We are no longer in the Golden Age, the Silver Age or even the Bronze Age. This is the Iron Age (also known as the Kali Yuga in the Vedic tradition). In this age, few people are able to make spiritual progress because the environment is completely hostile to any sense of the Sacred.
If we use a cricket allegory, we can compare our age to the fifth day in a test match when the pitch has become very difficult for any batsmen to accumulate a score. Even a mediocre score should be judged as a remarkable achievement. Islam, Christianity and other traditions confirm that people living in the end of time will be shown much leniency when facing Judgement. A parable is given in the New Testament about those who worked on the field last but were paid their wages first and were given equal pay to those who worked much longer than them. The other workers complain to the landowner,
‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ - Matthew 20:12
Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to his companions,
"... if anyone of you neglects one-tenth of the Law, they will be ruined. However, a time will come when if anyone observes one-tenth of the Law, they will be saved."
(Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2267. Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani)
Notes
* "Blame yourself, not the age. Blame the age, not others" - Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad
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