"And among them are illiterate ones who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking," meaning: hearsay that their religious scholars tell them, which they accept. "And they are not but assuming," that is: they are not upon any certainty; if their religious scholars spoke truthfully, they believed them, and if their religious scholars lied, they lied as well.
﴿وَمِنْهُمْ أُمِّيُّونَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ الْكِتَابَ إِلَّا أماني﴾ يَعْنِي: أَحَادِيث مَا يُحَدِّثهُمْ قراؤهم بِهِ فيقبلونه ﴿وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلا يظنون﴾ أَي: هُم عَلَى غير يَقِين إِن صدقت قراؤهم صدقُوا، وَإِن كذبت قراؤهم كذبُوا.
