قُلْ مَا كُنتُ بِدْعًا مِّنْ الرُّسُلِ
Say;"I am not a new thing among the Messengers..."
which means, `I am not the first Messenger who ever came to the world. Rather, Messengers came before me. Therefore, I am not an unprecedented incident that should cause you all to reject me and doubt my being sent to you. Indeed, Allah has sent before me all of the Prophets to various nations.'
Allah then says,
وَمَا أَدْرِي مَا يُفْعَلُ بِي وَلَا بِكُمْ
nor do I know what will be done with me or with you.
Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn Abbas that he said,
"It (this Ayah) was followed in revelation by,
لِيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِن ذَنبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ
(That Allah may forgive for you your sins of the past and future). (48;2)
Similarly, Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, and Qatadah all said that
this Ayah was abrogated by the Ayah;
لِيَغْفِرَ لَكَ اللَّهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِن ذَنبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ
(That Allah may forgive for you your sins of the past and future). (48;2)
They said that when the latter Ayah was revealed, one of the Muslims said to Allah's Messenger, "Allah has declared what He will do for you. But what will He do for us?' Then Allah revealed;
لِيُدْخِلَ الْمُوْمِنِينَ وَالْمُوْمِنَاتِ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الاَْنْهَارُ
(That He may admit the believing men and the believing women to Gardens under which rivers flow). (48;5) This is what they said. That which has been confirmed in the Sahih is that the believers said, "May you enjoy that, O Allah's Messenger! But what do we get" So Allah revealed this Ayah.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Kharijah bin Zayd bin Thabit, reported that Umm Al-`Ala' -- a woman from the Ansar who had given her pledge of loyalty to Allah's Messenger -- said,
"When the Ansar drew lots regarding taking in the Muhajirun to dwell with them, our lot was to have `Uthman bin Maz`un. Later, `Uthman fell sick in our house, so we nursed him until he died, and we wrapped him in his garments (for burial). Allah's Messenger then came in, and I said, `O Abu As-Sa'ib! May Allah have mercy on you. I bear witness that Allah has indeed honored you.'
Allah's Messenger asked,
وَمَا يُدْرِيكِ أَنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى أَكْرَمَه
How do you know that Allah has honored him?
I said, `I do not know -- may my father and mother both be ransoms for you!'
Allah's Messenger then said,
أَمَّا هُوَ فَقَدْ جَاءَهُ الْيَقِينُ مِنْ رَبِّهِ وَإِنِّي لَاَرْجُو لَهُ الْخَيْرَ وَاللهِ مَا أَدْرِي وَأَنَا رَسُولُ اللهِ مَا يُفْعَلُ بِي
As for him, certainty (death) has reached him from his Lord, and I surely wish well for him. But by Allah, even though I am Allah's Messenger, I do not know what will happen to me (after death).
I then said,
`Never will I claim a person to be pious after this.'
This incident caused me some distress, and I went to sleep thereafter. I saw in my dream that `Uthman owned a running water spring. I went to Allah's Messenger and told him about that. Allah's Messenger said,
ذَاكِ عَمَلُه
That was his (good) deeds."
Al-Bukhari recorded this Hadith but Muslim did not.
In one of the narrations, Allah's Messenger said,
مَا أَدْرِي وَأَنَا رَسُولُ اللهِ مَا يُفْعَلُ بِه
Even though I am Allah's Messenger, I do not know what will happen to him.
This and similar texts indicate that it is not allowed to declare that a specific person will enter Jannah except for those who were distinctly indicated by Allah or his Messenger. Examples of those are the Ten,
Ibn Sallam,
Al-Ghumaysa',
Bilal,
Suraqah,
Abdullah bin `Amr bin Haram (Jabir's father),
the Seventy Recitors (of Qur'an) who were assassinated near the Well of Ma`unah,
Zayd bin Harithah,
Ja`far,
Ibn Rawahah,
and other similar individuals,
may Allah be pleased with them.
Allah then says,
إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلاَّ مَا يُوحَى إِلَيَّ
I only follow that which is revealed to me,
which means, `I only follow what Allah has revealed to me of the revelation.'
وَمَا أَنَا إِلاَّ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ
and I am but a plain warner.
meaning, `my warnings are obvious to every person with sound intellect and reason.' And Allah knows best