his eyes, and saying: "The polytheists took you, held you underwater, and commanded you to associate partners with Allah, and you did it. If they take you again, then do that to them." Narrated by Abu Hafs with his chain of narration. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "A man is not trustworthy over himself if you starve him, beat him, or bind him." This implies the existence of an action through which coercion occurs. As for a threat alone, there are two narrations from Ahmad regarding it; one of them is that it is not coercion, because what the Sharia has provided a dispensation for is what was mentioned in the hadith of Ammar, and in it [it says]: "They took you and held you underwater." Thus, the ruling is not established except in that which is like it. The second narration is that a threat alone is coercion. He said in the narration of Ibn Mansur: The limit of coercion is when he fears death or severe beating. This is the opinion of the majority of jurists, and it is the view of Abu Hanifa and al-Shafi'i; because coercion cannot exist except by threat, for the punishment that has already occurred cannot be averted by performing what he was coerced into, nor does one fear its occurrence. Rather, he is permitted to do what he was coerced into to avert the punishment he is being threatened with in the future, and it is the same in both cases. Furthermore, when he threatens him with death and he knows that he will kill him, and he does not permit him the action, it leads to his killing and throwing himself into destruction, and the establishment of the dispensation of coercion does not provide anything, because if he divorces in this state, his divorce takes effect, and the coercer achieves his goal, and the harm befalls the coerced. The establishment of coercion for one who was afflicted with some form of torture does not negate its establishment for another. It has been narrated from Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, regarding the man who hung down to gather honey, and his wife stood on the rope and said: "Divorce me three times, or I will cut it." He reminded her of Allah and Islam, but she said: "You will do it, or I will do it." So he divorced her three times, and he returned her to him. Narrated by Sa'id with his chain of narration. This was a threat.