But no later generation has equalled the first, so naturally none has attained the same degree of power. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“The best generation is the one among whom I was sent, then those who follow them, then those who follow them.”

Yet some members of a generation may attain this, just as some Muslims attain it in certain regions, as is well known in every age.

As for his statement, peace and blessings be upon him:

“Allah will send a wind that takes the soul of every believer,”

this involves no apostasy, but rather the death of the believers. He did not say that whenever a believer dies, Allah will replace him with another; rather, He promised this if some of them apostatize from their religion. This is among the proofs that the Muslim community will neither unanimously agree upon misguidance nor apostatize in its entirety. Rather, Allah will surely preserve believers who remain triumphant until the Hour comes. When every believer has died, the Hour will have come.

This is like the hadith concerning knowledge:

“Allah does not take away knowledge by stripping it from people. Rather, He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars. When no scholar remains, people take ignorant men as leaders. They are asked questions and give religious rulings without knowledge, going astray themselves and leading others astray.”

This hadith is well known in the collections of authentic hadith, narrated by ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.