Question:
If someone wants to attend an event that contradicts Islamic teachings, can I take him there in my car and drop him off?
Earlier, you explained that if someone is working as a driver, such as a taxi driver, he may do this as part of his job. But what if it is done for the sake of friendship or family relations? Is that also permissible?
Answer:
To understand this properly, we must first recall the example that was mentioned earlier. Suppose someone is a taxi driver. A customer comes to him and says: “Please drop me near the Nagore dargah.” The driver accepts the fare and takes him there.
Now the question arises: has the driver assisted in dargah worship? Has he helped in something that is religiously wrong?
Similarly, imagine someone hires a taxi and says: “Drop me at the Meenakshi temple.” The driver takes him there and drops him off. At first glance, someone might say that the driver has assisted in wrongdoing.
But when we analyze this carefully, the matter is not so simple.
The verse that is often quoted in this context is from Surah Al-Ma’idah (5:2). In that verse Allahﷻ says: “Help one another in righteousness and piety, and do not help one another in sin and transgression.”
So, the verse contains two commands:
- Help one another in goodness and piety.
- Do not help one another in sin and wrongdoing.
Some scholars interpret this verse to mean that a taxi driver should not transport people to temples or shrines because that would be assisting in wrongdoing. They extend the argument further. They say that even building a lodge near a shrine would be wrong, because the people staying there might be visitors coming for shrine worship. Therefore, according to that view, providing accommodation for them would also be assisting wrongdoing.
However, such interpretations overlook an important point in the verse itself. The verse speaks not only about helping in wrongdoing, but also about helping in righteousness. If we properly understand what it means to help in righteousness, then we will also clearly understand what it means to help in wrongdoing.
Let us consider an example.
Suppose you are a cement merchant. Someone comes to you and says: “We are building a mosque. Please sell us cement.” You sell him the cement at the normal market price.
Now tell me: have you helped in building the mosque? In reality, you have not. You simply conducted a business transaction. You received money and gave the goods in return. No one in the world would say that you “helped build the mosque.” You merely sold cement for payment.
But imagine another situation. Suppose the market price of cement is 1000 rupees per bag. The mosque committee comes to you, and you say: “For the mosque, pay only 500 rupees. I will bear the remaining cost.” Or perhaps you say: “Take it for free.”
In that case, people would truly say: “He helped build the mosque.” Why? Because he gave a concession or provided the material without payment.
So, helping in righteousness occurs when a person:
- provides something free, or
- gives a special concession specifically for that good cause.
If a person simply sells goods at the normal price, he is not considered someone who “helped” in that good deed.
Once we understand this principle, the same logic applies to the opposite case.
If a taxi driver takes someone to a shrine or temple for the normal fare, he has not assisted in wrongdoing. He is simply doing his job. He is charging for the distance traveled and the time spent.
Consider another example. Suppose you are in Madinah and you hire a taxi to take you to Masjid an-Nabawi. The driver drops you there and receives his fare. Will that driver receive the reward of helping someone go to the Prophetﷺ’s Mosque? No. Because he simply did his job for payment. He would have driven anyone anywhere for the same fare.
Therefore, the driver’s intention is neither to support good nor to support evil. His concern is simply the transportation service and the fare.
The same principle applies in the situation you mentioned.
If someone comes to your house as a guest and says: “Please drop me at Nagore dargah,” and you take him there for free, then you are indeed assisting him in that act. In that case, you are helping him reach a place associated with practices that are not permissible.
But if you charge the normal transportation cost, then you are simply providing a service. You have not offered a special favor for that purpose.
So, the principle can be summarized like this:
- Helping in good deeds occurs when something is given free or with a concession for that good purpose.
- Helping in wrongdoing occurs when someone supports the act intentionally, especially by offering help without charge or with special encouragement.
But if a person simply performs a normal business transaction for the usual price, he is neither assisting the good deed nor assisting the wrongdoing. He is simply carrying out his profession.
Therefore, if you provide a free service specifically to help someone carry out a sinful activity, then you are participating in that wrongdoing. But if it is simply a normal paid service without special favor, then it falls under ordinary professional work rather than assisting in sin.