Surah Al-An'aam: Verse 116 - وإن تطع أكثر من في... - English
Tafsir of Verse 116, Surah Al-An'aam
English Translation
And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah. They follow not except assumption, and they are not but falsifying.English Transliteration
Wain tutiAA akthara man fee alardi yudillooka AAan sabeeli Allahi in yattabiAAoona illa alththanna wain hum illa yakhrusoonaTafsir of Verse 116
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).
Most People are Misguided
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.
