the challenge of maintaining consonance within the body of scripture overall. Instead of laboring to reconcile two scriptural passages, if any evidence suggested that one appeared later than the other, one could simply declare that abrogation had occurred. The following verse, for example, was generally thought to have been revealed after the Muslim conquest of Mecca in 630: When you meet the unbelievers in battle, smite their necks until you overcome them, then bind them as prisoners, either then setting them free out of munificence or for a ransom, until the war ends… (47:4) Other verses,
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