We also reject the concept of abrogation or abandonment of...

We also reject the concept of abrogation or abandonment of reading (naskh al-tilawah), and considering that the related traditions are akhbar ahad and incapable of proving anything regarding the Qur'an, it is incumbent upon all Muslims to reject them. Al Nuri mentions changes made in the order of verses and cites the traditions which indicate such changes in the revealed sequence of the verses, or mention different orders in the masahif of the Compan­ions, such as Ubayy, 'Ali (A) and Ibn Mas`ud.

He also cites the view held by the Ahl al-Sunnah that the Qur'an has been arranged in accor­dance with the subjective judgement (ijtihad) of the . Here he also cites Shii traditions as evidence. We believe that the order of the surahs has been changed, but the order of verses has remained unchanged, because some traditions explic­itly mention that the Prophet (S) himself arranged the verses.

However, a change in the order of surahs does not amount to tahrif: Al Nuri mentions the differences present in the masahif of the Sahabah concerning certain words, verses and surahs. He then cites traditions from such Sunni sources as al-Durr al-manthar, al-Kashshaf, al­ Itqan and from al-Thalabi, al-Tabari and others, inferring from them the occurrence of tahrif.

Here again nearly all of the traditions support­ing this argument are derived from Sunni sources, though some tradi­tions which speak of differences amongst these masahif are derived from Shii sources. It may be observed concerning these differences that they are shadhdh forms of readings that have been attributed to some Compan­ions. Also, the traditions which indicate the existence of other verses and surahs are all akhbar ahad and so incapable of proving anything regarding the Qur'an.

Here Al-Nuri mentions traditions from Sunni sources stating that Ubayy ibn Kaab is the best qari' of the ummah. Then he goes on to quote Sunni traditions concerning his mushaf which claims that it contained something in addition to the contents of the present Qur'an. From this he argues that since the present Qur'an does not contain all that which was present in his mushaf, it implies occurrence of tahrif.

Most traditions relating to this argument are from Sunni sources and only few of them are from Shii sources. However, we reject this argument of his on the same basis as men­tioned above. In this argument he mentions `Uthman's burning of the masahif and unifying the people on a single reading.