must fast it.”
[al-Baqarah 185]

It is established through mass transmission and the consensus of the Muslim community that fasting is obligatory for a resident who is able to fast: he has no choice between fasting and paying a ransom, as he did initially. Many of the early generations said, “This verse has not been abrogated,” meaning that it contains rulings that remain in force. For example, it may be cited as evidence for paying a ransom by someone unable to fast, a nursing mother, or a pregnant woman. They nevertheless agreed that the initial ruling had been abrogated.

They might also counter an understanding derived from a verse with evidence indicating the opposite, to show that this meaning cannot be taken in isolation. They sometimes called this abrogation. Thus, Ibn Masʿūd and others countered the general scope of Allah’s words concerning women whose husbands have died:

“They shall wait for four months and ten days.”
[al-Baqarah 234]

They did so on the grounds that Surah al-Talāq—which he called “the shorter Surah of Women”—was revealed later and contains the words:

“And for pregnant women, their waiting period ends when they give birth.”
[al-Talāq 4]

ʿAlī, Ibn ʿAbbās, and those who followed them—may Allah Most High be pleased with them—held that she should observe the longer