reverence.” [Āl ‘Imrān 102] And His saying, Exalted is He:

“So fear Allah as much as you are able.” [al-Taghābun 16]

His words “as much as you are able” explain “with due reverence” and dispel the impression that Allah commanded people to fear Him with a degree of reverence beyond their ability. This is what those early scholars who said that this verse abrogated the former intended: it abrogated the mistaken understanding of its meaning. They did not mean that Allah commanded people to fear Him beyond their ability and then abrogated that command. Rather, they called the removal of what someone mistakenly supposes the verse to indicate “abrogation,” for that mistaken impression is something Satan casts. Allah Most High has said:

“Then Allah abolishes what Satan casts, and then Allah makes His verses firm. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.” (52) [al-Hajj 52]

Some people, however, do not understand what those scholars meant by the term “abrogation,” or their customary and conventional use of it. They therefore suppose that they intended its narrower, technical meaning, which would mean that people had been commanded to do what Allah’s servants cannot do. This has never occurred in the revealed Law, nor is it known that the early generations—may Allah Most High have mercy on them—understood this from the verse. Likewise, when one of the two verses indicates a meaning more strongly, it takes precedence over