Role of the Believers of Later Times

The Companions of the Prophet and the Brothers of the Prophet share the same motivation: to avail of the opportunities in their respective eras to promote the cause of religion.

The believers in later times have been described as bearers of high levels of faith. Certain traditions illustrate this. For example, according to Anas bin Malik, a Companion of the Prophet, the Prophet said, ‘The example of my ummah is like rains, nobody knows which phase, earlier or later, will be better.’ (At-Tirmizi, Hadith No. 2869)

In this Hadith, the simile of the rain denotes a whole historical process. The revolution brought about in the seventh century by the Prophet and his Companions was, in one sense, the beginning of a process. The historical process which set in in the wake of this revolution was to yield the final result in the future. “Future” here probably means the same historical phenomenon referred to in another tradition as Ikhwan-e-Rasool (Brothers of the Prophet).

Malik al-Ashari says that the Prophet of Islam once said: “There are some such believers as are neither prophets nor martyrs, but even prophets and martyrs will envy them, because of their status and nearness to God, on the Day of Judgement.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 22894)

In these traditions, it is most likely that the believers mentioned therein, who will be born in the age of science, are the group called the “Brothers of the Prophet”. Owing to the discoveries of nature, a new societal framework will come into existence, by availing of which it will become possible for them to experience higher levels of realization.

In one respect, the Companions of the Prophet and the Brothers of the Prophet share the same motivation: to avail of the opportunities in their respective eras to promote the peaceful message of Islam. Therefore, the Companions of the Prophet used whatever opportunities were available in ancient times. For their part, the Brothers of the Prophet will avail of the opportunities available in the scientific age of later times for spreading the word of God. In my view, there will perhaps be three ways in which the Brothers of the Prophet will avail of the prevailing opportunities:

1.   The use of scientific arguments made possible by scientific discoveries in nature. For instance, substantiating by modern data, the argument from design offered by the philosophers and theologians to prove the existence of God and give arguments to support the veracity of religious Truths.

2.   The use of modern communications to take the divine message to a global level, such as print and electronic media and other means of digital communication and technology.

3.   Making full use of the religious freedom gained in later times for the peaceful propagation of this work globally so that the divine message enters every home—big or small.