“Have you noticed any slip?”

Hārith replied, “I adjure you by Allah! Was it not the case that during the time of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—people were divided into three groups: one who is a believer both inwardly and outwardly; one who is an unbeliever both inwardly and outwardly; and one who is inwardly a hypocrite yet outwardly a believer? To which of the three do you belong?”

He said, “Since you have adjured me by Allah, I am a believer both inwardly and outwardly.”

Hārith continued, “Then why did you rebuke me when I said, ‘I am a believer’?”

He answered, “Indeed, that was my slip; so conceal it for me. And may Allah have mercy on Muʿādh.”

I asked Abū Ḥanīfah, may Allah have mercy on him, “What about someone who says, ‘I am among the people of Paradise’?” He replied, “He has spoken falsely, for he has no knowledge of that.”