Contradictions in the Qur’an: Can the Words and Decrees of Allah be Changed?

 Contradictions in the Qur’an: Can the Words and Decrees of Allah be Changed?

By Dr. Maxwell Shimba – Shimba Theological Institute

Islamic theology holds that the Qur’an is the unaltered and perfect word of Allah, free from any inconsistency. Surah 4:82 presents this as an apologetic challenge:

“Do they not consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy.”

Classical commentators such as Ibn Kathir affirm that Allah declares the Qur’an to be free from contradictions, errors, or inconsistencies because it is a revelation from Al-Hakim (the All-Wise). Likewise, Yusuf Ali insists that “no reasonable person” can find any contradiction in it, regardless of its progressive revelation over many years.

However, when we turn to the Qur’an’s own statements about the immutability of Allah’s decrees, an internal theological conflict emerges.

1. The Words of Allah Cannot Be Changed — Surah 6:34

“Rejected were the messengers before you, but with patience and constancy they bore their rejection and their wrongs, until Our aid did reach them: there is none that can alter the words (and decrees) of Allah.”

This verse appears to affirm divine immutability: Allah’s decisions and revelations are unchangeable.

2. Allah Abrogates and Replaces His Words — Surah 2:106

“None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar; know you not that Allah has power over all things?”

Here, Allah explicitly claims the right to replace earlier revelations with new ones, a principle codified in Islamic jurisprudence as naskh (abrogation).

The Theological Fracture
If Surah 6:34 is taken at face value, no one—including Allah—can alter His words or decrees. Yet Surah 2:106 teaches that Allah does precisely that—removing or replacing prior revelations. Classical exegetes such as Ibn Kathir acknowledge this as the foundation for the doctrine of abrogation, in which former commands are annulled by later ones. This creates a direct tension: if Allah’s decrees are eternal and immutable, how can He Himself cancel and replace them without violating His own standard of immutability?

The tension between these passages is not merely semantic—it strikes at the core of the Qur’an’s self-claim in Surah 4:82 to be free from “discrepancy.” For if Allah’s word is both unchangeable and changeable, the Qur’an embodies the very contradiction it denies.