"[And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah]" because the polytheists were calling him to worship idols. "[They follow]" in their worship of idols "[only assumption]"—meaning: they claimed they were deities based on an assumption of theirs. "[And they are not but lying]"—meaning: they are fabricating falsehoods.
Muhammad said: The root of (al-khars) is assumption and conjecture, and from this, it is said to one who conjectures:
﴿وَإِنْ تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَنْ فِي الأَرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ﴾ لِأَنَّ الْمُشْرِكِينَ كَانُوا يَدْعُونَهُ إِلَى عبَادَة الْأَوْثَان ﴿إِن يتبعُون﴾ بعبادتهم الْأَوْثَان ﴿إِلَّا الظَّن﴾ يَقُولُ: ادَّعَوْا أَنَّهُمْ آلِهَةٌ بِظَنٍّ مِنْهُمْ ﴿وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلا يَخْرُصُونَ﴾ يَعْنِي: يَكْذِبُونَ.
قَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ: أَصْلُ (الْخَرْصِ): الظَّنُّ وَالْحَزَرُ، وَمِنْهُ قِيلَ للحازر:
