Chapter: On Abrogation and the Erasure of Revelation from People’s Hearts

Abu Harb ibn Abi al-Aswad narrated through his father from Abu Musa, who said: “We used to recite a surah that we considered equal to Baraʾah (Surah 9) in length and severity, but I have now forgotten it—apart from the verse: ‘If the son of Adam possessed two valleys filled with wealth, he would crave a third; nothing fills the belly of the son of Adam except dust.’ We also used to recite a surah resembling one of the Musabbihāt (those opening with words of glorification), but I have likewise forgotten it, save for: ‘O you who believe, do not say what you will not do, lest a testimony be written against your necks for which you will be questioned on the Day of Resurrection.’” Muslim recorded this report.

Shuʿayb ibn Abi Ḥamzah and others transmitted from al-Zuhri: Abu Umāmah ibn Sahl told me that a number of the Anṣār, Companions of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, informed him that a man rose in the middle of the night intending to begin a surah he had memorised, yet he could recite nothing of it except: Bismillah al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm. When morning came, he went to the door of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to ask about the matter. Another man arrived, and then another, until they had all gathered. They asked one another what had brought them there and discovered they were all concerned about the same surah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ granted them permission to enter; they related their story and questioned him about the surah. He remained silent for a while, giving them no reply, and then said, “It was abrogated last night.” Consequently it was erased from their hearts and from every written record in which it had appeared. ʿUqayl narrated this from Ibn Shihab, adding, “Ibn al-Musayyib was present and did not object to it.”

The abrogation of this surah and its complete removal from their memories stands as one of the clear proofs of prophethood, and the ḥadith is authentic.