oppression and aggression, as the Most High says:

“Fight them until there is no more persecution and worship is for Allah alone. But if they cease, then let there be no aggression except against the oppressors.”

The Most High also says:

“Blame rests only upon those who wrong people and commit aggression in the land without right.”

This is because the purpose of sending the messengers and revealing the scriptures is to establish justice, as the Most High says:

“We certainly sent Our messengers with clear proofs, and sent down with them the Scripture and the balance so that people might uphold justice. And We sent down iron, in which there is great military might and benefits for people, so that Allah may know who supports Him and His messengers without having seen Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful, Almighty.”

Since this is so, punishment in this world does not necessarily entail punishment in the Hereafter, nor does the reverse hold true.

For this reason, most of the early scholars call for the execution of an advocate of religious innovation who leads people astray, because of the corruption he causes in religion, whether they consider him an unbeliever or not.

Once this is understood, declaring a “particular individual” among these ignorant people and others like them an unbeliever—judging him to be one of the unbelievers—is not permissible until the proof conveyed by the messengers has been established against him, making it clear that they are opposing the messengers, even though there is no doubt that this statement constitutes unbelief. The same applies to declaring any “particular individuals” unbelievers, although some forms of this