Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Once the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) went to the graveyard, and he recited this supplication:“Peace be upon you, O inhabitants of the abode of the believers! Indeed, we too, if Allah wills, shall join you. I wish I had seen my brothers.”The people asked: O Messenger of Allah, are we not your brothers? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You are my companions; our brothers are those who will come after (us), and I will precede you at the Hawd (the Pond). The people asked: O Messenger of Allah! How will you recognize those of your Ummah who come after you? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: What do you think, if a man has a black horse with a white blaze on its forehead and white marks on its four legs, would he not recognize it among all-black horses? The people replied: Yes, O Messenger of Allah! The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Those people will come on the Day of Resurrection with their foreheads shining due to ablution, and I will precede them at the Hawd. Some people will be driven away from my Hawd just as a lost camel is driven away. I will call out to them: Come forward! Come forward! Then it will be said: After you, they changed (their ways), so I will say: Be off! Be off! Be off!

(Imam Ibn Hibban, may Allah have mercy on him, says:) It is impossible to make an exception in something that has already passed. Exception (istithna) can only be made in things related to the future. Regarding exception, a person’s state can be of two types. When he makes an exception in his faith, one type is that which is absolutely permissible for a person. The second type is that if a person makes an exception in it, he becomes a disbeliever. As for the type that is not permissible, it is this: If a person is asked, do you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, Paradise, Hell, resurrection, the scale, and other such things, then it is obligatory for him to say: I believe in the truth of Allah and in the truth of these things. If a person makes an exception regarding these things, he becomes a disbeliever. The second type is this: When a person is asked, are you among those believers who establish prayer, give zakat, are humble in their prayers, and avoid vain things, then if he says: I hope, if Allah wills, I am among them. Or if he is asked: Are you among the people of Paradise? and he makes an exception regarding being among the people of Paradise. This benefit is established from the narration in this way: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“Indeed, if Allah wills, we shall join you.”This happened when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Jannat al-Baqi‘ with some companions, among whom were both believers and hypocrites.“Indeed, if Allah wills, we shall join you”—here the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made an exception. As for the hypocrites, he made the exception that if Allah wills, they will become Muslims and join you. On this basis, it becomes clear that linguistically, it is correct to make an exception regarding something related to the future, even if there is no doubt about its occurrence. The evidence for this is the statement of Allah Almighty:“If Allah wills, you will surely enter the Sacred Mosque in security.”