had been abrogated, scholars do not allow abrogation to apply to statements made by Allah Most High or His Messenger about matters of fact. For anyone who reports something, whether past or future, and then retracts it must thereby either give himself the lie, have erred in what he reported, or have forgotten.

Allah is far exalted above this, and He has protected His Messenger against it in matters of divine law and the message he conveys.

No one with even the slightest understanding is unaware of this or disputes it. Consider it carefully, for it is a matter of great importance among the fundamentals of religion.

Muhammad ibn al-Hasan’s statement that this was before people were commanded to undertake jihad is incorrect, because the hadith of al-Aswad ibn Sarī‘ makes clear that the Prophet said this after the command to undertake jihad.”

It was also narrated through his chain of transmission: “From al-Hasan, from al-Aswad ibn Sarī‘, who said:

‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “What is the matter with people who went so far in killing that they even killed children?”

A man asked, “Are they not merely the children of polytheists?”

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied, “Are not the best among you the children of polytheists? Every child is born upon the natural disposition, until he reaches an age when his tongue can speak for him, and his parents make him a Jew or a Christian.”’