Abu Ubayd’s Understanding Of Naskh;

Abstract

In the period when Islamic sciences were formed, a large number of scholars with absolute ijtihad capacity were trained. One of the scholars mentioned is Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām al-Khurāsānī al-Harawī who was educated by many famous scholars of the period, had a great influence on both the scientific and political circles. For this reason, he could not be shared by different sect biographers. As a matter of fact, some Shafi’i tabaqat writers counted Ebû Ubeyd as a follower of Imam Shafii. On the other hand, some Hanbali scholars have mentioned Ebû Ubeyd among the class of Hanbali scholars. However, it was concluded that it would be more correct to see Ebû Ubeyd as an independent mujtahid rather than a follower of any madhhab. For, in his own works, the fact that he refers more to Imam Malik rather than Imam Shafii and Ahmad ibn Hanbal and sometimes refers to the views of Abu Hanifa and Imamey indicates this. Ebû Ubeyd, who came to the forefront with his faqih and muhaddis aspects, had a deep knowledge of the subject of naskh, which has a close relationship with these two sciences, and in this regard, he wrote a rare work called en-Nâsiḫ ve’l-mensûḫ fi’l-Ḳurʾâni’lʿazîz ve mâ fîhi mine’l-ferâʾiż ve’s-sünen. While revealing Ebû Ubeyd’s understanding of naskh, his work en-Nâsiḫ ve’l-mensûḫ was used as the main source. In addition to this, his other works related to the subject, especially his work called Kitâbu’l-emvâl, were among the first hand sources that were consulted. It has been tried to determine his approach to naskh based on the statements he made on the subject and the examples he gave in this regard. In this context, Ebû Ubeyd’s approach to the nature and framework of naskh and his views on the evidences that can abrogate each other are examined in this study. Ebû Ubeyd discussed the abrogation in a broader sense as “the modification of a shar’i ruling by a later evidence”, not the established meaning in the methodology as “removal of a shar’i ruling with a later shar’i proof”. In this context, naskh is also used for the allocation of public, the denial of the absolute, the statement of conciseness, the correction of a wrong understanding and the exception made from a general rule. This is known as the understanding of naskh among the companions, tābi‘īn and early convert scholars. However, although Ebû Ubeyd is at the same age as Imam Shafii and has copied and benefited from his works, it is noteworthy that he preferred the predecessor’s approach to the subject rather than the naskh understanding he adopted. It is important to investigate this. He adopted the approach of the public regarding the Shari’a evidences of Ebû Ubeyd that could naskh each other. According to him, the verses of the Qur’an can naskh each other. He gave many examples of this. Another point that draws attention here is to ascribe the concept of naskh used for the verse of the Qur’an by Ebû Ubeyd, from the Lawh-i Mahfuz, in the form of a verse whose recitation is lasting and its meaning is naskhed, and a verse that is removed from people’s hearts by canceling both its recitation and used in different meanings. Ebû Ubeyd stated that sunnah can be naskhed with sunnah, without making any distinction between ahad and mutawatir about sunnah and its naskh. However, despite giving many examples of the naskh of the âhâd sunnah with its own like, no example has been encountered of the naskh of the âhâd sunnah with its own like or with âhâd and the âhâd sunnah with the mutawatir sunnah. As it can be understood from my statements on the subject, Ebû Ubeyd saw that it is permissible to naskh both mutawatir and ahad sunnah with the Qur’an. However, while there is an example for the naskh of the ahad sunnah with the Qur’an in his related works, there is no example for the other. Although there is no clear statement on the issue that the Qur’an can be naskhed with the sunnah, it is understood from some examples that he gives permission for this. © Published by Hitit Ü niversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi – Hitit University Divinity Faculty, Çorum, Turkey. All rights reserved.