II. The Premise
    In this regard, the basic premise³ which needs to be understood is that most directives of Islam that depict hostility and antagonism towards non-Muslims are directed towards a specific category of non-Muslims, which may exist today but cannot be humanly pinpointed. In reality, this category of non-Muslims were punished by the Almighty in the era of Muhammad (sws) and his Companions (rta) for reasons that shall be discussed later. The hostility and antagonism which the Qur’an depicts against these non-Muslims are actually the various manifestations of the punishment meted out to them. In religious parlance, such non-Muslims are called the Kuffar (singular: Kafir) or Disbelievers.
    In other words, directives which apparently depict hostility and antagonism against non-Muslims are not related to the non-Muslims of times other than the times of the Prophet Muhammad (sws) and his Companions (rta) since the Kuffar among them  cannot be ascertained.