To some people it proves really difficult to ascertain which path to follow. The more they ignore the voice of conscience, the more they indulge in following the footsteps of Satan. They may not follow Satan’s footsteps intently, for the Devil will never come in person to dictate them. But when they start doing evil and harmful things and thinking that they are free to do so and what they are doing is absolutely right, it is acting upon the whisperings of Satan. Likewise, when they start following others blindly in matters of religion, worshipping any man-made things and arrogating to themselves the right to legislate without any reference to God, it amounts to following Satan’s footsteps.
The Qur’ān (2:168) warns man against following the footsteps of Satan: “O people! … follow not in the footsteps of Satan. For surely he is your open enemy.” The wisdom behind this warning lies in the fact that “he (Satan) only commands you to do evil and commit acts of indecency and to ascribe to Allah the things concerning which you have no knowledge (that He really is their source).”(The Qur’ān, 2:169) It is under the deception of man’s sworn enemy, i.e.Satan that they start believing that all superstitious customs and taboos, inherited traditions and practices, are God-given religious teachings. However, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that they are from God Almighty.
The reason for their erroneous beliefs is that they blindly follow the footsteps of their forefathers and refuse to follow what God has revealed. The Qur’ān (2:170) records this erroneous belief: “And when they are told: ‘Follow what Allah has revealed,’ they say: ‘No, we shall follow what we found our forefathers adhering to’.” The verse further says: “What! Even if their forefathers were devoid of understanding and right guidance?” That is, they follow the footsteps of their forefathers because they believe that their forefathers’ footsteps had been sanctified by practice and tradition allegedly coming down generation after generation. But they fail rather miserably to test those footsteps on the anvil of the Truth revealed by God.
In doing so, they fall from the high status of being human to the lowest status of irrational animals. The Qur’ān (2:171) comments on their blind following of the footsteps of their forefathers without subjecting them to test: “Those who have refused to follow the Way of Allah resemble cattle; when the shepherd calls them, they hear nothing except shouting and crying; they are deaf, dumb and blind, and so they understand nothing.”
They do have ears, tongues and eyes, heart and mind of their own, but they hardly put their organs to proper use. That is, they give up their intelligence and reasoning and discerning faculties. Therefore, it is in the fitness of things to choose the path only after deep thought and reasoning and only after ascertaining that it is the true path sanctioned by God.