The Golden Age
The characteristics of The Golden Age, described in detail by Allah's
Messenger (saas), are important signs of the Judgment Day. This period
is called the "Golden Age," because of the Paradise-like description
of it by Islamic scholars. It can be understood from the hadiths that
the Golden Age will come in the second period of the End Times.
One major feature of this happy period will be its great wealth. The
hadiths stress that this wealth will be a unique phenomenon in history:
My community will find such well-being at that time that the like
will never have been seen before.(Ibn Majah)
My community, both the good and the bad, will be blessed with blessings
they have never seen before (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat
al-Mahdi Akhir al-Zaman)
Another hadith describes the richness of this period:
During the period, the earth will throw out its treasure…(Ibn Hajar
Haythami, Al Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi 'alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar)
Other hadiths relate that the years of anxiety and distress will end;
no one will be in want. No one will even be found to give alms to:
Give in charity because there will come a time on the people when
a person will go out with his alms from place to place but will not
find anybody to accept it.(Bukhari)
Goods will certainly multiply and flow like water at that time,
but nobody will stoop to pick them up.(Al-Halimi)
A notable characteristic of the Golden Age will be the establishment
of justice and truth. It will be a time when law and justice reign in
the place of anxiety, conflict and injustice. As we read in the hadiths,
"The earth will be filled with justice, instead of cruelty and torture."
(Ahmad Diya'al-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith) Among the most
important features of this period will be the silence of weapons, the
end of enmity, conflicts and social disintegration, and the establishment
of friendship and love among people. The extraordinary amount of money
spent in the war industry will be invested instead in food, health,
development, culture, and on the things that bring about the happiness
of human beings.
In his hadiths, the Prophet (saas) stated that
the End Times will be divided into two period, and that the second
will be one of unprecedented prosperity. Islamic scholars have called
this period the Golden Age, because of its Paradise-like characteristics.The
Golden Age will be a time when the moral teachings of the Qur'an
will be adopted and when plenty, bliss, wealth and glory, similar
to the descriptions of Paradise in the Qur'an, will be prevalent.
It is described in the hadiths as a period in which a poor person
will not be found to whom to give alms.
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Another feature of this blessed period will be the return to the fundamentals
of religion as it was lived in the time of the Prophet (saas). Those
laws, myths and traditions that were invented after Islam and not basic
to it will be removed. The differences among Muslims in the practice
of their religion will cease.
In short, The Golden Age will be a time of plenty, well being, peace,
happiness, wealth and ease. It will be an age when developments in art,
medicine, communications, production, transportation and other such
areas of life will occur as never before in the history of the world.
And, people will live according to the moral values of the Qur'an.
After the Golden Age
When
we read the accounts of the prophets in the Qur'an, we see that an important
divine law governs all ages. Those societies that reject the messenger
Allah sent to them and fight against him are destroyed, while those
who subject themselves to the messenger experience the material plenty
and spiritual well being that true religion brings. In the period following
these messengers, some societies then reject the true religion that
was clearly communicated to them, and begin to associate partners with
Allah. Discord and conflict ensue. In fact, they have contributed to
their own disastrous end with their hands.
This law will surely be operative in the End Times. The Prophet (saas)
reveals that the Hour will come after the death of 'Isa (as) and at
the end of the Golden Age:
After him (the Prophet 'Isa (as)) the day of Judgment will be but
a matter of moments away.(Ahmad Diya'al-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz
al-Ahadith)
The day of Judgment will come after him (the Prophet 'Isa (as)).(Ahmad
Diya'al-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith)
Surely, the End Times and the Golden Age will be the periods in which
a last warning will be given to humanity. A number of hadiths highlight
that there will be no good left in the world after this period. So,
we see that, shortly after 'Isa (as)'s death, all the peoples of the
world, spoiled by the material abundance of the Golden Age, will become
wicked and reject true religion. We may state that it may be under such
conditions that the Hour will come, but, of course, only Allah knows.
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