Explanation of the meaning of the hadith: “Whoever says to his brother, ‘O disbeliever,’ one of them has incurred it.”

The Shaykh : This reminds me to bring you closer to the meaning of another hadith, which is famous and authentic, and many people are afflicted by it due to its misclassification or misunderstanding. It is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): and Also, this hadith must be understood and interpreted as the hadith of the fighting Muslims was interpreted, where both of them are in the Fire due to their bad intentions, unlike if their intentions were good. So, if one declares a Muslim a disbeliever, he has incurred disbelief, provided he declared him a disbeliever while knowing that he is not a disbeliever, knowing that he is a Muslim, and then the ruling of disbelief is applied to him, so this disbelief returns to him. But if he declared him a disbeliever based on what he heard from him or what appeared to him, and he did not rush, did not defend himself, and did not follow his desires, then this hadith does not apply to him, even if he declared him a disbeliever and was mistaken, as long as he did not intend to declare him a disbeliever in his heart, but only intended to pronounce the ruling that he deserves according to the Shari'ah, but in the result, he was mistaken. This is how the hadiths must be interpreted in light of the hadiths and the legal principles.
This also reminds us of a very important truth that people have strayed from, both in the past and the present, and they have deviated from the path of the Muslim community. It reminds us that disbelief is of two types: disbelief of the heart and practical disbelief. Disbelief of the heart is what takes its owner out of the religion, while practical disbelief does not take him out of the religion. It is also necessary to interpret the hadiths in this manner, including his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Is the mere fighting of a Muslim against his Muslim brother disbelief? The answer is: We look at his fighting of his Muslim brother. If it is accompanied by a heart that considers this fighting of a Muslim permissible, then it is doctrinal disbelief, and its meaning is apostasy. But if his fighting of his Muslim brother is not accompanied by a heart that considers this fighting permissible, but rather it is a sin among the sins against his Lord, then it is practical disbelief and not doctrinal disbelief. This is a topic that we have discussed repeatedly and over and over.