When the doctrine of abrogation is applied to the dichotomous peace/violence content of the earlier/later Quranic verses, the non-Muslim can easily and immediately grasp 95% of the Islam pertinent to the non-Muslim
The Quranic doctrine of abrogation provides a rational explanation for Islam’s mysterious duality, its simultaneous nature as a religion of domination/partnership, violence/passivity, supremacism/egalitarianism, and violent jihad/spiritual jihad.
In fact, the doctrine of abrogation provides the only option for understanding Islam, at least the portion of Islam posing a threat to the non-Islamic world. Understanding abrogation permits a non-Muslim to understand how the transformation of Islam’s prophet from gentle religious leader in Mecca to conquering warlord in Medina followed the change in his earlier peaceful divine revelations to his later violent divine revelations*, the shift from “there is no compulsion in religion” in Mecca to “slay the unbelievers wherever you find them” in Medina. Abrogation is the linchpin to understanding Islamic violence, terror, and conquest.