Refuting Islam

Does the Concept of Abrogation Contradict the Idea of an Eternal, Unchanging Revelation?

April 15, 2025

One of the most remarkable features of Islam is its insistence that the Qur’an is the final, perfect, and eternal word of God — a flawless revelation sent down to humanity from a divine source beyond space and time.

Muslim belief holds that the Qur’an is:

Eternal — inscribed forever on the “Preserved Tablet” (al-Lawh al-Mahfuz)
Unchanging — as the very word of God, it cannot be altered
Perfect — free from contradiction, error, or inconsistency

But there’s a doctrinal elephant in the room that disrupts all of this:
The Islamic concept of abrogation, known in Arabic as naskh.

“Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah is over all things competent?”
— Surah Al-Baqarah 2:106

This verse introduces an astonishing idea: God can — and has — replaced parts of His revelation with new verses.

This concept raises a fundamental and unavoidable question:

How can a book be eternal, unchanging, and perfect — if some of its verses cancel out or replace others?

Let’s unpack this paradox.

1. What Is Abrogation (Naskh)?

In Islamic jurisprudence and theology, naskh refers to the repeal or replacement of earlier verses or laws with later ones.

It’s not metaphorical. It is a formal doctrine within classical Islam.

The Qur’an itself openly refers to this process:

“And when We substitute a verse in place of a verse — and Allah is most knowing of what He sends down — they say, ‘You are but an inventor [of lies].’”
— Surah 16:101

Abrogation is often invoked to explain why earlier commands in the Qur’an (such as peaceful coexistence or tolerance) were later replaced by harsher rulings (like fighting disbelievers).

Some commonly cited examples include:

Peaceful preaching (Surah 109:6) → abrogated by the command to fight (Surah 9:5)
Alcohol tolerated (Surah 2:219) → prohibited later (Surah 5:90)
Prayer direction toward Jerusalem → abrogated to Mecca (Surah 2:144)

In total, Islamic scholars have historically identified dozens of abrogated verses.

2. The Core Contradiction: How Can the “Eternal Word” Be Changed?

If the Qur’an is eternal — existing on the Preserved Tablet — then it cannot be subject to revision. What is eternal is, by definition, unchangeable.

But if the Qur’an is also a progressive document that evolves over time — replacing some laws with others — then it is clearly not immutable.

So we’re faced with an inescapable dilemma:

Either the Qur’an is eternal and unchanging — in which case abrogation is impossible
Or the Qur’an contains evolving content — in which case it cannot be eternal and unchanging

You can’t have both.

And yet Islam insists on both.

3. Does Abrogation Imply God Changed His Mind?

This theological problem runs deeper than mere contradiction — it strikes at the heart of divine perfection.

Ask yourself:

If God is all-knowing, why would He reveal a law that He would later repeal?
Did He not foresee that the earlier verse would become obsolete?
Does replacing earlier verses suggest a lack of foresight or a correction of error?

The classical Muslim response is that abrogation reflects divine wisdom adapting to circumstances. But this argument is deeply problematic:

❖ God is supposedly outside of time.
He is not bound by historical context. If He’s truly all-knowing and sovereign, He wouldn’t need to “update” His own eternal revelation.

❖ Why issue a temporary rule at all?
Would a perfect and all-wise deity need to run a kind of “beta version” of His law before issuing the final patch?

The idea of abrogation essentially turns Allah into a legislator in flux — issuing rules He knows He’ll later nullify.

That isn’t eternal wisdom. It’s reactive lawmaking.

4. Contradiction Within the Qur’an’s Own Claims

The Qur’an states in multiple places that Allah’s words do not change:

“There is no changing the words of Allah.”
— Surah 6:115
“No one can alter the words of Allah.”
— Surah 10:64

But abrogation is, by definition, a change in Allah’s words.

So either:

These verses about immutability are false, or
The abrogating verses are false

Either way, the Qur’an contradicts itself — and therefore fails the very test it sets in Surah 4:82:

“Had it been from other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.”

Well, here’s a contradiction — and not a small one.

It is a contradiction between:

God’s supposed perfection,
His eternal word, and
The observable fact of legal and doctrinal reversals within the Qur’an.

5. Apologetic Responses — And Why They Fail

Muslim scholars have tried to justify abrogation in various ways. Let’s consider the most common defenses:

❖ “Abrogation is a sign of mercy — easing people into the law.”

This is a noble-sounding excuse, but it turns divine revelation into a legislative experiment. Why not reveal the final, merciful form from the beginning?

❖ “It’s not the Qur’an that’s changed, just the application.”

But many verses were not about application — they were directly replaced or even removed (e.g., the stoning verse, which is no longer in the Qur’an but remembered by hadith).

This isn’t just re-interpretation — it’s erasure and substitution.

❖ “The earlier laws served a temporary purpose.”

Then they weren’t eternal. Which means the Qur’an contains temporary, time-bound laws — contradicting its claim to timeless universality.

These apologetics only confirm the contradiction — they don’t resolve it.

6. The Logical and Theological Consequence

If abrogation is real (and mainstream Islam affirms it is), then:

The Qur’an is not unchanging
The Qur’an is not eternal
The Qur’an is not consistent
The Qur’an fails its own standard of divine authorship (Surah 4:82)

This is not a matter of outsider critique. It is a collapse within the internal logic of Islamic theology.

You cannot maintain that the Qur’an is the final, flawless revelation from an unchanging God while also admitting that it contains verses that God nullified or replaced.

The doctrine of abrogation is the theological time bomb hidden in plain sight within the Qur’an — and it explodes the myth of eternal perfection.

7. Conclusion: When “Perfect Revelation” Self-Destructs

The concept of naskh undermines every foundational claim Muslims make about their scripture:

Eternity → shattered by time-sensitive laws
Perfection → compromised by the need to revise
Infallibility → contradicted by self-nullification
Consistency → disproven by internal contradictions

The Qur’an says Allah’s word does not change.
Then it says Allah changed His word.

You cannot hold both to be true.

And if the Qur’an contradicts itself, it fails its own test of divinity.

A perfect revelation does not need corrections. A perfect God does not need to revise His eternal word.

Yet that’s exactly what the doctrine of abrogation forces Muslims to believe.

And that should give anyone — Muslim or non-Muslim — a reason to pause, and question the very foundation of Islam.