Tafsir of Surah Al-An'am - Verse 117

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

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).

Whatever there is in the world is all ‘others’ property’ for us, because all of it belongs to God. We have no right to possess or use anything unless it is obtained and utilized in the manner shown by God. This holds good for animals also. Animals provide valuable food for us, but the question arises as to how we acquired the right to use them as food. God creates animals and He alone rears them and brings them to maturity. Then, how does it become permissible for us to use them as our food? Taking God’s name at the time of sacrificing an animal is the answer to this very question. But the taking of God’s name is not a verbal formality. It is, in fact, the recognition of God’s ownership rights over the animal and a demonstration of our gratitude to Him for his gift. Taking God’s name at the time of sacrifice is the symbol of this admission and of our gratitude—the ‘price’ on payment of which an animal in the eyes of our Lord becomes sacrificeable for us. However, one who faces accidental compulsion has been exempted by God from this restriction. When man neglects God’s commands on the subject of what is permitted or prohibited, legal or illegal, superstitions begin to take the place of divine injunctions. On the basis of superstitious ideas, people form divergent opinions. There are some self-devised philosophies behind these superstitions, and on their basis some formalities become established. It is necessary for those who want to become God’s obedient servants to completely give up these superstitions, in practice as well as in theory.