If someone were to say: Do you declare the people of figurative interpretation to be disbelievers, or do you declare them to be open sinners?

The Shaykh : So "If someone were to say: — Listen to this important question — Do you declare the people of figurative interpretation to be disbelievers, or do you declare them to be open sinners? And what else, do you excuse them? But we did not say that. The answer is: We say that the ruling of declaring someone a disbeliever or an open sinner is not for us to make; rather, it belongs to Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). It is one of the rulings of the Shari'ah that must be referred to the Book and the Sunnah. Therefore, one must be extremely careful in this matter, and no one is to be declared a disbeliever or an open sinner unless the Book and the Sunnah indicate that he is a disbeliever or an open sinner".
Yes, the ruling of disbelief or open sinfulness is not for us to make, just as the ruling of obligation or permissibility is not for us to make. To whom does it belong? To Allah and His Messenger. If Allah and His Messenger say about this action, or this statement, or this omission that it is disbelief, we say it is disbelief and we do not care. And if Allah and His Messenger do not say that it is disbelief, it is forbidden for us to say that it is disbelief. Just as if Allah and His Messenger say that something is forbidden, it is obligatory for us to say it is forbidden and we do not care whether people are pleased with this or not. And if we do not say it is forbidden, we do not say it is forbidden. I want to make you understand that declaring someone a disbeliever is a ruling of the Shari'ah that is not reached except through the Shari'ah. It is not for us to declare Allah's servants disbelievers unless Allah Mighty and Majestic has declared them disbelievers, either in His Book or on the tongue of His Messenger.