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Senior cleric and deputy chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama’s legal advisory board Masyhuri Na’im said on Friday that Muslims should not use the term kafir , or infidel, lightly.

The nation’s largest Islamic group has discussed the matter at its annual congress in Makassar this week because it had received numerous reports of Muslims labeling those both inside and outside the faith as infidels as a means of attack, he said.

“I have heard that people who do not wear a kopiah [Muslim skull cap] are called infidels. Muslims not growing their beards are called infidels. People are being declared kafirs and then attacked,” Masyhuri said, adding that NU was greatly saddened to hear that members of the Ahmadiyah, a minority Muslim sect, had been assaulted many times and seen their mosques destroyed by those who called them infidels.

“Have you ever seen any NU followers attacking Ahmadiyah followers? No. We would never do that because the Prophet [Muhammad] would never use violence. We talk to people. The Prophet would never physically attack people because they were not Muslims,” Masyhuri said, adding that there were several criteria to be met before someone could be called an infidel.

“God should be considered as the creator of the universe. Only God can punish us. To call someone an infidel who is actually a Muslim over small differences is forbidden by the Prophet. The Prophet has clearly instructed us that whosoever calls a Muslim an infidel, himself is the infidel,” Masyhuri said.

He added that those who were misguided needed to be brought back toward the correct path of Islam.