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Al-Qurun (the centuries and generations)

القرون والأجيال

The qarn is a generation of people living in one age, and by extension a span of time the scholars reckoned at about a hundred years. The Prophet said: the best of generations is mine, then those who follow them, then those who follow them. The Qur'an speaks of the generations destroyed for their wrongdoing and of the number of generations between Noah and Muhammad. 1 2

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora

Sacred timeHistory-writing and social thought

Definition

In the speech of the Arabs the qarn is the people joined in one age, and the word came to be used for the span of time itself; jurists and historians reckoned it at about a hundred years. 1

The best of generations

In the two Sahihs: the best of generations is mine, then those who follow them, then those who follow them — meaning the excellence of the Companions, then the Followers, then their followers over all later ages. 3

Generations in the Qur'an

The Qur'an tells of the destruction of the wrongdoing generations such as 'Ad and Thamud, and that God never destroyed a generation before sending messengers to it. 2

Generations for the historians

Historians divided time into ages and generations, and al-Biruni in al-Athar al-Baqiya set out the measures of time and the names of the eras among the nations. 1

People and things also explored

Adhan (the call to prayer: its ruling, wording, conditions, recommended features and the muezzin)· The sacred months· Islamic history between idealism and realism· The last ten nights of Ramadan· The first ten days of Dhu al-Hijja· Dhu al-Hijja (the twelfth month: the pilgrimage, the first ten days and the day of 'Arafa)· Dhu al-Qa'da (the eleventh month and one of the four sacred months)· The Hijri calendar

Sources

  1. The Remaining Traces of Past Centuries (Maktabat al-Thaqafa al-Diniyya, Cairo, 1st ed. 2008, digital copy)
  2. Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi
  3. al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Al-Qurun (the centuries and generations)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/qurun-generations/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-12.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Adhan (the call to prayer: its ruling, wording, conditions, recommended features and the muezzin)

In law, the adhan is announcing the time of an obligatory prayer in set, transmitted words. The jurists differ on its ruling, between a communal obligation and a strongly recommended practice, and on its wording, tarjia, tathwib, the conditions of order, continuity and raised voice, and the qualities of the muezzin: Islam, manhood, sanity and discernment.