Social Life and Respect for the State
In the Golden Age, the arts and technology will flourish and develop to heretofore unimagined extents. In addition, social life will be markedly peaceful. Allah will present a previously unknown level of beauty to the life of people of faith who turn to His religion, for, as stated in the Qur’an, He promises good to His servants who comply with the Qur’an’s morality:
Allah calls to the Abode of Peace and guides whom He wills to a straight path. Those who do good will have the best and more! Neither dust nor debasement will darken their faces. They are the Companions of Paradise, remaining in it timelessly, forever. (Surah Yunus: 25-26)
In the Golden Age, “the Abode of Peace” promised to those who “do good” will be present in its true sense. The most important element that ensures such a life will be strict adherence to the Qur’an’s morality.
How will this peace and tranquility be secured?
As we know, respect, obedience, and confidence engender social peace and tranquility. In the Qur’an, obedience is featured and encouraged as an ideal moral attribute. In many verses, Allah commands Muslims to be obedient. Consequently, the social life of a community that embodies the Qur’an’s morality is simultaneously an environment in which people show the greatest respect and obedience to the state.
In addition, Allah forbids people from committing corruption. There are many verses related to this command:
Eat and drink of Allah’s provision, and do not go about the land corrupting it. (Surat al-Baqara: 60)
Whenever he holds the upperhand, he goes about the land corrupting it, destroying [people's] crops and animals. Allah does not love corruption. (Surat al-Baqara: 205)
Do not corrupt the land after it has been put right. Call on Him fearfully and eagerly. Allah’s mercy is close to the good-doers. (Surat al-A‘raf: 56)
Give full measure and full weight. Do not diminish people’s goods. Do not cause corruption in the land after it has been put right. That is better for you if you are believers. Do not lie in wait on every pathway, threatening people, barring those who believe from [entering] the Way of Allah, desiring to make it crooked. Remember when you were few and He increased your number: see the final fate of the corrupters! (Surat al-A‘raf: 85-86)
But as for those who break Allah’s contract after it has been agreed, sever what Allah has commanded to be joined, and cause corruption in the land, the curse will be upon them. They will have the Evil Abode. (Surat ar-Ra‘d: 25)
Seek the abode of the Hereafter with what Allah has given you, without forgetting your portion of the world. And do good, as Allah has been good to you. And do not seek to cause corruption in the land. Allah does not love corrupters. (Surat al-Qasas: 77)
In compliance with these verses, sincere Muslims strictly avoid causing any corruption and instigating chaos and conflict. In a peaceful, stable, and tolerant manner, they always seek peaceful solutions to problems.
Life in the Golden Age also will be characterized by peace. People will display the trust and respect they feel for the state by obeying its agencies. People will no longer pose difficulties or fight against police or other security forces. On the contrary, with their tolerant and kind attitude, those who live by the Qur’an’s morality will always side with the security forces and thereby help them to accomplish their tasks. The presence of such people will eradicate anarchy, terror, chaos, enmity, and violence. As a result, humanity will attain a Paradise-like environment, the like of which has never been seen before. Conflict, fighting, and disagreement will be things of the past. On the streets, people will feel secure and will be able to go anywhere—even at night.
Our Prophet (saas) stressed in his sayings that there will be no bloodshed in that period and that peace will prevail:
In this time, one is not awoken from sleep and not a drop of blood is shed.21
In this time, neither a man will be awoken from sleep, nor will a person’s nose bleed.22
Moreover, the self-possessed and obedient attitude of these morally excellent people will make it easy to administer the country. The absence of such vices as greed for material values and mundane troubles (e.g., striving to make a living) will put an end to theft and fraud. Violent outbreaks will not happen, and the pursuit for truth and research will occupy people’s minds. In the absence of anarchy, terror, corruption, crime, murder, fraud, and so many other evil deeds, countries will prosper.
This contemporary, civilized, and rational Islamic model, which will prevail during the Golden Age, will guide the Islamic world. The walls of bigotry surrounding Islam for centuries will collapse, and the original religion will resurface in all of its purity. Societies abiding by the Qur’an’s morality will solve their internal social problems and become role models for other societies.
