فَهُمْ عَلَىٰٓ ءَاثَـٰرِهِمْ يُهْرَعُونَ 70
Translations
So they hastened [to follow] in their footsteps.
Transliteration
Fahum 'ala atharihim yuhra'un
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes how the disbelievers blindly follow the footsteps of their forefathers in rejecting the truth and worshipping idols, being driven hastily into error without reflection or independent thought. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, the word 'yuhra'un' (being hastened/driven) emphasizes their eager and heedless pursuit of ancestral practices, indicating they rush toward falsehood just as they were commanded by their ancestors. This illustrates the spiritual blindness that results from unquestioning adherence to inherited customs over divine guidance.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears within Surah As-Saffat's broader theme of condemning polytheism and the stubbornness of the Meccan disbelievers. The surah addresses how previous nations rejected their prophets, and this particular ayah emphasizes how later generations perpetuate the errors of their predecessors through blind imitation rather than seeking truth.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'Every child is born upon the fitrah (natural disposition), but his parents make him a Jew, Christian, or Magian' (Sahih Bukhari 1385). This hadith complements the ayah by showing how cultural and familial conditioning can lead people away from natural monotheism, similar to the blind following described in 37:70.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches us to critically examine inherited beliefs and customs against the standard of Quranic truth rather than blindly following ancestral traditions, and reminds us that true guidance requires conscious reflection and submission to Allah's revelation rather than thoughtless conformity to cultural practices.