What Will the Future of the Earth and Humanity Be Like? Is the Future Bright?
How will the future of the earth and humanity unfold? Is a bright future awaiting humans? Can we find hope amidst these conflicts and unrest? In the context of universal civilization, where is the future of the earth and humanity heading?
These are the questions that you may ask yourself constantly and seem to gain more importance with each passing day and occupy the minds of more people. In every period throughout history, different groups of people reside on the earth, and the governance of the world falls into the hands of specific civilizations. The study of history reveals the condition of ancient inhabitants of the earth and the dominant civilizations, but more important than the past is the future that we have ahead of us. It is crucial to know how the future of the earth and humanity is depicted in the Quran and what future God has promised for the human civilization. Who are the rulers and heirs of the earth in the future?
The Lordship of God requires that the future be bright so that people can move towards it with hope. One of the most important issues raised about the future of the earth and humanity is the promise that God has made regarding the inheritance and rule of the righteous on earth. This means that all righteous individuals, as well as those involved in training them, share in the future of the earth and humanity and its ultimate governance.
According to what we discussed about the meaning of religion and the impact of intentions on human life, all prophets tried to make religion and religiosity rule over the world. They were appointed to shape a future in which all human beings could benefit from the blessing of revelation, prophethood, and leadership of an infallible expert. In pursuit of this goal, whenever they could establish a government even in one part of the world, they did it. For instance, we can refer to the rule of Prophets David, Solomon, Joseph, and Dhul-Qarnayn (PBUT). Prophets even conquered other civilizations if they had the chance, like Solomon who guided the Queen of Sheba.
Since there have been arrogant and disbelieving individuals at all times, perhaps the leadership that was the aim of the prophets was not realized in their time. However, they were commanded to educate their nations with regard to the future. The foresight of prophets was not limited to a specific place but went beyond geographic borders and extended through the vastness of the earth and human future. They introduced Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Savior of the End Times to their nations, outlining a bright future for them. These actions played a pivotal role in shaping people’s aspirations and guiding their efforts towards the future.
As we mentioned in the previous discussions, prophets put their efforts into future building and educating righteous generations in order to share in all the good deeds of the future people and record them in their Book of Deeds until the time of the advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH). During the time of Savior’s advent, many prophets will return and many nations also come to see the results of their good or bad deeds. This demonstrates the importance of discussing the future and striving to shape it. Concepts such as future, immortality, and eternity are mentioned in many verses of the Quran and narrations. We will address some verses and narrations about the future of the earth and humanity and the promise about the inheritance of the earth by the righteous.
The Future of the Earth and Humanity and the Inheritance of the Earth by the Righteous
First, we will examine verses 105 and 106 of Surah Anbiya (Prophets), “Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): My servants the righteous shall inherit the earth.” According to this verse, God gives the good news that the future of the earth and humanity will be in the hands of His righteous servants. He continues by saying, “Verily in this is a (great) message for a people (who) worship.” Considering that righteous servants do not belong to a specific era but have always existed throughout history, we conclude that the movement of righteous servants on earth will never stop or be destroyed, eventually reaching its ultimate destination.
An important point about the first part of the verse is the inheritance of the righteous. We use the words “inheritance” and “heirs” when death occurs. Therefore, the current owners and rulers of the earth must die and perish so that the righteous receive their inheritance (the earth). This means that in the End Times and the future, the righteous and their power will increase so much that they can bring death to the civilization ruling over the earth, prepare the ground for the establishment of the ultimate government, i.e., the Noble Rule of the righteous, and inherit the future of the earth and humanity.
The second point is the message that lies within this verse for every worshiper. There are various interpretations of this verse, one of the most beautiful of which is that of the Supreme Leader of Iran, who sees religion through a constructive and hopeful perspective. He says: “If worshipers and religious people do not have a future-oriented perspective of religion, they have not understood religion at all. Being religious means having a positive perspective towards the future and actively moving towards it in a constructive manner.” In his definition, religiosity means having a future-oriented perspective and actively shaping the future.
Shaping the future is so important that on the Day of Judgment, our share in and intentions regarding building the future will be more important than our deeds in the present in determining the quality of our Resurrection. Our actions during our lifetime, even if they are done with sincerity and piety, are not enough to satisfy our needs for a fifty-thousand-year-long Resurrection and our eternal life. However, real and honest intentions in building the future can satisfy our needs on the Day of Judgment. Fulfilling a role in the future means striving for and preparing the ground for the establishment of the Noble Rule of the Righteous at the End Times and the universal leadership of Imam Mahdi (AJ). As Imam Baqir (PBUH) said, the righteous and inheritors of the earth are the companions of Imam Mahdi (PBUH) at the End Times. As a result, our participation in determining the future of the earth and humanity, fulfilling the promise of the inheritance of the earth by the righteous, and receiving rewards and benefits in the Hereafter are all dependent on our obedience and loyalty to Imam Mahdi (PBUH).
The Future of the Earth and Humanity and the Inheritance of the Earth by the Oppressed
The second verse about the future of the earth and humanity is verse 5 of Surah Al-Qasas (The Story), which refers to the inheritance of the oppressed. “But it is Our Will to favor those who are oppressed on earth, making them leaders as well as heirs.” A significant point about inheritance here is that it involves a display of power because someone has to die for someone else to become the heir. Here, this death is not optional, and it is necessary to kill the owners and rulers of the earth and inherit their legacy and rule, which certainly involves conflict and confrontation.
The weak are those who have been oppressed on earth. This definition has different levels and includes all deprived and oppressed people around the world. According to Imam Ali (PBUH), the term “oppressed” in this verse refers to the Household of Prophet Muhammad, including Imam Mahdi (PBUT). The most oppressed person on earth is the Imam of the Time (PBUH), who has been deprived of leadership for about twelve hundred years and cannot rule over his Ummah and children.
The Future of the Earth and Humanity and the Deputyship of Believers
The third verse about the future of the earth and humanity is verse 55 of Surah An-Nur (The Light), which mentions the deputyship of believers and those who do righteous deeds on earth. “Allah has promised those among you who believe and do good deeds, that He will make them successors on earth, as He made those before them successors, and He will strengthen their religion for them – which He has approved for them – and He will substitute security in place of their fear. They worship Me, associating nothing with Me.” Although there were periods in history that some prophets and their followers were caliphs and ruled over the earth, but the leadership mentioned in this verse is one that governs the whole earth by a religion that God likes. One of the results of such leadership is dispelling fear and shame and creating a secure environment for practicing religion. Another result is that all people do servitude under the guidance of their Mentor i.e., Allah, and quickly become like Him, abandoning polytheism. Unfortunately, we currently encounter various forms of polytheism including inanimate, vegetative, animal, and intellective- and cannot worship God sincerely.
The Future of the Earth and Humanity, and the Rule of Islam
Surah AT-Tawbah (The Repentance) verse 33 says: “He is the one Who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, to make it prevail over all religions, even though polytheists hate it.” God has designed the religion of Islam to be universal and future-building, and ultimately He will make it rule over all religions. However, polytheists hate this rule and they resist it, not allowing this change of leadership to occur easily. In fact, in order to establish a religion on earth that God approves of, there will inevitably be conflict and confrontation between two groups – polytheists and the righteous, who are the ultimate heirs of the earth. But in the end, despite all the hatred that disbelievers have, believers and the righteous will be victorious. Allah will perfect His light[1] and make His religion prevail over all religions.[2] Believers, the righteous, and the heirs of the earth are people who engage in struggles. They are brave, zealous, and fearless. They fight with the modern arrogant civilization and weaken it so much that they destroy and eliminate it.
According to Imam Sadiq (PBUH), this verse refers to the uprising of Imam Mahdi (AJ). According to Imam Hussain (PBUH), the rule of the Religion of Truth over all other religions will come into effect by his ninth son, who is Imam Mahdi (PBUH).
According to what has been mentioned in numerous narrations, the earth will be full of oppression and tyranny at the time of the advent of Imam Mahdi (PBUH). A crucial point here is that the Imam of the Time (AJ) will not come without our choice and will or by force and compulsion. If it was meant to be by force, this would have happened during the time of Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali (PBUT), and people would not have remained deprived of their leadership for years. The reason why the period of occultation has lasted for about twelve hundred years is that people must desire their Imam without force or coercion. The question is, how can Imam Mahdi (PBUH) reappear and take on leadership despite the rule of oppression and tyranny, especially when all people desire him? How will the Earth be inherited by the righteous and the Religion of Truth prevail, despite the prevailing oppression and injustice? We will address these questions in subsequent articles.
In this article, we emphasized the importance of the concepts of the future, foresight, and shaping the future. God, through His Lordship, has clarified the future of the earth and humanity and assigned all prophets to the mission of striving to shape this future and educate influential generations who will prepare the ground for the future of the earth and humanity. The clarity of this future encourages us to move towards it with hope and motivation. On the other hand, given our limited life in this world, we can share in shaping the future by having future-oriented intentions and efforts.
One of the promises regarding the future of the earth and humanity is the inheritance of the earth by the righteous and the rule of the religion of Islam and its followers on earth. According to the definition of inheritance, there must be a death so that heirs inherit the legacy. This means that civilizations ruling over the world will head towards elimination, and the leadership and inheritance of the righteous will occur. However, since arrogant powers have always existed alongside righteous people and they are reluctant to accept the rule of religious people, this change in leadership takes place through conflicts.
According to narrations, Imam Mahdi (AJ) and his companions are the inheritors of the earth. Therefore, if we seek to have a role and share in shaping the future of the earth and humanity, we must prepare ourselves for his advent. Our share in the bright future promised by the advent of Imam Mahdi and inheritance of the earth by the righteous depends on the level of our efforts and preparation. Considering that his advent must happen without compulsion, preparing the ground and building cultural centers are needed, which will be discussed in subsequent articles.
[1]. “They wish to extinguish Allah’s light with their mouths, but Allah will [certainly] perfect His light, even to the dismay of disbelievers.” (Quran, 61:8)
[2]. “He is the One Who has sent His Messenger with [true] guidance and the religion of truth, making it prevail over all others, even to the dismay of the polytheists.” (Quran, 9:33)
