Q. You have quoted on several occasions the verse that rejects compulsion in religion. However, I read that this applies to forcing people to change their religion and accept our faith. But within the Muslim community, people can be punished if they refuse to observe God’s law. Please comment.
M. Alias
A. The Qur’anic statement is very clear, and it has a general import. In literal translation we render it: “No compulsion in religion.” A more expressive rendering is: “No compulsion is admissible in matters of religion.” This certainly applies to beliefs, as belief can only be the result of personal conviction. Therefore, it is totally against Islam to force anyone to accept the Islamic faith. We invite people to accept it, but leave the decision to them, and do not punish them in any way if they choose to follow different faiths. This was the practice of the Islamic state throughout history. If this applies to the basic principle of accepting God’s oneness, it applies even more clearly to matters of lesser importance, such as the implementation of certain Islamic rules. People should obey God’s law because they believe in Him and hope to receive reward from Him.
Having said that, I should add that this should not be confused with enforcing penalties for law violations. Islamic society is not an anarchist one. It lays down rules that must be obeyed, but this is part of maintaining law and order in society, which is universally accepted as necessary. Thus, no one follows a person into private places to check whether that person is fasting or not, but a Muslim society may introduce penalty for eating in public during the day in Ramadan. This penalty is not for non-fasting, but for not observing public decency at a time when an act of worship is observed by the whole community through fasting. Enforcing such penalties is not compulsion to follow Islam, but protecting the community against anarchy and disorder.