Page 22 - Taking the Qur'an as a Guide
P. 22

TAKING THE QUR'AN AS A GUIDE

            The Practices of the Majority Are Mostly Flawed
            One of the greatest misconceptions of those who follow the
          majority's opinion, disregard Allah's judgments, and thus are
          far from Islam's values is the mistaken belief that "the majority
          always represents the truth." As we read in the Qur'an, most
          people are not on the true path: "If you obeyed most of those
          on Earth, they would divert you from Allah's Way. They fol-
          low nothing but conjecture. They are only guessing" (Surat
          al-An'am: 116).
            Unless the majority's decisions agree with the Qur'an, they
          do not represent the truth, for the just nature of a movement is
          not determined by how many people follow it. This verse also
          maintains that most people's judgments rest upon conjecture
          and therefore divert many people from the right path.
            Turning away from Allah's commands in order to adhere to
          the majority's decisions makes such people losers in both this
          world and the next, for they are left all alone: "They have lost
          their own selves, and what they invented has forsaken them"
          (Surat al-A'raf: 53). Exchanging a fabrication for Allah's revela-
          tion causes people to suffer great frustration:
            Who could do greater wrong than those who invent lies
            against Allah? Such people will be arrayed before their
            Lord, and the witnesses will say: "Those are the ones
            who lied against their Lord." Yes indeed! Allah's curse is
            upon the wrongdoers. (Surah Hud: 18)
            Who could do greater wrong than someone who invents
            lies against Allah or denies the truth when it comes to
            him? Is not the unbelievers' abode in Hell? (Surah al-
            'Ankabut: 68)

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