Qays ibn Shamās al-Anṣārī, declaring him to be among the people of Paradise. He also once said of a man from the Anṣār, “A man from the people of Paradise will now enter.” A man whose beard was still dripping with water from his ablution came in, holding his sandals in his left hand, and sat in the circle. On the second and third days the Messenger ﷺ repeated the same statement, and the very same man appeared each time. The threefold announcement was merely for emphasis; one testimony would have sufficed.

ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr—may Allah be pleased with them both—then followed the man in order to discover the deed that had earned him this glad tiding. He did not find him engaged in much extra worship; the man simply observed the obligatory duties, rose for part of the night, and whenever he awoke he would remember Allah, glorify Him, and declare His oneness.

When ʿAbd Allāh was about to depart he said to the man, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say such and such about you, so I wished to observe your actions.” The man replied, “They are nothing more than what you have already seen.” As ʿAbd Allāh turned to leave, the man called him back and added, “Except that I never harbor any malice in my heart against a Muslim.” ʿAbd Allāh said, “That is the very thing we are unable to do.” (1)

In short, if the Prophet ﷺ has borne witness that someone is in Paradise, then we too bear witness and state with certainty that he is in Paradise. For anyone else, we do not speak definitively; we only hope for him