The Muslim's position regarding those who disparage scholars and declare them disbelievers or innovators without knowledge

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, are there causes for declaring someone a disbeliever (takfir) among the many who demand moral dissolution, call for women to go out, and who insult and disparage the status of the scholars who are our reference? What is your opinion, and what is your guidance for us regarding such people? May Allah grant you success.

Answer:
These people are at two opposite extremes. The first group follows the tendency of the Khawarij in declaring people disbelievers (takfir), open sinners (fisq), or innovators (bid'ah) without knowledge or insight. They apply takfir, bid'ah, or fisq to those who do not deserve it due to their ignorance and lack of knowledge. This is a great danger. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is one extreme, where ignorance prevails over them despite their zeal and enthusiasm, but because they are ignorant, they fall into takfir, fisq, and bid'ah without insight. This is the condition of the Khawarij from before; the Khawarij declared the Companions disbelievers. They declared the Companions disbelievers. They declared 'Uthman, 'Ali, and the Companions with them disbelievers because they did not see their opinion, because the Companions did not see their opinion, so they declared them disbelievers. This is the tendency of the Khawarij. The second group is the sliding, sliding group that is lax in matters of religion, who wants Islam to be a name without a reality.
There is no command or prohibition, no hudud (fixed punishments), and no penalties for criminals. They do not rule that anyone is a disbeliever when he deserves it, and they do not rule that anyone is an innovator when he deserves it. They are at two opposite extremes. The first group applies rulings in places where they do not belong, and the second group wants to remove the rulings entirely.
They do not want anything but for a person to be called a Muslim by name, and to do whatever he wishes, and to speak with freedom of opinion and freedom of speech, and so on. They are at two opposite extremes, and the middle is the good. The middle is the good, and it is following the Book and the Sunnah and what the Salaf of the Ummah were upon. But this requires knowledge. It requires learning. It requires understanding, jurisprudence, and taking knowledge from the scholars. A person does not take knowledge from his own head, nor from a book, nor from an ignorant person like him. Rather, knowledge is taken from the scholars in the mosques, in the schools, in the institutes, and in the colleges, until he knows the truth and knows the matter. This is the cure for this problem.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you.