The Creation Plan of God
Discovery of Islam
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PROPHETIC PERSPECTIVE
In a
hadith
the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be
upon him, observed: My generation is the best one,
then the second generation and then the third
generation. (
Sahih Muslim,
8/550)
This means that Islamic virtue was at its peak in the
first generation, and that there was a decline in
righteousness through the second and the third
generations. This stage is known in the history of
Islam as the period of the Prophet’s companions
and the period of Prophet’s companions’
companions.
There is nothing mysterious about it.
Degeneration, a law of nature which applies to
every group, set in after the first generation
itself. By the third generation, the roots of Islam
had weakened and by the fourth generation the
characteristics of the first generation had been
considerably diluted. This process went on until
after a few centuries that period commenced
when, we do find individuals in considerable
number who had imbibed the true spirit of
