An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 167 of 176

An-Nisa 4:167

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَصَدُّوا۟ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ قَدْ ضَلُّوا۟ ضَلَـٰلًۢا بَعِيدًا

“Indeed, those who disbelieve and avert [people] from the way of Allāh have certainly gone far astray.”

Saheeh International

Essence

To reject the truth and then block others from it is to go far astray: lost yourself, and leading others into the same loss.

A reflection

Lost, certain, paid, and recruiting

Qad ḍallū ḍalālan baʿīdā: they have gone far, far astray.

Why 'far'? One classical commentator gives an anatomy of the deepest kind of error, in four steps. First, a person is astray. Second, he believes he is right. Third, he uses his error to gain money and standing. Fourth, he pours his full effort into drawing others into the same error. Such a person, he says, has reached the furthest point of going astray.

Another commentator adds a sharp observation. The one who misleads others is more deeply sunk in error, and further from pulling himself out of it. His followers now depend on him being right. So does his income, and his name.

That is the trap the ayah describes. It is not only wrong belief. It is wrong belief that has become a business and a following.

Picture a man who runs a paid group for football betting tips. He has lost thousands himself over the years. But he is convinced the next system is the one. Subscribers pay him monthly. He recruits his cousins, then their friends, with screenshots of his rare wins. When a cousin loses his rent money, the man cannot admit the system is broken. Too many people are watching. Every month he is further from the exit.

The pattern is not limited to any one cause or community. It can grow anywhere a person's error starts paying them.

So ask yourself the uncomfortable question. Is there anything I believe that I would find hard to admit was wrong, because people follow me in it, or because it pays? That is where the road begins to bend away. The way back is short while you are still alone on it. It lengthens with every person you bring along.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.