Ahmadiyyat - The Renaissance of Islam — Page 122
122 AHMADIYY AT of all persuasions was that a large number of the verses of the Holy Quran, according to some as many as six hundred, had been abrogated by subsequently revealed verses, and that the abrogated verses and the abrogating verses were all part of the Quran. This was a great error. Its logical effect was that it destroyed the reliability of the Holy Quran and laid it open to serious criticism. The Promised Messiah emphatically rejected any notion of the abrogation of even a single verse or part of a verse or even a single word of the Holy Quran and offered to satisfy anyone who had any doubt on the matter that any idea of abrogation was wholly unjustified and had no basis whatsoever in fact. Those who had given currency to the notion of abrogation relied upon verse 107 of the second chapter of the Holy Quran in which the expression abrogation occurs. They failed to pay attention to the content of that verse. The previous verse runs as follows: 'Those ones from among the People of the Book and from among those who associated partners with Allah, who have disbelieved, desire not that any good may be sent down to you from your Lord. They forget that Allah chooses as the recipient of His mercy whomsoever He pleases. Allah is Lo~d of exceeding bounty. ' This verse has reference to the contention of the People of the Book that as their scriptures were also Divine revelation and contained all the guidance that was needed, the Quran was superfluous; and also that they could not accept as binding commandments contained in the Quran which were in con- flict with their scriptures and amounted to abrogation of them. God Almighty reminded them that all guidance pro- ceeds from Him and that He sends down whatever may be needed through whomsoever He pleases as a bounty for mankind. The succeeding verse runs: 'Whatever previous com- mandment We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We reveal in this Quran one better or the like thereof. Knowest thou not that Allah has full power to do all that He wills?' Thus this verse establishes that whatever commandment laid down in