LAST WORD

once said: “There are 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 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 cause of religion. Therefore, the Companions of the Prophet used whatever opportunities the ancient civilization of the Ishmaelites offered. For their part, the Brothers of the Prophet will avail of the opportunities for dawah work made possible in the scientific age of later times. 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,