No time = no light. Correct
In our universe there is light and time. Correct
Before our universe there was no time nor light. Oh?
After our universe there won't be time nor light. Oh?
Since matter doesn't come out of nothing all by itself, it is quite logical to assume that it was always there.
You won't hear me saying that this is the one and only way that it happened. I don't have that much faith in things I don't know anything about, but it is a (I think quite likely) possibillity.