Meccan · Surah 6 of 114

Al-An'aam 6:116

The Cattle · ayah 116 of 165

وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ

Wa-in tutiAA akthara man fee al-ardiyudillooka AAan sabeeli Allahi in yattabiAAoona illaaththanna wa-in hum illa yakhrusoon

"And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allāh. They follow not except assumption, and they are not but misjudging."

Saheeh International translation

Recitation by Mishary Alafasy

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Other English translations

Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+

"If you obeyed most of those on earth, they would lead you away from the path of God. They follow nothing but speculation; they are merely guessing."

Pickthall (classic)+

"If thou obeyedst most of those on earth they would mislead thee far from Allah's way. They follow naught but an opinion, and they do but guess."

Yusuf Ali (classic)+

"Wert thou to follow the common run of those on earth, they will lead thee away from the way of Allah. They follow nothing but conjecture: they do nothing but lie."

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Ibn Kathir

Abridged English, public domain

Most People are Misguided

Allah states that most of the people of the earth, are misguided. Allah said in other Ayat,

وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ الاٌّوَّلِينَ

(And indeed most of the men of old went astray before them.) 37:71 and,

وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ

(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.

إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلاَّ الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلاَّ يَخْرُصُونَ

(They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but lie.) Thus, they fulfill Allah's decree and decision concerning them,

هُوَ أَعْلَمُ مَن يَضِلُّ عَن سَبِيلِهِ

(It is He Who knows best who strays from His way.) and facilitates that for him,

وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُهْتَدِينَ

(And He knows best the rightly guided.) He facilitates that for them, all of them are facilitated for what He created them.

فَكُلُواْ مِمَّا ذُكِرَ اسْمُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ إِن كُنتُم بِآيَـتِهِ مُؤْمِنِينَ

Tafsir Saʿdi

English translation, public domain

Всевышний предостерег Своего пророка, да благословит его Аллах и приветствует, от повиновения большей части человечества, потому что многие люди сбивают других с пути Аллаха. Они ошибаются в своих воззрениях, поступках и познаниях. Их религиозные убеждения порочны, их поступки зависят от их низменных страстей, а их познания не опираются на твердые доказательства и желание найти прямой путь. Напротив, они следуют предположениям, которые никоим образом не способны заменить истину, и лживо говорят от имени Аллаха то, что им совершенно не известно. Если человек обладает такими качествами, то он действительно заслуживает того, чтобы Аллах предостерег от него Своих рабов и разъяснил им его дурные качества. И хотя этот аят обращен к Пророку Мухаммаду, да благословит его Аллах и приветствует, он также относится ко всем его последователям, потому что все предписания, относящиеся к посланнику Аллаха, да благословит его Аллах и приветствует, распространяются на остальных мусульман, если только они не являются его особенностями.

Maʿārif al-Qur'ān

Mufti Shafi Usmani, English

In the third verse (116), Allah Ta ala tells the Holy Prophet ﷺ that the majority of the progeny of 'Adam living on the earth is in error. Let him not be overawed by this situation and let him ignore what they say or do. The Qur'an has dealt with this subject at several places. In Surah As-Saaffaat, it is said: وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ‌ الْأَوَّلِينَ ﴿71﴾ (And truly before them, many of the ancients went astray (37:71) In Su-rah Yusuf, it is said: وَمَا أَكْثَرُ‌ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَ‌صْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿103﴾ (And the majority of people - even if you wish - are not to be believers (12:103). The outcome is that the awe of majority customarily overwhelms an individual and he or she ends up following it. Therefore, the address made to the Holy Prophet ﷺ was:

And if you obey the majority of those on earth, they will make you lose the way of Allah. They follow nothing but whims, and they do nothing but make conjectures.'

The gist of the advice is that he should not be impressed by their numerical majority as a model to follow because they lack principles and go off the right way: At the end of the verse (117), it was said:

` Surely, your Lord knows best those who go astray from His way, and He is the best knower of those who are on the right path (consequently, as the errants shall be punished, the people of the straight path shall be rewarded).

Tafsīr sourced from quran.com's open API. These are classical commentaries; for personal rulings consult a qualified scholar.

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