Abrogated Surahs

Submitted by Mike Ramirez (United States), Apr 23, 2013 at 20:54

Susan: The Qur'an was "revealed" to Muhammad over a period of approximately 23 years by an angel known as Jibreel (Gabriel). Some of the verses were revealed in Mecca and some in Medina where he fled to upon the initial persecution against him. These revelations were capable of changing in order to apply to specific situations and circumstances that would arise, thus, a newer revelation could supersede a previous one. In the case of Surah 24:31 that you cite, it was revealed in Medina but later abrogated by Surah 33:59 which I pointed out and defines the stricter dress code for women. Other revelations became stricter against women as well. A study of the writings shows that most of the moderate verses in the Qur'an were the Meccan Surahs while the Medinan Surahs became more aggressive and stricter toward non-Muslims who would not accept Muhammad as being the "last and final prophet for mankind". These, along with the later Hadith writings, became the pivot point where Muslims became obligated to fight for the cause of Islam by any means possible until the whole world obeyed Al'lah and accepted Muhammad as the prophet of Al'lah.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".