And many of these heretics and ignorant people may support such claims by citing the report of Abū Hurayra:

“I retained two bags of knowledge from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. One I have disseminated among you; as for the other, if I were to disseminate it, you would cut this throat.”

This hadith is authentic. However, the other bag contained nothing of religious knowledge, knowledge of Allah, or affirmation of His oneness that was reserved for His close servants. Nor was Abū Hurayra among the foremost Companions who would have been singled out for such knowledge—if it were something imparted exclusively to anyone. Rather, that bag contained reports about the strife that would occur among Muslims. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had told them of the strife that would arise among Muslims and the battles that would take place between them and the unbelievers.

Thus, when ‘Uthmān was killed, the strife involving Ibn al-Zubayr occurred, and other such events took place, Ibn ‘Umar said:

“If Abū Hurayra had told you that you would kill your caliph, demolish the House, and do other such things, you would have said, ‘Abū Hurayra has lied.’”

Abū Hurayra therefore refrained from relating reports about these tribulations before they occurred, because neither the leaders nor the common people could bear to hear such things.

Likewise, they may cite the report of Hudhayfa ibn al-Yamān and his being the keeper of a secret known to no one else. Hudhayfa’s report is well known, but the secret known to him alone was the identity of the hypocrites who had been present during the expedition to Tabūk.

It is said that they had plotted to assassinate the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, so Allah revealed their affair to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who then informed Hudhayfa of their identities. For this reason, ‘Umar would offer the funeral prayer only for those for whom Hudhayfa offered it, because offering the funeral prayer for hypocrites is prohibited. It is also established in the authentic collection, on the authority of Hudhayfa, that when he spoke of the tribulations and of his being the most knowledgeable about them,