I refer to the letter Time for moderate Muslims to start learning .

If the writer has done a study of comparative religion as I have done, he will find that none of the major religions of the world have actually spelt out that there be no compulsion in religion except for the Holy Quran.

Yet, the only religion that is practiced here today with so much compulsion at every juncture is Islam. There is compulsion in dressing, prayer, food, fasting and so many other things. Is this possibly why some people actually want to leave the religion?

This, in my understanding, is not the fault of the religion because the holy book says no compulsion. But the practitioners, who need to keep the flock together, devised their own rules and interpretation of the holy book.

Let's think for a moment. Our God-given choice of free will has been sabotaged by men, supposedly of learning, in the Lina Joy case. If all the religions before Islam had practiced the same punishment for those who converted to Islam in the beginning, do you think Islam would have ever made it this far?

It is simply because all those other religions practiced tolerance and free will allowing Islam to make it to the shores of Asia and subsequently Southeast Asia where Hinduism and Buddhism were then thriving.

I agree wholeheartedly with Azza Basarudin , gate-keeping is not the way.