Is it permissible to describe a specific person as a disbeliever?

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This questioner says: Is it permissible for us to declare a specific person to be a disbeliever?

The Shaykh : Yes, it is permissible for us to declare a specific person a disbeliever if the causes of disbelief are present in him. For example, if we see a man who denies the message, or a man who permits joining the taghut, or a man who permits ruling by other than what Allah has revealed and says that it is better than the ruling of Allah, after the proof has been established against him, we rule that he is a disbeliever. For this reason, we said in a previous session that if one who abandons prayer dies, it is forbidden for us to wash him, shroud him, pray over him, or bury him in the Muslim cemeteries. This is an obligation to rule that he is a specific disbeliever. So if the causes of disbelief are found, the conditions are met, and the impediments are removed, then we declare the specific person a disbeliever and compel him to return to Islam or be killed.