Surah Al-Israa (17) — Ayah 36

(Ayah 36) ➊ {وَ لَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهٖ عِلْمٌ :’’ لَا تَقْفُ ‘‘ ’’قَفَا يَقْفُوْ‘‘} (ن) is a prohibitive verb, which means to follow behind. {’’ قَفَوْتُ أَثَرَ فُلاَنٍ‘‘} "I walked in the footsteps of so-and-so." {’’قَفَا‘‘} refers to the back part of the neck (nape), and qafiyah is the word that comes at the end of every verse in poetry. One of the blessed names of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is also {’’اَلْمُقَفِّيْ‘‘}, meaning the one who comes at the very end. (Mustadrak Hakim: 4185) That is, do not pursue any statement or action whose correctness you do not know with certainty, meaning do not act upon it yourself nor convey it to others. Knowledge is that which is certain; following mere conjecture is prohibited, because conjecture is not knowledge. Allah said: «وَ مَا لَهُمْ بِهٖ مِنْ عِلْمٍ اِنْ يَّتَّبِعُوْنَ اِلَّا الظَّنَّ » [ النجم : ۲۸ ] "Even though they have no knowledge about it, they only follow conjecture." Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ إِيَّاكُمْ وَالظَّنَّ فَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ أَكْذَبُ الْحَدِيْثِ ] [ بخاری، الأدب، باب : «یأیھا الذین اٰمنوا اجتنبوا کثیرا من الظن…» : ۶۰۶۶ ] "Beware of conjecture, for indeed conjecture is the most false of speech." Similarly, it is also prohibited to convey hearsay without verification. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ كَفَی بِالْمَرْءِ كَذِبًا أَنْ يُّحَدِّثَ بِكُلِّ مَا سَمِعَ ] [مسلم، المقدمۃ، باب النھی عن الحدیث بکل ما سمع : ۵، عن أبي ھریرۃ رضی اللہ عنہ ] "It is enough for a man to be considered a liar that he narrates everything he hears." In addition, false testimony, any accusation, narrating a false dream, narrating a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) without knowing its authenticity, acting upon someone's personal opinion or analogy (taqlid) in the presence of the Qur'an and Hadith—all these things are included in this, and Allah Almighty has prohibited all of them.

➋ {اِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَ الْبَصَرَ … : } Here, {’’ كُلُّ اُولٰٓىِٕكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْـُٔوْلًا ‘‘} can also refer to the person who has ears, eyes, and a heart, meaning a person will be questioned about each of these three things: where did you use these faculties? Why did you use the faculties given by Allah in pursuing something you had no knowledge of? (See Al-Hijr: 92, 93) And {’’ كُلُّ اُولٰٓىِٕكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْـُٔوْلًا ‘‘} can also mean that each of the ears, eyes, and heart will be questioned about itself: tell us where and how this person used you. See Surah Ya-Sin (65) and Ha Mim As-Sajdah (19–23). In any case, both meanings are present in the verses of the Qur'an, and in both cases, the terrifying presentation of the Day of Judgment is warned about. For similar verses, see Surah Al-A'raf (33) and Surah Al-Baqarah (168, 169).

The reality is that these few words represent the complete methodology of Islam, and that is: it is obligatory upon a person to thoroughly investigate, to the best of his ability, that whatever his tongue is saying, or whatever incident he is narrating, or whatever report he is transmitting, or whatever decision his intellect is making, or whatever he has firmly decided, or whatever action he is about to undertake—he has complete knowledge of it and fully understands its consequences. Along with this, the Qur'an has turned the subject towards the prohibition of arrogance, because this is evidence of a person's extreme ignorance of his own reality.