The Criterion for Distinguishing Between One Who Is Declared a Disbeliever by His Action and One Who Is Not

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success! You mentioned (may Allah preserve you) that a specific person may be declared a disbeliever by his action, if it is one of the nullifiers of Islam. However, some scholars do not declare disbelievers those who commit acts of disbelief, such as denying the attributes and the like. Is there a criterion that distinguishes between one who is declared a disbeliever by the mere act, regardless of his intention, and one who is not, because he may be interpreting the text?

Answer:
The issue of denying the attributes: there is a distinction here. If the one who denies them knows the evidence and deliberately denies and interprets them, he is declared a disbeliever, like the followers of Jahm and the followers of the Mu'tazilah, because this person commits this act out of knowledge. As for the one who is constrained or interprets the text, thinking that he is on the right path, the truth is clarified to him, and he is not declared a disbeliever until the truth is clarified to him. As for the issue of one who commits shirk (associating partners with Allah) or speaks words of shirk while not being coerced, he is declared a disbeliever. As for the heart, no one knows it except Allah. We do not clarify the state of the wrongdoer; we rule on the wrongdoer.