“When it is said to them, ‘Follow what Allah has sent down,’ they say, ‘Rather, we follow what we found our forefathers following.’ Even if their forefathers understood nothing and were not rightly guided? (170) The likeness of those who disbelieve is that of one who cries out to what hears nothing but a call and a cry. Deaf, dumb, and blind—they do not understand. (171)”

Regarding His saying, “When it is said to them, ‘Follow what Allah has sent down’”: It was said that this is a new account, and that the pronoun in “to them” refers to persons not previously mentioned. It is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ called the Jews to Islam, and Rāfiʿ ibn Khārijah and Mālik ibn ʿAwf said, “Rather, we follow what we found our forefathers following”—that is, what we found our forefathers adhering to; for they were better and more knowledgeable than we are. So Allah Most High revealed this verse. (1)

It was also said that the verse is connected to what precedes it and was revealed concerning the Arab polytheists and the disbelievers of Quraysh. The pronoun in “to them” refers back to His saying, “Among the people are those who take equals besides Allah” (al-Baqarah 2:165). “They say, ‘Rather, we follow what we found our forefathers following’”—that is, what we found our forefathers doing: worshipping idols.

It was also said that its meaning is: When they are told, “Follow what Allah has sent down” concerning the permissibility of the crops, livestock, baḥīrah animals, and sāʾibah animals which they had forbidden to themselves, they say, “Rather, we follow...” The pronoun in “to them” refers back to “the people” in His saying, “O people, eat.” Al-Kisāʾī recited, “Rather, we follow,” with the lām assimilated into the nūn. Likewise, he assimilates the lām of hal and bal into the letters tāʾ, thāʾ, zāy, sīn, ṣād, ṭāʾ, and ẓāʾ. Ḥamzah agreed with him regarding tāʾ, thāʾ, and sīn. “What we found our forefathers following”—that is, their declaring things forbidden and permissible.

Allah Most High says, “Even if their forefathers...” That is: How can they follow their forefathers when their forefathers “understood nothing”? The wāw in “even if” is the conjunctive wāw; it is also called the wāw of amazement. The interrogative hamzah is prefixed to it as a rebuke. The meaning is: Would they follow their forefathers even if they were ignorant and understood nothing? Its wording is general, but its intended sense is particular: they understood nothing of the matters of religion, though they did understand worldly matters. “And were not rightly guided.”

Then Allah set forth a likeness, saying—mighty is His mention:

“The likeness of those who disbelieve is that of one who cries out to what hears nothing...” Naʿīq and naʿq refer to the sound of a shepherd calling to sheep. Its meaning is: Your likeness, O Muhammad, and the likeness of the disbelievers with regard to your admonishing them and calling them to Allah, Exalted is He, are like that of a shepherd who calls to sheep. It was also said: The likeness of the one who admonishes the disbelievers and calls them, in relation to them, is like that of a shepherd calling to sheep, which hear nothing “but a call”—a sound—“and a cry.” The likeness is attributed to those who disbelieve because the wording indicates this, as in His saying, “Ask the town” (Joseph 12:82). Its meaning is that, just as livestock hear the shepherd’s voice but do not comprehend or understand what is said to them, likewise the disbeliever does not benefit.