The Concept of Nskh in the Quran

The Concept of Nskh in the Quran For example, let us take fasting. In the initial stage, fasting was meant to be observed for only a few days, namely ten days. But in the later period, it was revealed that believers had to continue fasting for the whole month of Ramadan. Now, generally speaking, believers are required to fast for the whole month of Ramadan, but for newcomers the number of days may be reduced, if they cannot manage to fast for the whole month. Islam does not believe in going ahead with new measures without first seeing whether people are ready to accept them or not. In the initial period of Islam, the same was true of social laws, in that they were not specifically laid down in the Quran. This was the situation throughout the Makkan period, but when the Prophet migrated and settled in Madinah, these social laws were revealed, because in Madinah the Prophet was able to establish a society and people were ready to accept these laws. This holds true for all of the injunctions of the Quran. They are not absolute principles but are applicable rather to the varying capacities of individuals and societies. Islam believes in a gradual rather than a sudden introduction of commandments. That is, Islam does not believe in going ahead with new measures without first seeing whether people are ready to accept them or not. The same principle is applicable to the state, whose duty it is to have all the edicts of Islam carried out. But this is not absolute. In principle, the Islamic state does bear the responsibility for the implementation of the commandments of the Quran, but it is also mentioned in the scriptures that this will be done only according to the capacity of the people. If Islamic commandments are not acceptable to the people because of the latter’s lack of mental preparedness, they will be brought into force by a slow and gradual process.