As was mentioned in the previous edition, naskh can only occur within the Qur'an and Sunnah; other sources of the sharee'ah, such as qiyas and ijmaa', do not play a role in naskh. Putting all these possibilities together, there are four logical scenarios of naskh with regard to the sources of the naasikh and mansookh:
1) The Qur'an Abrogating The Qur'an
This category is agreed upon by all those who consider the validity of naskh. An example of this is the waiting period of a widowed lady; initially she was to be maintained from the wealth of her deceased husband for a period of one year: "And those of you who die and leave behind their , wives should bequeath for them a year's maintenance and residence, without turning them out ... " (Q2[Baqarah]:240)
Later on, this ruling was abrogated by the verse, "And those of you who die and leave behind their wives, their (wives) should wait four months and ten days… (Q2[Baqarah]:234)
2) The Qur'an Abrogating The Sunnah
The majority of scholars have agreed to the validity of this type of naskh. An example of this is the changing of the qiblah; the Muslims used to pray towards Jerusalem by the command of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam), but eventually the Qur'an revealed that the direction of the Qiblah was to be Makkah, "Verily We have seen the turning of your face (O Muhammad) towards the heavens., Surely, We shall turn you to a qiblah that shall please you So turn your face in the direction of the Masjid al-Haraam ( at Makkah) ... "(Q2[8aqarah]: 144)
The initial qiblah was based on the Sunnah, and the abrogation came down in the Qur'an. This evidence is clear proof that the Qur'an can abrogate the Sunnah.
3) The Sunnah Abrogating The Qur'an
This category may be further subdivided into two categories:
a) A mutawaatir hadeeth abrogating the Qur'an. This was allowed by Imaam Maalik, Abu Haneefah, and one of the opinions of Imaam Ahmad. They reasoned that both are forms of revelation from Allaah, and since both give indisputable knowledge (qat'ee ath-thuboot), they may abrogate each other. An example of a mutawaatir hadeeth abrogating the Qur'an is the verse concerning leaving bequest to heirs: "It is prescribed for you, when any of you approaches death and he has wealth, that he make a bequest to his parents and next of kin" (Q2[8aqarah]:180) This ruling was abrogated by the hadeeth of the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) in which he said, "There is not bequest to an heir."(Abu Dawud)
b) A ahaad hadeeth abrogating the Qur'an. Most of the scholars did not allow this type of naskh, since, they reasoned, the Qur'an is muttawaatir, and provides indisputable knowledge of authenticity (qat'ee ath-thuboot), whereas an ahaad hadeeth does not provide in disputable knowlede (dhannee ath- thuboot).
This view, although representing the majority opinion, is not necessarily the correct one. Ash-Shanqeetee discusses this question in detail, and concludes that an ahead hadeeth can abrogate the Qur'an, although such occurrence is rare. He does give the condition, however, that it must be known for certain that the ahead narration occurred after the revelation of the verse. An example of this, according to ash-Shanqeetee, is the prohibition of the flesh of domesticated donkeys, for it is known that this occurred during the battle of Khaybar, and as such 'abrogated' the previous ruling that it was allowed (by the understanding of Q 16:45).
4) The Sunnah Abrogating the Sunnah
This was also allowed by all those who upheld the validity of naskh. This category may be further subdivided into four categories:
a) A mutawaatir hadeeth abrogating another mutawaatir hadeeth
b) An ahaad hadeeth abrogating another ahaad hadeeth
c) A mutawaatir hadeeth abrogating an ahaad hadeeth
d) An ahaad hadeeth abrogating a mutawaatir hadeeth
The first three categories are agreed upon by scholars. The last category, that of an ahaad hadeeth abrogating a mutawaatir one, is held by those who allow an ahaad hadeeth to abrogate the Qur'an. The majority do not allow the occurrence of the fourth category.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited