is eaten. Should this man contend that the false phrase he inserted—“from a spring that flows beneath Hell-fire”—is not followed by “none shall eat it except the sinners,” and, in order to justify his addition, dismisses that Qur’anic verse altogether, then he has fallen into unbelief, for denying a single verse of the Qur’an is disbelief. This alone suffices as a rebuttal of his claim and a humiliation of his assertion.
As for the reports transmitted from the Companions and the Successors that they recited “such-and-such,” these were intended merely for clarification and commentary, not as Qur’an to be recited. In the same way, any passage whose wording and ruling—or whose wording alone—has been abrogated is no longer Qur’an, as will be explained under the Almighty’s words,
“We do not abrogate a verse…” (2:106), God willing.
The Discourse on Seeking Refuge (istiʿādhah)
It comprises twelve issues.
- Allah, Exalted is He, commands seeking refuge at the very outset of every recitation, saying, “So when you recite the Qur’an, seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed” (16:98); that is, when you intend to recite. Here the past tense is used in place of the future, just as the poet said:
Indeed I shall come to you recalling what is past
Of affection, and renewing what tomorrow will bring.
He meant “what will occur tomorrow.”
Another explanation is that the sentence involves transposition: whenever two verbs are close in meaning, either may be placed first, as in His words—Exalted is He—
“Then he drew near and came down” (53:8),
i.e., he came down and then drew near;
and similarly,
“The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split” (54:1),
and many other examples.
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According to the majority, the command to seek refuge is recommended for every recitation outside the prayer, while within the prayer they differed. Al-Naqqāsh related from ʿAṭāʾ that the istiʿādhah is obligatory. Ibn Sīrīn, al-Nakhaʿī, and others would seek refuge in every rakʿah, applying the divine command in its general sense. Abū Ḥanīfah and al-Shāfiʿī seek refuge only in the first rakʿah, regarding the recitation of the whole prayer as a single recitation. Mālik does not prescribe istiʿādhah in the obligatory prayers, though he recommends it in the night prayer of Ramadan.
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The scholars are unanimously agreed that the istiʿādhah is not part of the Qur’an, nor a verse thereof; it is simply the reciter’s declaration, “I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.” This formulation is the one adopted by the majority of scholars because—