he refuses Islam; due to the generality of his saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "I have been commanded to fight the people until they say: 'There is no god but Allah.' If they say it, they have protected their blood and wealth from me, except by its right" (17). And because he has uttered the truth, its ruling becomes binding upon him, just as in the case of the combatant (harbi) if he is coerced into it. Our position is that he was coerced into something he may not be coerced into, so its legal status is not established regarding him, just as in the case of a Muslim if he is coerced into disbelief. The evidence for the prohibition of coercion is the words of the Exalted: "There is no compulsion in the religion" (18). The people of knowledge have reached a consensus that if a Dhimmi (protected subject) or a Musta'man (one granted asylum) remains upon what he has been covenanted with, it is not permissible to break his covenant nor to coerce him into what he has not undertaken (19). Furthermore, he was coerced into something he may not be coerced into, so its legal status is not established regarding him, such as in the case of confession or manumission. He differs from the combatant and the apostate, for it is permissible to kill them and to coerce them into Islam by saying: "If you become Muslim, otherwise we will kill you." Thus, when he becomes a Muslim, he is ruled a Muslim outwardly. If he dies before the coercion is removed from him, his status is the status of the Muslims; because he was coerced by a just cause, his actions are ruled valid, as if a Muslim were coerced into prayer and prayed. As for inwardly, between them and their Lord, whoever believes in Islam with his heart and submits between him and his Lord (20), he is a Muslim before Allah, promised what He promised to those who embrace Islam voluntarily. As for one who does not believe in Islam with his heart (21), he remains upon his disbelief, and has no share in Islam. Both those whose coercion is permitted and those whose coercion is not permitted are the same in this regard, for Islam cannot be achieved without the belief of the sane person, evidenced by the fact that the hypocrites used to manifest Islam and perform its obligatory duties, yet they were not Muslims.

Section: Whoever is coerced into disbelief and utters the word of disbelief does not become an unbeliever. This is the opinion of Malik, Abu Hanifa, and al-Shafi'i. Muhammad ibn al-Hasan said: He is an unbeliever outwardly; his wife is separated from him, the Muslims do not inherit from him if he dies, he is not to be washed [as a corpse], and no funeral prayer is to be performed over him, yet he is a Muslim between him