Like some of the Ḥanbalī refuters, Ibn al-Amīr draws attention to the distinction between al-shirk al-akbar and al-shirk al-aṣghar, which he relates to two types of unbelief (kufr): unbelief in creed (kufr iʿtiqād) and unbelief in action (kufr ʿamal). Those who call on saints and make vows to them, among other such practices, have only committed kufr ʿamal, not kufr iʿtiqād. The proper response is therefore not takfīr but, rather, admonishment and instruction to dispel their ignorance (waʿẓuhum wa-taʿrīfuhum jahlahum).
