These proofs prohibiting what is prohibited are general and contain no distinction; moreover, had there been any good in it, Allah would not have forbidden it to His servants, but would have made it lawful for them.

Fourth: It says in al-Rawḍ: “It is disliked for a Muslim to seek medical treatment from a dhimmi, except in cases of necessity, or to take from him a medicine whose lawful individual ingredients he has not clarified.” That is, it is disliked for you to go to a dhimmi—that is, a Jew or a Christian with whom we have entered into a covenant of protection—in order to receive treatment from him, because he is not trustworthy. If this is so, then placing such people in authority over Muslim physicians is even more objectionable, because the one in authority has influence and may direct them toward something prohibited or something harmful to the Muslims.

For this reason, we say that seeking treatment from non-Muslims is permissible only on two conditions:

First: There must be a need for them.

Second: One must be safe from their scheming, for we are rarely safe from the scheming of non-Muslims—especially in matters of childbirth and delivery. These Christians who attend deliveries are eager to kill the children of Muslims, or to mutilate their hands and arms while delivering the child, as some people have related to me. One must therefore be cautious of them and ask Allah, the Most High, to grant us independence from them, for they are enemies of the Muslims. Yet if people need them and are safe from them, then there is nothing wrong with it. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, employed an idolatrous guide to show him the route from Mecca to Medina at the time of the Hijrah, despite the extreme danger involved, for Quraysh were seeking the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. But because he trusted him