In 1976 a double-hulled canoe called Hōkūleʻa sailed about 4,000 kilometres from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti with no compass, no charts and no instruments. Its navigator, Mau Piailug from Micronesia, read the stars, the swells and the birds.
An Arctic tern flies about 70,000 kilometres a year between the poles. We are surrounded by guidance. al-Hādī, the Guide, names the One who gave every guide its way.
Start with what we know
Then take away everything it needs. What is left is not a bigger version of us. It is the Name.
Episode 1
In us
Mau Piailug learned wayfinding as a child on the island of Satawal, trained by his grandfather. In 1976, according to the Polynesian Voyaging Society, he guided Hōkūleʻa from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti, proving that ancient Pacific peoples could have navigated deliberately across vast oceans. He later taught Hawaiians the knowledge that had nearly been lost, and wayfinding is a living tradition today. It is one of the great human achievements. But it took a lifetime of training, and clouds can hide every star.
Episode 2
In nature
In 2010 Carsten Egevang and colleagues fitted Arctic terns from Greenland with tiny trackers and found, in PNAS, that they flew on average about 70,900 kilometres a year, from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back: the longest migration known. Loggerhead turtles find their birth beaches by magnetic 'signatures'. Birds use the Sun, the stars and Earth's magnetic field. Young terns make their first journey without a guide who has done it before. Nature's navigators are astonishing. But they are born with one map, for one route, and storms and changing magnetic fields can still lead them astray.
Episode 3
At our best
The Global Positioning System uses a network of about thirty satellites, each carrying atomic clocks. Your phone works out where you are by timing signals from several at once, to within a few metres. Spacecraft are navigated across billions of kilometres by similar timing. It is a triumph of physics. But GPS needs satellites, power and clocks corrected for Einstein's relativity, and its signals can be jammed. Every guide we build depends on something it did not make.
Episode 4
The Break
Take away stars, magnetism, maps, training and signal. Every guide we know follows a sign it did not set: the tern its inner compass, Mau Piailug the stars, GPS the clocks. al-Hādī gave the tern its compass and the stars their places, and guides hearts as well as journeys. Moses (peace be upon him) told Pharaoh who his Lord was: “Our Lord is He who gave everything its form and then guided it” (Qur'an 20:50, our rendering).
From the tradition: Muslim 2577 (qudsi): 'all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me'. Ps 25:4 'Let me know Your paths'.
On screen
Moana learns to read the stars and swells. al-Hādī (20:50), the stars, the swells and the turtle too.
When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Abū Bakr left Mecca for Medina in 622, they needed someone who knew the desert roads well enough to avoid the search parties.
ʿĀʾisha, Abū Bakr's daughter, later explained what they did. They hired a man from the tribe of Banū al-Dīl, ʿAbdullāh ibn Urayqiṭ, an expert guide. He still followed the old religion of Quraysh, not Islam. But they trusted him. They gave him their two riding camels and agreed he would bring them to the cave of Thawr after three nights.
He kept his word. On the third morning he arrived with the camels, and set off with them and a freed slave of Abū Bakr's, ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayra, leading them by little-known paths along the coast, below Mecca, until they reached Medina safely. (Bukhari 2263)
The story is loved for its honesty about trust across difference. At the most dangerous moment of his life, the Prophet (peace be upon him) relied on the skill and integrity of a man who did not share his faith. Human guidance was real and necessary. And behind it, Muslims believe, was al-Hādī, who guides whom He wills by whatever means He wills.
What each faith says
Judaism
“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night:”
When the Israelites left Egypt, the Torah says, God went before them: “by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light.” Psalm 23 says “He guideth me in straight paths”.
The Psalms are full of prayers for guidance, such as Psalm 25: “Show me Thy ways, O LORD; teach me Thy paths.”
Christianity
“when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth”
Jesus (peace be upon him) promised his disciples that “the Spirit of truth” would guide them “into all truth”. Christians understand this as the Holy Spirit, a belief distinctive to them.
Christians also love Psalm 23 and sing hymns such as “Guide me, O thou great Redeemer”, written in Welsh by William Williams Pantycelyn in the eighteenth century.
The opening chapter of the Qur'an, recited in every prayer, asks: “Guide us on the straight path” (1:6). God is called al-Hādī in 22:54 and 25:31: “Your Lord is sufficient as a Guide and a Helper.”
A hadith qudsi says: “All of you are astray except those I guide, so ask Me for guidance and I will guide you” (Muslim 2577).
Same and different
The pillar of cloud, the Spirit of truth and 'guide us on the straight path' all express trust that God leads people. All three faiths pray daily for guidance. They differ in how it comes: through Torah, through Christ and the Holy Spirit, or through the Qur'an and the Prophet (peace be upon him).
A moment to reflect
Who has guided you at an important moment in your life?
When have you had to trust someone very different from you?
What helps you find your way when you feel lost?
Watch
Watch on YouTube ↗ · plays here on the live site; YouTube without tracking until you press play
Hawaiian news on Hōkūleʻa and navigating without instruments.
Watch on YouTube ↗ · plays here on the live site; YouTube without tracking until you press play
A Google Earth tour of the Arctic tern's record-breaking migration.
Watch on YouTube ↗ · plays here on the live site; YouTube without tracking until you press play
BBC Earth Science on how sea turtles read Earth's magnetic field.
Do it together
families / neighboursStar walk
On a clear night, find the Plough and use it to find the Pole Star, as navigators have for centuries. Talk about other ways people and animals find their way.
faith groups / schoolsTrust across difference
Tell the story of ʿAbdullāh ibn Urayqiṭ and invite people to share a time they relied on someone of a different faith or background. Read Exodus 13:21 and Qur'an 20:50.
Episode 1
