Nor do we declare any individual among them to be definitely in Paradise or in Hell.
We do not bear witness that anyone—no matter how righteous or devout—will enter Paradise, for the unseen is hidden from us. Likewise, we never judge a Muslim to be destined for the Fire, no matter how many sins he may have committed; we do not condemn him to Hell because we do not know with what deeds his life will conclude nor the state in which he will die (1). This applies to a particular, named person.
We base our judgment solely on what is outwardly apparent. No one is to be pronounced either saved or damned unless the Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself bore witness to that verdict, whether of Paradise or of Hell. An example is the Ten who were given glad tidings of Paradise: the four rightly guided caliphs—Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī—together with Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ, Saʿīd b. Zayd b. ʿAmr b. Nufayl, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAwf, al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwām, Abū ʿUbaydah ʿĀmir b. al-Jarrāḥ, and Ṭalḥah b. ʿUbayd Allāh—may Allah be pleased with them all (2).
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ likewise testified for Thābit ibn—