Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:36

{ولا تقف}: Do not follow. It is also recited as la taqif (from qafa). It is said: qafa atharahu (he followed his tracks) and qafahu (he followed him). From this comes the term al-qafah (trackers).

It means: Do not follow that of which you have no knowledge, whether in speech or action, like one who follows a path without knowing if it will lead him to his destination, thus becoming lost.

The intent is to forbid a person from saying what they do not know or testifying to what they do not know. This includes a clear prohibition against taqlid (blind imitation), as it is following something without knowing its validity or corruption.

• Ibn al-Hanafiyyah: It refers to false testimony.
• Al-Hasan: Do not "follow" (slander) your Muslim brother when he passes by you, saying: "He does such and such," claiming you saw or heard it when you did not.

It is said that al-qafw is similar to al-adhihah (slander/false accusation). From this is the Hadith: "Whoever accuses a believer of what is not in him, Allah will confine him in the mud of khabal (the discharge of the people of Hell) until he produces a way out."

Poetry is cited: "Like statues, with proud noses, dwelling in modesty, they do not spread slander (al-taqafiya)." Meaning: al-taqadhuf (casting accusations).

Al-Kumayt said: "I do not accuse the innocent without guilt, nor do I slander chaste women if they are slandered."

Some have used this verse to invalidate ijtihad (legal reasoning), but this is incorrect. Ijtihad is a type of knowledge, for the Sharia has established "preponderant assumption" (ghalib al-zann) in the place of certain knowledge and commanded action based upon it.

{أولئك} (Those): This is a reference to the hearing, the sight, and the heart, similar to the saying: "And life after those days..."

{عنه} (About it): This is in the nominative position as the subject of the passive participle (mas'ulan). It means: each one of them will be questioned about it. Mas'ul is predicated on the prepositional phrase, similar to al-maghdub in the verse: {Not of those who are angered against (al-maghdub 'alayhim)}.

It will be said to the human: Why did you listen to what was not lawful for you to hear? Why did you look at what was not lawful for you to look at? And why did you resolve upon what was not lawful for you to resolve upon?

It is also recited as al-fawad (with a fatha on the fa and waw). The hamza was changed into a waw after the damma in al-fu'ad, then the change was maintained even with the fatha.

{ولا تمش في الأرض مرحا إنك لن تخرق الأرض ولن تبلغ الجبال طولا * كل ذلك كان سيئه عند ربك مكروها} (And do not walk upon the earth exultantly. Indeed, you will never tear the earth [apart], and you will never reach the mountains in height. All of that—its evil—is ever, in the sight of your Lord, detested.)