Refutation of the Group of Takfir and Hijrah

Question:
What is Your Eminence’s response to the Group of Takfir and Hijrah, which calls itself the Group of Muslims, and who consider everyone other than themselves disbelievers, and declare people disbelievers for committing sins?

Answer:
This is a group we have heard about; we have heard about the Group of Takfir and Hijrah, and people say such and such about them. And Allah knows their true reality best. We do not have clear insight into their conditions. People may lie about them, or exaggerate about them, or diminish them. However, their words and their deeds are weighed against the Book and the Sunnah, and their statements are examined. If they are following the path of the Khawarij and the path of the Mu’tazilah, having erred and strayed from the right path, they are to be informed and directed toward the good. And if they are being lied about, then it is obligatory to correct the record.
If they are saying something like the saying of the Mu’tazilah: that whoever commits unlawful sexual intercourse is a disbeliever, or whoever drinks intoxicants is a disbeliever, or whoever is undutiful to his parents is a disbeliever, then these people are called Mu’tazilah, or Khawarij. If they declare people disbelievers, they become Khawarij, and it is obligatory that they be called to repent. If they repent, well and good; otherwise, they are to be killed, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the killing of the Khawarij. He said: .
As for if they are being lied about, and things are attributed to them that are contrary to the truth, then it is obligatory for the believer not to lie, and not to accuse people without right. It is obligatory for one who knows something about them, in which they have erred, to advise them and direct them to the good. As for taking people’s words at face value, without clear insight, people may lie about one another.

Question: Settling down among them and meeting with them. One of them said: If I were to meet al-Shafi’i, I would gouge out his eye. And one of them said... He said: If I were to meet Ibn ‘Umar, I would gouge out his eye. And do they declare people disbelievers for committing sins?

Answer: These are Khawarij, like the known Khawarij. It is obligatory for the state to call them to repentance. If they repent, [they are accepted]; otherwise, they are killed, just as 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) killed the Khawarijwhen he called them to repentance. He accepted whoever among them repented, and he fought whoever did not repent, until he killed them (may Allah be pleased with him and grant him satisfaction).

Question: They killed the Muslims... through guidance, and he cursed all the scholars of the Muslims...?

Answer: I say, O Shaykh Muhammad, this is a rule: If the religion of the Khawarij and the path of the Khawarij become apparent from someone, it is obligatory that the one in authority in his land call him to repent. If he repents, well and good; otherwise, he is to be killed. If he persists in what he is upon, he is to be killed. And if the path of the Mu’tazilah becomes apparent from them, likewise they are to be called to repent. If they repent, well and good; otherwise, it is for the one in authority to kill them, and it is for the one in authority to imprison them. And so it is with the people of innovation in their various forms. That is, their case is examined according to the method of the Book and the Sunnah.