Chapter Three Officers in the Matter of: (The Distinction Between Description, Legal Ruling, and Definition)

Know, my brother, that the issue of (the distinction between description, legal ruling, and definition) must be clarified in a way that conforms to language and Sharia, otherwise you will fall into declaring Muslims as infidels without legal evidence.

What is the connection of this distinction to refuting the extremists in takfir?

The answer to that is: The extremists, when they did not distinguish between description, and legal ruling, they hastened to declare Muslims as infidels unjustly. This is because they said: Tawhid (monotheism) and dissociation from Shirk (polytheism) are innate matters, and dissociation from Shirk is not achieved until its legal ruling is known, for how can a person dissociate from something while he is ignorant of its legal ruling?!

Likewise, they said: "Whoever does not declare the polytheist as an infidel has not known Tawhid from Shirk, because how can he know that it is Shirk and not realize that it is kufr (disbelief)?" So they thought that realizing the description of "Shirk" is the same as realizing the legal ruling which is "kufr."

To answer this doubt, we must clarify several matters:

First: The legal rulings upon which accountability and punishment are based are (kufr, fisq, and disobedience). Allah Almighty said: "And if two factions of the believers fight, then make settlement between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the command of Allah. So if it returns, then make settlement between them with justice and act justly. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly." [Surah Al-Hujurat: 9].

Second: The Book and the Sunnah distinguished between description, legal ruling, and definition. To clarify this distinction, we must give an example: