Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The correct view is that a person has free choice in his voluntary actions, while he is subject to matters that happen to him or occur through him without his choice.
A rational person chooses his actions by his own will. He chooses what he eats, what he wears, where he goes, and what he does of acts of obedience or disobedience. Allah, the Most High, says:
﴿So whoever wills may take a way of return to his Lord﴾ [Al-Insan: 29], and He, Glorified be He, says:
﴿Among you are those who desire this world, and among you are those who desire the Hereafter﴾ [Al Imran: 152].
However, the servant’s will is not independent of the will of Allah. Whatever the servant wills and does, Allah has willed that it occur. Allah, the Most High, says:
﴿For whoever among you wills to follow the straight path. And you do not will unless Allah, the Lord of the worlds, wills﴾ [At-Takwir: 28–29].
Allah, the Most High, is therefore the Creator of the servant, his ability, and his will, and nothing occurs within His dominion except by His will.
As for matters that happen to a person or occur through him without his choice, such as illness, death, and accidents that happen to him without him deliberately causing them, these are part of the decree of Allah, and the servant has no choice regarding their occurrence.
Therefore, it is not correct to say that a person has absolute free choice, nor that he is absolutely compelled. Rather, he has will and choice in the actions over which he has the ability, and this will and ability are entirely subject to the will of Allah, the Most High. As for that over which he has no choice, it occurs by the decree of Allah.
And Allah knows best.