Qalaid al-Marjan fi Bayan al-Nasikh wal-Mansukh fi al-Quran
- Author died
- 1033 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Qur’ān al-Karīm
Qalaid al-Marjan fi Bayan al-Nasikh wal-Mansukh fi al-Quran (The Coral Necklaces Explaining the Abrogating and Abrogated in the Quran) is a treatise on Quranic abrogation by the Hanbali jurist and scholar Mari al-Karmi (d. 1033 AH / 1624 CE) .
Background and Purpose
Al-Karmi observed that earlier authorities had authored extensive treatises on abrogation in the Quran—such as the work of Hibat Allah ibn Salama (d. 410 AH), who compiled his treatise from ninety-five distinct books . Recognizing the subject's complexity and length, alongside a contemporary decline in student resolve and a preference for concise works, al-Karmi sought to compose an abridged handbook that gathered scattered discussions into an accessible format relying on earlier exegetes . A manuscript colophon indicates that the drafting was completed on the Day of Ashura at al-Azhar Mosque in 1022 AH .
Structure and Content
The treatise is organized into foundational chapters, a surah-by-surah survey, and a concluding section on broader Quranic sciences:
- Theoretical and legal foundations: Covers the lexical and legal definitions of abrogation (naskh), categories of abrogating and abrogated text, what qualifies as abrogating or abrogated, and the core prerequisites for scholars addressing the subject . It treats topics such as the abrogation of the Quran by consensus (ijma'), consensus by consensus, analogy by analogy, distinctions between abrogation, specification (takhsis), and exception (istithna'), distinctions between abrogation and alteration of divine intent (bada'), surahs containing abrogating verses, abrogated verses, or both, and the first instance of abrogation in Islamic legislation . It also classifies the abrogated in the Quran into six divisions, including cases where recitation was lifted while the ruling remained, and where the ruling was repealed while recitation was preserved .
- Surah-by-surah survey: Reviews the verses claimed to be abrogated throughout the Quran in surah order, taking up over 230 pages in published editions .
- Conclusion (khatima): Discusses related Quranic disciplines, such as the chronological ordering and disputed designations of Meccan and Medinan surahs, the last revealed verse, the most hopeful and the most stern verses, the arrangement and revelation of verses and surahs, the compilation of the Quran, and the development of script dotting and vocalization .
Scholarly Assessment and Editions
Later commentators have noted that al-Karmi was expansive in ruling verses to be abrogated .
Manuscripts of the text are preserved in multiple collections, including Dar al-Kutub and the Taymuriyya Library in Cairo, the General Library in Morocco, and al-Azhar Library . A related manuscript entry is preserved under the title Fawaid Qalaid al-Marjan wa-Mawarid Mansukh al-Quran . The book was published in an edition edited by Sami 'Ata Hasan (Kuwait, 1980) . It was also edited and analyzed by Abdullah ibn Ali al-Hajji as a master's thesis at the College of Usul al-Din in Riyadh (1403–1404 AH), wherein the editor reviewed each contested verse and rejected most of the claimed abrogations .
Answer updated