The Shaykh of Islam said to some of his opponents: If I were to hold your view, I would be a disbeliever. So why did he not declare them disbelievers, even though the evidence was established against them?

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: What is the criterion for the establishment of evidence (qiyam al-hujjah)? We see the Shaykh of Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah, with the strength of his evidence and clarity of his explanation, often saying to his opponents in their debates: If I were to hold your view, I would be a disbeliever. Yet he (may Allah have mercy on him) did not declare them disbelievers, even though he established the evidence against them.

Answer:
Because there is a possibility of doubt and a vague interpretation (ta'wil) in this; this is among the obscure matters. As for the clear matters, there is no excuse for them: the prohibition of intoxicants, the prohibition of unlawful sexual intercourse, the prohibition of shirk (associating partners with Allah)—which is even more severe—and the prohibition of carrion. These are clear matters, and no one is excused after they have reached them. The greatest of these is the prohibition of shirk, which is not hidden; the prohibition of shirk is clear from the verses and the warnings against it, so no one is excused for it. This applies only to the obscure matters that require clarification. This is what the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) intended: the obscure matters, yes, those that were hidden from them, yes.