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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Is it true that it is preferable not to address a person whose Islam is hoped for as a disbeliever when calling him to the faith?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner says: One of those associated with the da'wah (calling to Islam) appeared in the media these days and said that one should not say "disbeliever" when calling someone to the faith, but rather call him "the other," "the other party," or "the non-Muslim" if one hopes for his Islam. If that is not the case, then he is called a disbeliever at that time. Is this statement correct?

Answer:
Yes, if you want to invite him to Islam, you do not say to him, "O disbeliever." You do not say to him, "O disbeliever." If you say to him, "O disbeliever," that is his soul, but rather say to him, "You are a human being and a person of reason who wants good for yourself, and this is Islam." You explain Islam to him, you accompany him, and you answer him with kind words. Allah the Exalted said:
And speak to him with gentle speechفَقُولَا لَهُ قَوْلًا لَّيِّنًا
[Taha 20:44]
that perhaps he may be remindedلَّعَلَّهُ يَتَذَكَّرُ
[Taha 20:44]
and it is chosen
Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best.ادْعُ إِلَىٰ سَبِيلِ رَبِّكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ وَالْمَوْعِظَةِ الْحَسَنَةِ وَجَادِلْهُم بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ
[An-Nahl 16:125]
in the invitation that one does not say, "You are a disbeliever." However, when explaining the rulings, where it is stated that this is a Muslim and this is a disbeliever, it is said, "This is the difference between the Muslim and the disbeliever in the rulings." Yes.
Source قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل صحيح أنه يُفضل عدم مناداة من يُرجى إسلامه بالكافر عند دعوته؟ للشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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