and “A judge compelled a man to sell his property to pay his debt.” This means that he coerced him, not that he made him desire it, choose it, love it, or be content with it.
They said:
Whoever says that Allah Most High compels His servants in this sense is mistaken. Allah is far too exalted and majestic to compel anyone. Only someone unable to make another person desire an action, choose it, love it, and be content with it resorts to compelling him. Allah, glorified be He, is capable of doing so. He is the One who makes a person who desires an action, loves it, and is content with it have that desire, love, and contentment. How, then, can He be said to compel and coerce him as one created being compels another—as a ruler, judge, father, or anyone else compels those under his authority, whether rightfully or wrongfully? Their compelling others consists in coercing them to act, and coercion may be either rightful or wrongful.
(The former includes coercing those who refuse to fulfil their obligations into fulfilling them: for example, coercing a non-Muslim of harbī status to embrace Islam or pay the jizya in submission, being humbled; coercing an apostate to return to Islam; and coercing someone who has embraced Islam to establish prayer, give zakat, fast Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the House, as well as to repay debts he can afford to repay, return what has been entrusted to him when he is able to do so, and provide the maintenance incumbent upon him when he can afford it.
As for wrongful coercion, examples include coercing someone into disbelief or sinful acts. This compulsion, which is coercion, is something people exercise over one another because they cannot bring about willing and choosing in others’ hearts or make them agents