The Quran

150

Preface

قُل هَلُمَّ شُهَداءَكُمُ الَّذينَ يَشهَدونَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَ هٰذا ۖ فَإِن شَهِدوا فَلا تَشهَد مَعَهُم ۚ وَلا تَتَّبِع أَهواءَ الَّذينَ كَذَّبوا بِآياتِنا وَالَّذينَ لا يُؤمِنونَ بِالآخِرَةِ وَهُم بِرَبِّهِم يَعدِلونَ

Yusuf Ali

Say: “Bring forward your witnesses to prove that God did forbid so and so.” If they bring such witnesses, be not thou amongst them¹: Nor follow thou the vain desires of such as treat our signs as falsehoods, and such as believe not in the Hereafter: for they hold others as equal with their Guardian-Lord.²

The Pagan superstitions were of course baseless, and in many cases harmful and debasing. If God’s name was taken as supporting them, no true man of God could be taken in, or join in support simply because God’s name was taken in vain.
Cf. 6:1. God, who created and who cherishes and cares for all, should have the first claim on our attention. Those who set up false gods fail to understand God’s true governance or their own true destiny.