Is establishing the argument a condition for declaring someone an innovator or an open sinner?

The questioner : A set of questions. May Allah reward you with good. The first question: Is establishing the argument a condition for declaring someone an innovator or an open sinner?

The Shaykh : By Allah, this answer varies depending on the country and the population, in terms of the presence of scholars who fulfill the obligation of awareness and da'wah. Let us give an example, as they say, in the Syrian lands, specifically the Alawites. There is a very large difference between those who are in the lands of disbelief and those who are a group that recently converted to Islam. These people, without a doubt, obviously, it is not permissible to proceed directly to declaring them disbelievers, open sinners, or innovators, because they live in an environment that is new to Islam and to knowledge of Islamic rulings. This is one side. The other side is a purely scholarly environment, a purely Islamic environment, where the matter does not require establishing the argument, because the issue is established by the reality of the nature of the Islamic and scholarly environment. So these are two completely contrasting examples, and without a doubt, there are many examples between them, some closer to the first example and some closer to the second, and so on. Therefore, the point of this example is that it is not permissible to make a general statement, negative or positive, regarding that question. One should not say "it is obligatory" nor "it is not obligatory," but rather it varies due to the variation of the people who are to be declared disbelievers, open sinners, or innovators. The original ruling is that it is not permissible to declare a Muslim a disbeliever, and consequently an open sinner, and consequently an innovator, except after establishing the argument, based on the well-known verse and what came in its meaning from authentic hadiths. The well-known verse I mean is the saying of Allah the Exalted: and similar to it is: Also, the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which Imam Muslim narrated in his Sahih from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So I say the original ruling is that the argument must be established for these three categories. This is the basis of the ruling. So, after the examples we gave, if one is knowledgeable or confident that the argument has been established against a person, then it is permissible to declare him a disbeliever, it is permissible to declare him an open sinner, and it is permissible to declare him an innovator. Otherwise, it is not permissible. This is the answer.