Tafsir Ibn Kathir -> Surah Al-An'am -> 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 ﴾

﴿وَمَا لَكُمْ أَلاَّ تَأْكُلُواْ مِمَّا ذُكِرَ اسْمُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ وَقَدْ فَصَّلَ لَكُم مَّا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِلاَّ مَا اضْطُرِرْتُمْ إِلَيْهِ وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا لَّيُضِلُّونَ بِأَهْوَائِهِم بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ إِنَّ رَّبَّكَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِالْمُعْتَدِينَ ﴾

(118. So eat of that on which Allah's Name has been mentioned, if you are believers in His Ayat.) (119. And why should you not eat of that on which Allah's Name has been mentioned, while He has explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you, except under compulsion of necessity And surely, many do lead astray by their own desires through lack of knowledge. Certainly your Lord knows best the transgressors.)