The first is when something is done to him against his will, as when a person is carried away and cannot resist, or a woman is forcibly laid down and subjected to intercourse. There is no sin upon the person subjected to this, by scholarly consensus. Alternatively, a person may be subjected to legally recognized coercion until he performs the act. Such deeds are also pardoned according to the majority of scholars. This is the sounder of the two reports from Ahmad, because Allah Most High says:

“If anyone compels them, then after they have been compelled, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

But if he has not been subjected to legally recognized coercion, he is not commanded to surrender indiscriminately to an action without knowing whether it is good or evil. Whether or not something extraordinary occurs at his hands, he is commanded to do only what is good in the sight of Allah and His Messenger.

It may be replied:

This objection is valid. The reality is that when those following the spiritual path reach this station, their intentions, their surrender and submission to their Lord, and their asking Him to choose what is best for them are commendable. If, in their affairs, they undertake [something] (1) whose ruling under Islamic law they do not know, they hope that it will be good, because they have been unable to ascertain its ruling. A person does not know in every circumstance what is best for his religion or what is most pleasing to Allah and His Messenger. Their situation thus remains that of someone seeking Allah’s guidance concerning a matter whose outcome he does not know, saying:

“O Allah, I seek Your choice through Your knowledge, and I seek ability through Your power, and I ask You of Your immense bounty. For You have power, and I have none; You know, and I do not; and You are the Knower of all that is unseen. O Allah, if You know that this matter is good for me in my religion