“Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah is fully capable of all things? Do you not know that to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and that, besides Allah, you have neither protector nor helper? Or do you wish to ask your Messenger as Moses was asked before? Whoever exchanges faith for disbelief has certainly strayed from the right way.”

Concerning His saying, exalted is He: “Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten”: This was because the polytheists said, “Muhammad only commands his companions to do something, then forbids them from it and commands them to do the opposite of what he had said, merely of his own accord. Today he says one thing, then retracts it tomorrow,” as Allah reported: “When We substitute one verse in place of another—and Allah knows best what He sends down—they say, ‘You are only a fabricator.’” (Surah al-Nahl, 101) (1)

So He revealed, “Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten,” thereby clarifying in this verse the wisdom behind abrogation.

Linguistically, abrogation has two meanings: (2)