al-Nasikh wal-Mansukh - al-Nahhas
- Author died
- 338 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Falāḥ
al-Nāsikh wa-l-Mansūkh (The Abrogating and Abrogated) is a foundational treatise on Quranic abrogation authored by the Egyptian grammarian and Quranic scholar Abu Ja'far al-Nahhas (d. 338 AH / 950 CE) .
Subject and Content
The work examines the concept, rules, and instances of naskh (abrogation) across the text of the Quran . Al-Nahhas opens the text by outlining the historical and theoretical background of abrogation, noting that the Companions and the Successors addressed the subject, whereas later scholars diverged—some adhering to the path of the early generations and others disputing or denying the occurrence of abrogation in the Quran .
The book discusses core jurisprudential and hermeneutical questions, such as the scholarly disagreement regarding what may abrogate the Quran and the Sunnah, presenting five distinct positions, including the Kufan view that the Quran may be abrogated by both the Quran and the Sunnah, and the view of al-Shafi'i that the Quran can only be abrogated by the Quran . Al-Nahhas also identifies matters in which abrogation cannot occur, such as the divine oneness of God (tawḥīd), God's names and attributes, reports concerning past or future events, and foundational commands such as the worship of God and following His messengers . The work proceeds through the Quranic chapters and verses to analyze disputed rulings and passages claimed to be abrogated or abrogating .
Transmission and Reception
The book was transmitted from al-Nahhas by his students, notably Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Udfuwi, as well as Ibrahim ibn Ali al-Tammar al-Basri and Musa ibn al-Husayn al-Sukkari . From Egypt, the text spread to al-Andalus and the wider Islamic world, where scholars such as Makki ibn Abi Talib received it via al-Udfuwi, and it was read publicly in the Great Mosque of Córdoba .
Later scholars of Quranic sciences have considered the book among the leading classical works in the discipline of al-nāsikh wa-l-mansūkh, comparing it alongside later comprehensive treatments such as Makki ibn Abi Talib's al-Īḍāḥ li-Nāsikh al-Qurʾān wa-Mansūkhih and Ibn al-Jawzi's Nawāsikh al-Qurʾān .
Manuscripts and Editions
Manuscripts of the text are preserved in several libraries:
- A fourth-century AH manuscript is held at the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, carrying the transmission of Abu al-Qasim Ali ibn Bushra al-Attar from Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Ibrahim ibn Jabir al-Faradi, copied in an early hand and containing collation notes dated 448 AH and 463 AH, as well as audition notes dated 560 AH and 569 AH .
- A manuscript is held at the library of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (no. 6023 F) .
The text was printed in Cairo under the supervision of Muhammad Amin al-Khanji at the Sa'adah Press in 1323 AH (1905 CE), and later edited by Muhammad Abd al-Salam Muhammad and published by Maktabat al-Falah in Kuwait in 1408 AH (1988 CE) .
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