There is no compulsion in religion

Society Religion & Philosophy
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la ikraaha fid deen… translated as there is no compulsion in religion.

Please discuss your understanding of this statement in context of how it appears in the Qur’an.

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

The way I understand it, its pretty clear .. there is no compulsion in religion, the key words are not there is no compulsion but **in religion.
**You are flexible with in the religion. That does not mean you are allowed to party and dance and swim naked. That is not religion. That is Dunya. If Ayat said ' there is no compulsion in dunya' then it would mean we are allowed to do whatever we want to.

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

I don't remember the exact hadith at the moment but this verse was revealed for one of the jewish tribes in Madinah regards their children. It is mentioned in the book of commentary as far as I recall in Bukhari or maybe it was in the tafsir of Ibn Kathir. When I get time I'll post the reference for you unless you find it yourself.

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How it appears in the Qu'ran alone, or how it appears in the light of the Quran and the Sunnah?

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

http://www.classicalislamgroup.co.uk/index.php?view=tafseer/s2-v256

^ that I believe

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The bold part.

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what's wrong wid partying??

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

also, when we say no compulsion in religion, why do we dislike it when a muslims converts to another religion?? a lil confusing..

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لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِ ۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ الرُّشْدُ مِنَ الْغَيِّ ۚ فَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِالطَّاغُوتِ وَيُؤْمِن بِاللَّهِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَىٰ لَا انفِصَامَ لَهَا ۗ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

(256) Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.

The context is here within the Ayat itself.

None should be compelled to accept the truth. If it is the truth then they will only do themselves a justice to accept it.

They need not be compelled because it is in clear view.

Once they see the truth and accept it. It does not let them go. To reach the truth one needs to reject evil, once in truth one will be embraced by that faith compelling one to remain with it.

There is no compulsion in religion, only devotion.

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Thank you for the beautiful post.

I dont know what part to emphasize because every word is beautiful.

Maybe al qaeda/ OBL / taliban supporters on these forums need to read this. Not a chance that those would truly understand the essence given their brains do not function better than that of goats but nothing wrong with trying.

The reason talibans have killed so many Pakistanis & non-Pakistanis & committed so many crimes is because they wish to implement 'islamic law' in Pakistan & eventually all over the world. Only if they had taken a minute to read the Quran (No, not the one their masters - RAW-Mossad give them to read), they would know that their actions are directly against the islamic teachings.

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

"There is no compulsion in the religion" negates and disapproves compulsion and coercion in religion. Religion is a set of truths which are believed in, and some of them are then acted upon. In short, religion is belief and faith, it is a matter of conscience, and such a thing cannot, be created by coercion and compulsion. One may force someone to do a certain physical action against his will but he cannot be forced to believe against his will. Belief follows reason and understanding; and nothing but reason and understanding can create it.

There is no compulsion in religion" may be treated as a bit of information or a piece of legislation. If it is information of a creative decree, it will give rise to a legislative order that compulsion should not be used in matters of belief and faith. And if it is an order in the form of information then the meaning is clear. Apparently, this alternative is more correct, because the next sentence (truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error") gives the reason for this legislation. And this prohibition of compulsion for religion is based on a factor of creation: the fact that compulsion can influence physical action but not matters connected with the heart and conscience.

Truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error": As mentioned above, it gives the reason for the prohibition of compulsion. A wise person resorts to compulsion only when the truth of the order cannot be explained, either because the person so coerced has no capacity to understand it or for some other reasons. But there is no need for compulsion in an important matter whose advantages and disadvantages are clearly defined and the reward and punishment of accepting and rejecting well-explained. A man, in such a clear matter, should be free to choose his course of action himself - whether he takes it or rejects it, whether he wants the rewards of obedience or is prepared to take the punishment. The realities of religion have been explained, and its path well-laid; the divine revelation and prophetic explanation have illuminated this highway to the utmost degree. It has now been made clear that the religion is truth, that the only right thing is to accept it and follow it; and that if one deviates from this road he will fall in perdition. Why should anyone, after all these clarifications, compel others to follow the religion?....."

Excerpt from Tafsir Al Mizan by Allamah Tabatabai

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Good to know that most of the posters so far agree with the concept of no compulsion in the religion Islam. I remember a teacher (Islamic studies) of ours in punjab university, who was in Jammat-e-Islami, gave his version on these ayat as
"Well, there is no compulsion 'in' religion means you cannot be forced to accept Islam but once you accept, and leave Islam, it is a different story. you will have to face death penalty"

What do you say guys?

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

I think this ayah can be implied in different scenarios, for example, I've heard Shaykh Hamza Yusuf reffering to this ayah when talking about marriage and divorce issues.

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

I disagree from the title and translation of the word.

and Amused as well. No body tried to pay attention :rolleyes:

The core meaning of Deen is NOT religion as per my understanding.

Two are diffrent set concepts with different set of boundries with interlinking variables and constants.

I can explain it further if some one agrees with and wants elaboration.

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I say, chughtai Sahab ! your information is not entirely correct.

By the law of sacred scrripture of islam , the divine book named holy quran, You wont have to face death penalty if you leave islam and choose some other religion on your free will. It is entirely upto Almighty Lord to decide the degree of punishment of apostate, in this world and hereafter.

Only an apostate with (proven) nefarious design to harm either :

(a) society,

(b) people,

(c) state

can be sentenced death penalty by court of law.

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

The way I understand is that YOU or I cannot COMPEL anyone to follow a religion. Meaning, religion cannot be spread by the sword. You cannot point a gun at someone and say BELIEVE!

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**I am sure we all know that this ayat being discussed.......is right after **

the "Ayat Al Kursi"

*Allah! There is no God save Him, the Alive, the Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that intercedeth with Him save by His leave? He knoweth that which is in front of them and that which is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge save what He will. His throne includeth the heavens and the earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Sublime, the Tremendous. * There is no compulsion in religion. **

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

no compulsion means u cannot enforce your own beliefs onto someone else unless and until ofcourse s/he accepts with his/her heart.

Unfortunate is that we live in western countries and make big fuss if we are not allowed to build a mosque in a certain place, but on other hand , other religions are not allowed to build temple or church in Islamic countries like saudi arabia etc.

why cant we give the same rights to other religion's people that Muslims have in western countries ? this is totally against the ayaah being discussed here. No compulsion in religion.

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Re: There is no compulsion in religion

:salam:

I’m back. This ayah was said to be revealed regarding the Ansar who pre-date Islam and lived into the Islamic period when Banu Nadir tribe of jews was expelled from Madinah. Pre-Islam Ansar women who bore a child after much anticipation would vow to raise their child as a jew. Many of those children were raised by the Banu Nadir tribe. When the tribe was expelled and those Ansar people who had accepted Islam did not want their children to go out with the Banu Nadir tribe as jews and said that they could not leave their children behind as jews. They would need to accept Islam. This is when the ayah was revealed. Sp the direct and circumstantial meaning of the ayah was that the Ansar were not allowed to coerce even their own children to accept their belief in Islam.

The general principle to be taken from here is very much what many people have written here. No matter how much right you may think you have to someone in forcing them to follow your belief, YOU DO NOT. Your own children being the prime example of it. Truth about Islam is clear, if it does not enter ones heart there is no need to force it. Once it enters by itself, it will not be unsettled. There are other examples of this even before revelation of this ayah e.g. the Prophet SAW never forced his Uncle or grandafther to accept Islam. They both died Kafir.

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Very good topic and really nice discussion.

Yes I agree that there is no "coercion" in the religion as per Quran.

however Islam as being practiced TODAY (in most of the Muslim countries) does not solely draw from Quran. Instead our practices (majority of) are based on Shariah.

And believe you me, Sharia is a lot tougher than what Quran says and yes there is a lot of coercion in Sharia.

Sharia forces people to follow a strict code that includes clothing, appearance, the way you say prayer, the way you live and the way you die.

So just keep that point in mind.

For you all living in the West, if you want, you can certainly practice this ayah to the fullest extent. However us the poor people living in Islamic societies have to abide by Shriah.

Thank you.