The ruling on one who is coerced into leaving an obligatory act or committing a forbidden act

Question:
In the era of the Caliph al-Mutawakkil, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) was forced not to leave his house, even for prayer in congregation, so he obeyed the Caliph. How do we reconcile this incident of this Imam with the hadith: ?

Answer:
A person, regarding obedience, is in one of two states:

A state in which he obeys by choice: If he is told, “Drink the intoxicants,” he drinks the intoxicants, and if he is told, “Insult the religion,” he insults the religion; this person has no excuse by his own choice.

And the second state: He is coerced; he is told, “Stay in your house, and do not pray in the mosque, or we will beat you.” This is coercion, and he is excused. Or they tell him, “Say Muhammad is a liar, or we will kill you,” and they threaten him. This is coercion if he speaks the words of disbelief while his heart is at peace with faith; he owes nothing. Allah the Exalted says: [al-Nahl: 106] When they said this to Bilal and forced him into disbelief, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: “If they return to it, return to it.” But Bilal refused, and he used to say, “One, one,” when the disbelievers coerced him.

So the conclusion : The one who is ordered by the authorities to commit a sin is in one of two states:

The first state : He obeys them and does not care, out of love for this world and preferring it. This person is not excused. Obedience is only in what is right. If the prince, or his wife, or his father, or the Shaykh of his tribe says to him, “Drink the intoxicants with us,” and he obeys him, this is ... sins. Or they tell him, “Commit usury with us,” or they tell him, for example, “Be undutiful to your parents,” or they tell him, “Cut off your family ties,” this is being obedient in sin.

The second state: The prince’s guardian tells him with his police and his soldiers, “Stay in your house; if you go out, we will beat you with force.” He has an excuse to stay in his house, and the congregation is dropped from him. Or, for example, they pour intoxicants into his mouth by force, against his will, and threaten him that if he does not drink, they will beat and torture him, and they are capable of doing so; they beat him to inflict that upon him. He is excused ... Or they tell him, for example, “If you leave this place, or if you abandon this place, we will do such and such to you. If you perform Hajj, or if you go out for Hajj, or if you go out for jihad, we will do such and such to you. Stay in your house.” This is excused if they prevent him by force and he is unable to repel it. This is excused by way of coercion.