The Qur’anic chapters revealed in Mecca are filled of discussion about the polytheists, while those revealed in Medina are filled of discussion about the People of the Book and the hypocrites.

Thus, the principle is constant: clarifying the path of the criminals.
However, the criminals themselves vary depending on their number, influence, and danger in reality. Therefore, the Qur’an varied its references to them according to each stage.

This is the reformative methodology that must be followed—clarifying the way of the criminals at all times, but diversifying the mention of their groups, figures, and categories according to their presence and danger in the reality in which the reformer lives.

Indeed, one of the clearest signs of deficiency in our time is: the neglect of many students of Islamic sciences in understanding the path of the criminals, despite this being a clear, evident, and established Qur’anic issue.
For this reason, one of the most important aspects of renewal in Islamic studies is: nurturing students to recognize the ways of contemporary criminals and to adopt the proper legal stance toward them.

This education is not called activist education nor political education nor partisan education, rather it is Qur’anic education. It is one of the most prominent and frequent subjects of the Qur’an. So, beware of those who call it otherwise in order to belittle its importance lest they mislead you.