As for abrogation affecting a report concerning the institution of a matter, this is because it falls within the scope of enactment: issuing commands and prohibitions, and issuing threats of punishment, according to those who allow threats to be abrogated—as at the end of Sūrat al-Baqarah, according to what is reported from the majority of the early generations.

This rests on whether a threat is purely a statement of fact or also constitutes an enactment, like contracts that may be rescinded, since it reports the intention and resolve of the one issuing the threat. It is also like a report of a command or prohibition, which conveys what the speaker requires and thus expresses His legislative will.

This further clarifies what we have established elsewhere: Allah, glorified be He, has made the path of guidance clear through His Book. It is not fitting that He should address people with words whose apparent meaning is false or unsound. Nor would He mislead those addressed by referring them to arguments they find acceptable according to their own judgment. Rather, the Book must provide clarification, guidance, and healing for what is in people’s hearts, and what it signifies and conveys must be true. This is a principle of immense importance.

Section: Statements and Actions over Which Believers Differ, in Fundamentals and Subsidiary Matters

This concerns one of the greatest foundations of Islam: understanding communal unity and the rulings concerning division, fighting one another, declaring others unbelievers, cursing one another, mutual hatred, and other such matters.