What is the method of responding to the modernists and confronting them?

Question:
There is a trend among the modernists to belittle the heritage; indeed, some of them dismiss everything old and demand rising up against every inherited tradition. What is your opinion of such people? And what is your advice to one who knows some of these people, befriends them, but does not advise them or rebuke them?

Answer:
What we know of the modernists is that they are atheists, that they are callers to disbelief and misguidance, and that they are callers to the opposite of the Shari'ah. They call people to abandon the Shari'ah and abandon everything old, and to adopt whatever new things they see that suit them, whether from the West or the East. This is atheism, misguidance, and great disbelief.
It is obligatory to fight them, boycott them, boycott their company, and rebuke them until they repent and turn back from this great falsehood. It is obligatory for the state, if it knows one of them, to call him to repentance. If he repents, well and good; otherwise, he is to be killed as an apostate. This is based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): .
It is obligatory for the state, may Allah grant it success, to pay attention to their news and their persons. So whoever is known among them is to be called to the truth, guided to what is correct, and shown the way of guidance. If he repents, praise be to Allah; otherwise, it is obligatory to kill him so that he does not mislead the people. And whoever knows one of them, it is obligatory for him to advise him and warn him of the falsehood, perhaps Allah will guide him through His means. If he refuses, let him report him to the responsible authorities so that he does not harm the people with his false call and his great evil.
We ask Allah for safety. We ask Allah for their guidance. We ask Allah for guidance for us and for them, and that He turn them back to the right path.