aware of the secret that no one else knew.” This was what the Prophet—Allah bless him and grant him peace—had confided to him during the year of Tabūk concerning the identities of the hypocrites. He related that a group of hypocrites had intended to loosen the girth of the Messenger of Allah’s camel at night so that he would fall from his mount and die. This was revealed to him, and Hudhayfah was nearby, so he secretly told him their names. It is said that ‘Umar would not offer the funeral prayer over anyone unless Hudhayfah did so.

None of this involves any of the truths of religion, nor any hidden meaning that contradicts the apparent meaning. Allah has described the hypocrites and related their deeds in His Book, so much so that Sūrat Barā’ah (Disavowal) was called “the Exposer” because it exposed the hypocrites. It was also called al-Muba‘thirah and given other names. Yet the Quran did not name particular individuals. If someone knows that certain individuals are among the hypocrites thus described, this is comparable to his knowing that certain individuals are among the believers promised Paradise. The Prophet’s declaration—Allah bless him and grant him peace—that Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, and others will be in Paradise is thus comparable to his declaration that those people were hypocrites. If this is considered hidden knowledge, it is hidden knowledge that agrees with the apparent meaning, confirms it, and corresponds to it.

Its counterpart in the sphere of commands is what is called “verifying the applicability of the ruling”: the Lawgiver makes a ruling contingent upon a particular attribute, and we ascertain that this attribute is present in a particular individual. An example is His command to call two upright men as witnesses, without specifying particular individuals. When we know that this man possesses