The concept of abrogation among Islamic scholars is particularly interesting to me.  Like the other Abrahamic religions, Islam adheres to a set of religious laws that are believed to be directly given to humans by God.  To disobey these laws is to sin against God, which is arguably worse than disobeying secular laws or receiving any sort of legal punishment.  But abrogation presents the idea that the teachings of Allah, which are the basis of these religious laws, are subject to change or contradiction from other teachings of Allah within the same text, the Qur'an.

In my own experience, I had heard of the many contradictions and ambiguities that appear in the Bible, but I had never considered their implications. I always thought that they were a necessary part of any religion and that it was the individual's responsibility to believe the aspects that made sense to him/her. I didn't realize there was a scholarly idea regarding the contradictions of God and different ways to approach them.  It can be detrimental to a religion when the teachings are unclear or conflicting, and it really questions the laws and social behaviors that have been based on them.  I think it's interesting how the idea of abrogation can exist and be accepted in a religious community and not have significant negative effects on the authority of the teachings of that religion.