there is no doubt that what he mentioned in his response regarding the interpretation of Allāh's words: "And whoever does not judge by what Allāh has revealed, then it is they who are the disbelievers" and "And whoever does not judge by what Allāh has revealed, then it is they who are the wrongdoers" and "And whoever does not judge by what Allāh has revealed, then it is they who are the defiantly disobedient" is correct. He clarified that disbelief is of two types: major and minor, just as wrongdoing is of two types, and likewise defiance is of two types: major and minor. Whoever deems permissible ruling by other than what Allāh has revealed, or adultery, or usury, or other such prohibited acts that are unanimously agreed upon as forbidden, has committed major disbelief, major wrongdoing, and major defiance. And whoever commits them without deeming them permissible, his disbelief is minor, his wrongdoing is minor, and likewise his defiance, as the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) said in the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu): "Insulting a Muslim is defiance and fighting him is disbelief." By this, the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) meant minor defiance and minor disbelief, and he used this expression to deter from this reprehensible act. Similarly, his saying (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam): "Two things among people are acts of disbelief: defaming lineage and wailing over the dead," recorded by Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ, and his saying (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam): "Do not revert to disbelief after me by striking each other's necks," recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim from the ḥadīth of Jarīr (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu), and there are many ḥadīths with this meaning. It is obligatory for every Muslim, especially the people of knowledge, to be cautious in matters and to judge them in the light of the Book and the sunnah and the way of the predecessors of the ummah, and to beware of the dire path that many people have taken by issuing judgments without distinction. The people of knowledge must focus on calling to Allāh, the Exalted, with clarity, explaining Islam to people with its evidence from the Book and the sunnah, encouraging them to adhere to it, and advising and counseling in this regard, while warning against everything that contradicts the rulings of Islam. By doing so, they follow the path of the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) and the path of his rightly guided successors and his pleased Companions in clarifying the path of truth and guiding to it and warning against what contradicts it, in accordance with the saying of Allāh, the Exalted: "And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allāh and does righteousness and says, 'Indeed, I am of the Muslims.'" And His saying: "Say, 'This is my way; I invite to Allāh with insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is Allāh; and I am not of those who associate others with Him.'" And His saying, the Exalted: "Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best."