The Babi and Baha'i Religion — Page 80
THE B Ā B Ī AND BAH Ā ’ Ī RELIGION 80 He wills" 101. They interpret this verse to mean that Allah herein says that if He will abrogate the Qur’an, He will bring another, a better one, in its place, or one quite like it. But the basis of this inference on their part is altogether too flimsy, as becomes amply evident the moment one gives proper thought to the context in which this passage occurs. The construction of the sentence, in the first place, denotes that the statement made in it is conditional. What has been said is just this that if Allah were to choose in his wisdom to abrogate an A yah , or cause it to be forgotten, he would bring another like it, or a better one in its place. How can this conditional statement be taken to mean that Allah has indeed chosen to abrogate the A yah spoken of here, or to replace it with one better or like it? And how does it follow that by the word A yah in this verse the Holy Qur’an and the Islamic Sharia is meant? Even if we accept the Bah a ’ i meaning, and also their view that by A yah here is meant the Qur’an, the utmost that would follow is just this, and no more, that whenever Allah decides in his wisdom to abrogate the Holy Qur’an, he would do so by bringing another book like it, or a better one to replace it. It cannot in any way mean that he has in fact chosen to do so at this time, and in this case. 101 The Qur’an 2:107. [Publisher]