His statement, “or someone to guide him to a route”: that is, if he hires someone to show him a route, that route must be known. Hence he said, “Its identification and specification in a manner that admits no variation are stipulated.”

In former times, roads were unpaved, and people would often lose their way on them and perish; thus, they needed guides. So, if someone hires a person to guide him along the road, that is permissible. This occurred with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, during his migration from Mecca to Medina: he hired a man named Abdullah ibn Urayqit, who was an excellent, skilled, and highly knowledgeable guide. He was a polytheist, and he guided them along the route (1). Thus, it is permissible for me to hire someone to guide me along a route, but it must be specified in a manner that admits no variation. If a town has two routes, I must say, “Guide me by such-and-such route,” specifying it, for a person may have some purpose in taking the longer route, such as visiting the villages along it or the like.

In connection with our mention of Abdullah ibn Urayqit, who guided the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, along the route during the migration, it may be inferred that there is no harm in hiring a disbeliever for a task entrusted to him, whether it is guiding the way, medical treatment, a trade, construction, or something else—on condition that he is trustworthy. A further implication is that a Muslim may act upon the advice of a non-Muslim physician that he should not pray standing, for example, or that he should not bow, if the treatment requires refraining from bowing and prostrating. This is the case, for example, in treating the eyes, for many physicians tell the patient, “Do not bow or”