What is the validity of using the statement of the Exalted, "There is no compulsion in religion," as evidence that a person has freedom of thought and may believe whatever he wishes?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Some of those who claim to be thinkers may cite the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:256] meaning that a person has freedom of thought, and that he may believe whatever he wants and desires, and that he is free to choose.
Answer:
If the matter were so, Allah would not have sent the Messengers or sent down the Books; He would have left every person to his own desires. This is a false statement and disbelief in Allah the Mighty and Majestic. This statement is never permissible. Allah created you to worship Him[Adh-Dhariyat 51:56] so worship Him and rely upon Him. As for you worshipping Allah who created you and provided for you, and worshipping others besides Him? Who said this? This is not permissible in reason, nor in religion, nor in fitrah (the innate natural disposition). This is a false statement. This is evil thinking. This is evil thinking. Yes.
He says: Some of those who claim to be thinkers may cite the saying of Allah the Exalted:
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion
لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي الدِّينِAnswer:
If the matter were so, Allah would not have sent the Messengers or sent down the Books; He would have left every person to his own desires. This is a false statement and disbelief in Allah the Mighty and Majestic. This statement is never permissible. Allah created you to worship Him
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما صحة الاستدلال بقوله –تعالى ﴿لا إكراه في الدين﴾ على أن الإنسان له حرية الفكر، وأن يعتقد ما يريد؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.