There is no compulsion in religion. (Quran 2:256)

I believe that. I’m not sure Muslims do, though.

Compulsion doesn’t only mean having and using the ability to coerce someone, but also the use of threats based on whether or not they do something.

Of course there is no compulsion in religion in the sense that the divine being allows his creatures to make their own decisions and receive the fruit of their intentions and actions. God does not twist our arm behind our back to make us enter islam, that is, the peace that comes from submitting to our position under God. At least not in this life (though a day is coming when every knee shall bow). But there is a second, subtler form of compulsion.

Fear
Is there not compulsion in religion if the religion’s primary motivational tool is fear-based? “If you do this -and mean it mind you! -God will give you paradise. If you fail to, God will give you torture.” Who responds to that with “Okay, thanks for the info”? Christianity is not devoid of this thinking, unfortunately. I heard once of a VBS event where the children were presented two boxes at the front of the room, one labelled “heaven” and one labelled “hell.” The children were told to write their name on a piece of paper and told “If you accept Jesus, you will go to heaven. Otherwise, you will go to hell.” Then they were told to come up front and put their name in one of the two boxes. They all went with heaven. How many of those kids made a true decision to follow God?

Any heartfelt follower of Islam is under such fear-based compulsion. Let’s assume that I am a sincere person who simply says, “I am serious enough about my religion that I want to obey and follow whatever it teaches.” If I then embrace Islam, I am handed a list of do’s and don’ts upon which my fate hang. There is obligatory salah, obligatory ramadan, obligatory zakat, obligatory hajj, obligatory shahadah, obligatory hijab if you’re a woman, and a host of “highly recommended” things that any ambitious follower would feel pressure to do. If I, being a sincere person, am to maintain full sincerity in my obedience, then for me, there is compulsion. Saying “There is no compulsion in Islam” is saying, “Well, you always have the choice to be a blooming idiot and choose torture in jahannam.” So, whereas it is true that you cannot be actually compelled to follow Islam, it is nevertheless a religion laced with compulsion.

Gift
Christianity is different from Islam principally in one factor: unconditional forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. Christianity hangs on the concept of grace – unmerited favor. “There is nothing you can do to make God love you more or to make him love you less.” Christianity does not deny the need for good works, but describes them very distinctly as the result of our justification and forgiveness, not as a prerequisite (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10). A common saying among followers of Christ: “It’s not that we obey, therefore we are forgiven. We are forgiven, therefore we obey.” The Christian lives through hope in past, present and future grace that comes to him through Jesus Christ.

This grace removes compulsion. It is a gift. Islam says “do,” Christianity says “done.” Islam says “perform,” Christianity says, “stop trying to perform, be still, and receive.” Loving obedience springs out of rescue, as naturally as the fair maiden is willing to ride away with the knight who has rescued her from the dragon.

Abu Huraira RadiyAllahu `anhu narrates that once Muhammad asked his companions, ‘Do you think that dirt can remain on a person bathing five times a day in a brook running in front of his door?’ ‘No’, replied the compan­ions, ‘No dirt can remain on his body.’ Muhammad remarked: ‘So, exactly similar is the effect of salat offered five times a day. With the grace of Allah, it washes away all the sins’.(Bukhari, Muslim)

Theological Similarities

We both believe in a transcendent, incompletely comprehensible God who is beyond space and time which he created, and who gives meaning to reality. We are made for him.

We believe in a terrifying Day of Judgment when the everyone will be judged according to the deeds he has done on earth, both good and bad.

We believe in an enemy of man, Shaitan or Satan, who is actively trying to entice men to sin and disbelief in God.

We believe in the spirit world and in the significant influence of good and bad spirits.

We share theological conundrums such as the Problem of Evil, Free Will and Determinism, and the challenge of hermeneutics and interpretation of our scripture.

We both value balance and eschew oversimplified black-and-whiteness on issues.

We both emphasize charity, generosity, hospitality, community, family, morality, temperance, prudence, modesty, integrity, and love for God and man.

We believe that God determines everything that happens, both good and evil, pleasurable and painful. He uses everything according to his higher purpose: to bring us to the point where we yield our trust and hope to him.

We believe God chooses based on his divine right to whom he will grant mercy and to whom he will not.

We believe that since God controls all outcomes, the role and responsibility of man is that of his intentions or decisions. He wants us to choose to him. The choices of our hearts throughout life define us and our outcome on the Day of Judgment.

We call men to this choice of God, but we admit that their obedience to God’s commandments is insufficient, no matter how valiant our effort. We know that deeds are a futile attempt to please God and thus we depend on his mercy.

The Worldview of Islam

Islam, or submission, implies harmony and peace deriving from the proper order of things. It’s being who one is supposed to be.

Man begins good, but the world and Shaitan corrupt him inevitably—every man chooses to disobey God.

The solution to this is to repent from sin and obey the revealed will of the Creator, operating in grateful worship, concordance with his statutes, and humble dependence on him.

This is accomplished by:

• recognizing the One True God for who he is (tawheed)
• acknowledging God’s sovereignty in your everyday life
• obeying his commandments (most essentially the five pillars)
• avoiding sins

Because he cannot perfectly avoid sin and obey God, one’s hope to receive God’s mercy is on the basis of sincere intention of the heart. In other words: doing the best he can possibly do to obey God’s commandments out of a humble, grateful desire to please God, keeping his motivations purged of selfish ambition, desire to manipulate God for your benefit, or secret hesitation, as much as he is able.

Repentance is paramount—God loves repentance more than no repentance with no sin in the first place. Repentance is rooted in humility and gratitude, the two legs of sincerity.

There is no guarantee that one will be accepted by God; however, God is very merciful, and according to one hadith, on the Day of Judgment he will give 99 times the mercy that he has given over the whole history of the earth.

If one’s good deeds outweigh his bad deeds on the day of judgment, God is likely to admit him to paradise.

If one’s bad deeds outweigh his good deeds, he will be put into hellfire for a short or long time based on God’s divine will and the severity of his sins, until they are paid for by suffering.

All but the most corrupt of the corrupt, who have never had the slightest inkling of belief in God, will eventually enter paradise.

Christians Say We’re Much Worse Off

One’s intentions will never will be as sincere as they must be to please God.

One’s good deeds must not weigh out to be 51% or greater, but rather 100%, because:

The judgment for a single sin is more severe that the most torturous prison sentence –it is the death penalty. The slightest imperfection is absolutely and permanently separated from God.

God’s self-imposed justice binds him from passing over unrequited sin.

The Christian Solution (The Heartbeat of Our Faith)

God must have payment for sin.

• The only way he can transfer this payment without violating his justice is to receive an equal value in a form agreed upon by the plaintiff (God). No natural man can pay for another man’s sin, because all of mankind is the defendant.
• Thus God took it upon himself to pay the penalty—“separation from God” (i.e. himself)
• He made part of himself man and cut that part off (separated him) from the rest of himself for an eternal instant, which he (accurately) deemed equal or greater in value.

Jesus Christ is that part of God made manifest.

Man benefits from this by believing fully that Jesus Christ is the only hope for his justification before God (similar to how Muslims believe the shahaddah) who was truly sent from God and ordained by God as the only chosen method of escape.

Those who believe that God himself paid for their sins through the Jesus Christ, and entrust their hope and their life to him, are covered by his wing on the Day of Judgment. And anything or anyone not covered by God’s wing on the Day of Judgment will receive permanent requital.