وَاِذَا قِيۡلَ لَهُمُ اتَّبِعُوۡا مَآ اَنۡزَلَ اللّٰهُ قَالُوۡا بَلۡ نَـتَّبِعُ مَآ اَلۡفَيۡنَا عَلَيۡهِ اٰبَآءَنَا ؕ اَوَلَوۡ كَانَ اٰبَآؤُهُمۡ لَا يَعۡقِلُوۡنَ شَيۡـئًـا وَّلَا يَهۡتَدُوۡنَ‏﴿2:170﴾ وَمَثَلُ الَّذِيۡنَ کَفَرُوۡا كَمَثَلِ الَّذِىۡ يَنۡعِقُ بِمَا لَا يَسۡمَعُ اِلَّا دُعَآءً وَّنِدَآءً ؕ صُمٌّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡـىٌ فَهُمۡ لَا يَعۡقِلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿2:171﴾

(2:170) And when they are told: “Follow what Allah has revealed,” they say: “No, we shall follow what we found our forefathers adhering to.”¹⁶⁸ What! Even if their forefathers were devoid of understanding and right guidance?(2:171) Those who have refused to follow the Way of Allah resemble cattle; when the shepherd calls them they hear nothing except shouting and crying;¹⁶⁹ they are deaf, dumb and blind, and so they understand nothing. 

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Notes

168. The only possible argument and justification for these taboos was that they had been sanctified by the practice of their forefathers from whom they had allegedly come down generation after generation. Fickle-minded as they were, they deemed this argument to be sufficiently persuasive. 

169. This parable has two aspects. On the one hand, it suggests that these people are like herds of irrational animals, dumb cattle, that always follow their herdsmen, moving on as they hear their calls without understanding what they mean. (Thus these people follow their leaders even though they do not grasp where it is they are being led to – Ed.) On the other hand, it also suggests that when the Truth is preached to them they show such insensitivity to it that one may as well be addressing animals who merely comprehend sounds but are incapable of understanding their meaning. The expression lends itself to both interpretations.