Tafsir
Tafsir of Al-An'am 116
وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ
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.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged)
Hafiz Ibn Kathir · English· Passage 116–117
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
Tafsir text: quran.com and the House of Islam API. · Al-An'am 6:116–117