ﱁ ﱂ ﱃ ﱄ ﱅ ﱆ ﱇ ﱈ ﱉ ﱊ ﱋ ﱌ ﱍ ﱎ ﱏ ﱐ ﱑ ﱒ ﱓ ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ
And when it is said to them, "Follow what Allah has revealed," they say, "Rather, we will follow that which we found our fathers doing." Even though their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided?
Tafsir
Verse range: 2:170
"And when it is said to them..."
"To them" (لهم): The pronoun refers to "the people." The shift from the third person to the second person (addressing them directly) is a rhetorical device (iltifat) intended to highlight the extent of their misguidance. This is because there is no one more misguided than the blind imitator (muqallid). It is as if [God] is saying to the rational people: "Look at these fools and what they say."
It has been said that they are the polytheists, and it has been said that they are a group of the Jews whom the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) invited to Islam, to which they replied:
"Nay, we follow what we found our fathers upon." (Luqman: 21)
"Even if their fathers..." (أولو كان ءاباؤهم): The waw (and) is for the state (hal), and the hamza (interrogative) denotes refutation and astonishment. The meaning is: "Will they follow them, even if their fathers did not understand anything of the religion and were not guided to the truth?"
