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wa-ʾidhā qīla lahumu ttabiʿū mā ʾanzala llāhu qālū bal nattabiʿu mā ʾalfaynā ʿalayhi ʾābāʾanā ʾa-wa-law kāna ʾābāʾuhum lā yaʿqilūna shayʾan wa-lā yahtadūna
When they are told, ‘Follow what Allah has sent down,’ they say, ‘No, We will follow what we have found our fathers following.’ What, even if their fathers neither exercised their reason nor were guided?!
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Baqarah, Verses 170-171
170. "And when they are told: 'Follow what Allah has sent down,' they say: 'Nay! We follow what we found our fathers upon,' even though their fathers had no understanding of anything nor were they guided aright.
171. "And the parable of those who reject Faith is as the likeness of the one who shouts to that which hears no more than a call and a cry; deaf, dumb, and blind (are they) wherefore they do not understand."
Blind following of the ancestors is condemned
The previous verse warned us to avoid following the whispers and footsteps of Satan. Now, in this verse, one of the examples of those footsteps, which is the blind following of others, is pointed out. It says:
They mean that they do not care what the verse of Allah say or the messenger of Allah invites to. So, in answer to them, the Qur'an says:
This statement refers to the fact that: if their fathers had no wisdom and understanding by themselves nor had they accepted the godly guidance of the prophets, then, would they follow their fathers yet? If their ancestors or the infidels themselves had wisdom or were guided, it would not matter, but it is not so.
There are two comparisons in this verse: 1) the likening of the caller of Truth to a shepherd; 2) the likening of infidels to some beasts that understand nothing from the speech of the shepherd save a call and a cry. This simile has been confirmed in a tradition by Imam Baqir (as), too. The parable means that the invitation of the Prophet (S) from that faithless crowd to Truth and breaking the dam-like barrier of blindly imitation is similar to the person who shouts to cattle of sheep or some animals in order to save them from danger but they do not understand this message.
Then, at the end of the verse, to emphasize more and to explain it more clearly, it adds: