Nor can the designation of disbelief be denied of him after Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, have applied it to him. Yet it is practical disbelief, not disbelief of conviction.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, negated faith of the one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse, the thief, the drinker of wine, and the one whose neighbour is not safe from his harm. If the designation of faith is negated of someone, then he is a disbeliever in the practical sense, while the disbelief of rejection and conviction is negated from him.
(I say: Yet I hold that it is not sound to apply the term “disbelief” to people such as these—for instance, to say, “Whoever commits unlawful sexual intercourse has committed disbelief”; much less is it permissible to say, “He is a disbeliever,” even of one who abandons the prayer or of others whom the hadith describes as committing disbelief. This is in adherence to the wording of the text and to prevent the description from suggesting disbelief of conviction. All the more so, one must not say, “He is a disbeliever whose blood may lawfully be shed!”)
After citing the authentic hadith, “Reviling a Muslim is sinful defiance, and fighting him is disbelief,” he said:
It is known that he meant practical disbelief, not disbelief of conviction. This disbelief does not remove him altogether from the fold of Islam and the religion, just as the one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse and the drinker are not removed from the religion, even though the designation of faith has been removed from them.
This distinction is the position of the Companions, who were the most knowledgeable members of this Ummah concerning the Book of Allah, Islam and disbelief, and what each entails.
He then cited the well-known report from Ibn Abbas in explanation of Allah’s saying:
“And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed—such are the disbelievers.”
“It is not the disbelief to which you refer.”
(I say: Al-Hakim added, “It is not disbelief that removes one from the religion; rather, it is disbelief below disbelief.” Al-Hakim declared it authentic in 2/313, as did al-Dhahabi. This is a crushing refutation of the Takfir group and similar extremists. Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, then said:)