Islam Rediscovered
7. Discovery of Islam
~ 95 ~
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 Islam, but society on the whole was found
drastically lacking in the features of the early Islam,
