Page 296 - Quranic Wisdom - New.indd

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.

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