Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No year comes except that the one after it is worse than it. No year (in itself) is better than another year, and no nation is better than another nation; rather (the real cause of corruption) is the departure of your best people and your scholars. And some people will measure matters by their own opinion, and so Islam will be broken and shattered."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب العين / 8519