The Grading of the Hadith: “There is no year but the one after it is worse than it”

Question:
Is the hadith: authentic?

Answer:
As for the hadith , it is an authentic hadith. Al-Bukhari narrated it in his Sahih from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: In another wording, he said: .
This is the reality. As time advances and the era of Prophethood recedes, knowledge decreases and ignorance increases, as is the case today in the fifteenth century and the fourteenth century that has passed. Knowledge has decreased greatly, and ignorance has spread in most countries. It is rare to find a country with scholars who are sufficient for the needs of the country and who are pointed to as possessing knowledge, virtue, and uprightness. Thus, the calamity is great.
However, this does not mean that time is always worse than what came before it. No, this is a general description. It may happen that in some times, in some places, the condition of the people is better than their previous condition in some instances.
As happened in the era of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, the righteous caliph. The Muslims attained great good through his rule, and the condition in his time was better than the condition of those before him, such as the time of al-Walid and his brother Sulayman. The time of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz was much better in establishing justice and applying the Shari'ah. This indicates that his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): means a general description, not a universal description without exception, but rather a general description.
Some scholars said regarding this: It is with respect to the generality of time, not with respect to places. For example, the condition of the people of Damascus, Madinah, or Riyadh in a later time may be better than their condition in an earlier time. But the intended meaning is the generality, meaning the generality of the world; every time is lower than the one before it in the generality of the world. However, in some places, with respect to some people, their condition may be better than what came before, as has happened in many places where innovations appeared, and then a follower of the Sunnah came and called to Allah, established justice, established the Sunnah, and forbade innovation; so their condition became better than before.
And as happened in the Arabian Peninsula, where a great deal of shirk, innovations, and superstitions occurred in the eleventh century and before it. Then Allah sent the call of Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (may Allah have mercy on him), who called to Allah in the Peninsula, and in Najd itself, he called to Allah (Exalted and Majestic), established the Sunnah, and forbade innovation. The House of Saud supported him; so the condition of Najd became much better than its condition before, due to the Islamic call, due to the refutation of innovations and shirk, and due to the application of the Shari'ah. This is a known, clear, and real matter.
And so it was in the time of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah in Damascus and in Egypt, and in the time of Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Kathir; the condition of that time was better than the time before it, due to the callers to the truth, the manifestation of the Sunnah, and the suppression of innovation. And Allah is the One to be sought for help.