is this: the finish of the verse, namely, "Did you not know that God is over everything Powerful?" This particular finish suits the sense of sign or miracle rather than verse. Az-Zalmi says that if what was meant was a verse, the finish would have been something like, "did you not know that God is Knowledgeable and Wise?"

Indeed, the finish of verses in the Quran is always closely related to its start and fitting it. This style (مناسبة العقب للصدر) appears in the Quran in hundreds of verses.

The same argument was used by Imam Muhammad Abdou and cited by Al-Ghazali and others who agreed with Abdou's interpretation of 2:106 which is the same as Al-Zalmi's. There is merit to this argument and interpretation, although I find the finish of the verse needed for the "better" aspect even if 2:106 is talking about verses not signs. This is evident by the difficulty that the scholars had coming to terms with how a Quranic verse can be better than another.

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 Post subject: Re: Interpretation of the Abrogation Verse 2:106
PostPosted: 27 May 2010, 22:21 
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More on آية

Since there seems to be a serious group of scholars that view the word آية in 2:106 to mean miracle rather than verse, and since there is also a similar view of the use of آية in 16:101, I wanted to articulate why I differ with that view. BTW, Ihab also views آية as miracle in his interpretation of 2:106 on page 285 of his book, although he goes further in interpreting what naskh means in an unconvincing way.

The reason I believe that آية in 2:106 does not mean miracle is that abrogating a miracle does not make sense. I am convinced that naskh means abrogate or annul, and I don't find it reasonable for a miracle to be annulled. Forgotten yes, but not annulled.

I am less resistant to interpreting the second mention of آية in 16:101 as miracle, given what 16:103 says. However, I am not completely convinced in that case either.

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