The Manner of the Prophets' Call and Its Ranks

Question:
What is the manner and method of the call of the Prophets (peace and blessings be upon them), that is, how did they call their peoples?

Answer:
They called their peoples as Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) mentioned. They began with the call to the oneness of Allah (tawhid), then they followed this with the rest of the commands of the Shari'ah, little by little. They also called people . This is the method of the Prophets (peace and blessings be upon them), not by the way of violence or by the way of harshness and repulsion, but by the way of making things easy and by the way of encouraging, except for the one who persists in defiance after the explanation; for him there is another ruling. And Allah clarified this in Surat al-Nahl at its end: . The Imam Ibn Kathir, and likewise Ibn al-Qayyim, stated regarding the meaning of this verse that it contains an explanation of the ranks of the call. The ignorant person is called with wisdom. The one who falls into error out of ignorance is called with wisdom, meaning with gentleness and softness, because he is ignorant and did not know, such that if the ruling is explained to him, he will accept it and not defy. This is with wisdom. The second rank is admonition. A person to whom it was explained, but he was lazy. He did not oppose or defy, but he was lazy in implementation. This one needs admonition. You say to him, "O so-and-so, fear Allah. You now know the ruling and know [the truth], so hasten to action and do not be lazy." This needs admonition. The third rank is debate. A person who knows the truth but leaves it, not out of laziness, but leaves it due to a doubt (shubhah) with which he argues. He says, "This is not haram (forbidden), this thing." You say, "This thing is haram," and he says, "No, it is not haram." You say to him, "This thing is obligatory (wajib)," and he says to you, "No, it is not obligatory." This needs debate.
Meaning, the explanation was not sufficient for him, and he raises doubts and opposes. This needs debate, but he debates in the best manner, unless it becomes clear that he is defiant and that he does not want the truth. Then the ruling of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is established against him by killing or by punishment.
, Allah the Exalted said: They refused to accept the truth after knowing it. These are the ones who fight. Allah the Exalted said: Shouting. These are the stages of the call: first, with wisdom; second, with admonition; third, with debate in the best manner; and fourth, with punishment for those who persist in defiance after knowledge and clarification. Yes, yes, yes.