Transliteration:( Wa in tuti' aksara man fil ardi yudillooka 'an sabeelil laah; iny yattabi'oona illaz zanna wa in hum illaa yakhrusoon )
“And (O listener) there are the majority of those on earth that if you follow their sayings, they would mislead you [253] from the way of Allah. They are only following conjecture [254], and they are in mere assumptions [255].”
Truth is not defined by majority opinion in religious matters. Following the majority, when their views contradict revelation, leads away from the path of Allah. Only the teachings of Allah and His Beloved Prophet ﷺ are to be followed. Following jurists (Imaams) is acceptable because they interpret based on divine law, not personal reasoning.
The word “conjecture” refers to baseless beliefs inherited from disbelieving ancestors, not the scholarly Qiyaas used by jurists. These customs are based on distrust and superstition, and not on divine instruction. This verse does not support the non-conformist argument against traditional Islamic jurisprudence.
This highlights that people were making religious rulings from assumptions, not divine revelation. Only Allah and His Beloved Prophet ﷺ can declare what is Halal or Haram. Speculative rulings based on opinion or community norms are false and misleading, and must not be followed in matters of religion.
116. And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah’s path. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but lie. 117. Verily, your Lord! It is He Who knows best who strays from His way, and He knows best the rightly guided.
Allah states that most of the people of the earth, are misguided. Allah said in other Ayat,
(And indeed most of the men of old went astray before them.) ﴿37:71﴾ and,
(And most of mankind will not believe even if you eagerly desire it.)﴿12:103﴾ They are misguided, yet they have doubts about their way, and they rely on wishful thinking and delusions.
(They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but lie.) Thus, they fulfill Allah’s decree and decision concerning them,
(It is He Who knows best who strays from His way.) and facilitates that for him,
(And He knows best the rightly guided.) He facilitates that for them, all of them are facilitated for what He created them.
(6:116) (O Muhammad!) If you obey the majority of those who live on earth, they will lead you away from Allah’s path. They only follow idle fancies, indulging in conjecture.[83]
83. One need not follow the way of life of the majority, for the majority tend to follow their conjectures and fancies rather than sound knowledge. Their beliefs, their ideas and concepts, their philosophies of life, the guiding principles of their conduct, their laws – all these are founded on conjecture. On the contrary, the way of life which pleases God, was revealed by Him and hence is based on true knowledge rather than conjecture. Instead of trying to discover the way of life of the majority, a seeker after truth should, therefore, persevere in the way prescribed by God, even if he finds himself to be a solitary traveller.
[338]- Out of ignorance and blind imitation.
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