Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:101

"And when We replace a verse with another verse"—that is, when We reveal a verse of the Qur'an in place of another from it, making it a substitute for it by abrogating it. The apparent meaning, as stated in al-Bahr, is the abrogation of both the wording and the meaning; however, it is also permissible that it refers to the abrogation of the meaning while the wording remains.

"And Allah is most knowing of what He reveals"—of the interests [it serves]. Both the abrogator (al-nasikh) and the abrogated (al-mansukh) are revealed according to what wisdom and benefit necessitate; for every time has requirements different from those of another. How many an interest turns into a corruption at another time due to the changing of the circumstances that necessitated it! We see the skilled physician order a medicine for a patient, then later forbid it and order the opposite. Laws are nothing but interests for the servants and remedies for their spiritual ailments, and they differ according to the differences in those [ailments] across times. Glory be to the All-Wise, the All-Knowing.

The sentence is either parenthetical, intended to rebuke the disbelievers and alert them to the corruption of their opinion—and in the turn [of the discourse] to the third person [in "Allah is most knowing"] while attributing it to the Majestic Name, there is an evident cultivation of awe and confirmation of the meaning of the parenthetical clause—or it is a circumstantial clause, as stated by Abu al-Baqa and others. Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read it as yunazzilu (He sends down) from the root inzal.

"They say"—that is, the disbelievers who are ignorant of the wisdom behind abrogation—"You are only an inventor"—one who fabricates against Allah the Exalted, commanding a thing and then changing your mind, so you forbid it. They have exaggerated—may Allah combat them—in attributing fabrication to the presence of the Truthful, the Believed-in, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by directing the address to him, peace and blessings be upon him, and by utilizing the nominal sentence with the emphasis of innama. Mentioning this statement of theirs here is to signal that it is a disbelief arising from the incitements of Satan and that he is their ally. In al-Kashf, it is noted that the reason for mentioning this following the command to seek refuge [in Allah] when reciting is that it is a great gate among his [Satan's] gates through which he tempts those who are deficient, whispering to them of "changing one's mind" (bada') and "contradiction," and other such things.

"But most of them do not know"—that is, they do not know anything at all, or they do not know that the mentioned replacement is based on profound wisdom. Attributing this lack of knowledge to "most of them" is because there are among them those who do know this but deny it out of obstinacy. This verse is evidence for the abrogation of the Qur'an by the Qur'an, and it is silent regarding the denial of its abrogation by other means, as detailed in the books of Usul.