then it was abrogated by five well-known sucklings.⦗1⦘

An example of what is known to be later through historical evidence is Allah’s words: “Now Allah has lightened your burden…”; the term “now” shows that this ruling came afterwards. In the same way, if it is reported that the Prophet ﷺ issued a ruling before the Hijrah and later gave another that contradicts it, the post-Hijrah ruling is the abrogating one.

3 – Establishing the authenticity of the abrogating text. The majority stipulate that it must be equal to, or stronger than, the text it abrogates; hence, in their view a mutawātir passage cannot be abrogated by a solitary report, even if the latter is sound. The stronger opinion, however, is that such parity is unnecessary, for abrogation concerns the ruling itself, and mutawātir transmission is not a prerequisite for establishing a ruling.

Categories of abrogation
In relation to the abrogated text, abrogation falls into three categories:

First: the ruling is annulled while the wording remains—something that occurs frequently in the Quran. An example is the pair of verses on steadfastness: “If there are among you twenty steadfast, they will overcome two hundred” ⦗Q 8:65⦘, whose ruling was abrogated by His statement: “Now Allah has lightened your burden and knows that there is weakness in you; so if there are among you one hundred steadfast, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are among you one thousand, they will overcome two thousand by Allah’s permission. Allah is with the steadfast.” ⦗Q 8:66⦘. The wisdom in abrogating the ruling while retaining the wording is twofold: the reward for reciting the verse endures, and the community is reminded of the rationale behind abrogation.

Second: the wording is withdrawn while the ruling remains, as in the verse on stoning, which has been firmly established in