BACK IN THE 1950s and 60s, social psychologists conducted a series of fascinating experiments on conformity.
Let me give you a simplified example to illustrate one such experiment.
Imagine I invited 50 people to a venue to answer a simple question: What is 2 plus 2? The correct answer, of course, is 4. However, before the session began, I secretly told 49 of the participants to give the wrong answer—5. Only one person, the real test subject, received no instructions.
One by one, I asked each person to stand up and give their answer. Each of the 49 instructed participants stood up and confidently declared, “Five.” I saved the test subject for last.
Imagine his reaction. At first, he might have thought the others were joking or simply mistaken. But as more and more people repeated the wrong answer, he likely began to doubt himself. By the 25th person, perhaps he started second-guessing his own basic knowledge. By the 40th, he might have questioned whether he even heard the question correctly.
Finally, it was his turn. After hearing 49 people say that 2 + 2 = 5, what do you think his response was?
Surprisingly, in the real experiments, about 75% of participants conformed and gave the wrong answer. Only a quarter stuck with the truth.
Why? Because human beings are inherently social creatures. We tend to conform. We fear being the odd one out. Sometimes we don’t want to think for ourselves—it’s easier to follow the crowd. After all, if so many people believe something, it must be right… right?
This is the danger of conforming to falsehood, even when we know the truth.
The Legacy of Ibrahim (as): Standing Alone for Truth
Contrast this with the example of Prophet Ibrahim (as). Allah teaches us a different way—one of courage, clarity, and commitment to the truth, even when the entire society is steeped in falsehood.
Ibrahim (as) saw his people worship idols—even his own father carved them. But this never made sense to him. He questioned them with sincere intellect:
قَالَ هَلْ يَسْمَعُونَكُمْ إِذْ تَدْعُونَ
أَوْ يَنفَعُونَكُمْ أَوْ يَضُرُّونَ
He said, “Do they hear you when you call upon them? Or can they benefit you or harm you?” (ash-Shu’ara 72-73)
And their response?
قَالُوا۟ بَلْ وَجَدْنَآ ءَابَآءَنَا كَذَٰلِكَ يَفْعَلُونَ
They said, “No! But we found our forefathers doing the same.” (ash-Shu’ara 74)
When he respectfully challenged his father, he was threatened:
قَالَ أَرَاغِبٌ أَنتَ عَنْ ءَالِهَتِى يَـٰٓإِبْرَٰهِيمُ ۖ لَئِن لَّمْ تَنتَهِ لَأَرْجُمَنَّكَ ۖ وَٱهْجُرْنِى مَلِيًّۭا
[His father] said, “Do you reject my gods, O Ibrahim? If you do not stop, I will stone you. So leave me for a long time.” (Maryam 46)
Ibrahim (as) stood alone, facing rejection, hostility, and threats—but he stood for the truth. He didn’t conform. He didn’t fear being different.
Speaking the Truth Today: Consequences and Courage
We see the same dynamics today.
Speaking the truth about the genocide in Gaza carries consequences. Despite Western ideals of “freedom of speech,” anyone who challenges Zionist narratives may be harassed, cancelled, sacked or even arrested under accusations of antisemitism or hate speech. In the Muslim world, those who speak out against tyrannical rulers or support the oppressed may be jailed—or worse.
But this issue goes beyond Gaza. For centuries, we’ve been coerced to accept countless lies—many of them foundational to the modern world system.
The world today doesn’t worship stone idols, but it has new “gods”—a set of ideas that dominate our thinking and shape our societies. These include:
Secularism. Liberalism. Materialism. Individualism. Humanism. Scientism, Utilitarianism, Moral relativism. Democracy. Nationalism. Supremacism.
These aren’t just abstract concepts. They have real-world consequences.
Scientism, for example, elevates science as the only path to truth. It’s now being used to undermine religious practices, such as halal and kosher slaughter, under the guise of “animal rights” as science believes that animals feel pain when slaughtered.
Nationalism divides us. We won’t defend the people of Palestine because they are “Palestinian” and not “Saudi,” “Egyptian,” or “Jordanian.” We’ll fight for flags and borders drawn by colonizers, but not for the truth and the relief of oppression.
Supremacism—whether racial (white supremacy), ideological (Zionism, Hindutva), or gender-based—creates systems of apartheid, racism, discrimination, and violence.
The Way Forward: Following Ibrahim (as)
Muslims are not meant to follow the masses blindly. We are the followers of Ibrahim (as), the followers of truth and not the followers of lies.
For far too long we have allowed ourselves to just follow ‘West is best’ without question or challenge.
Our thinkers, our rulers, and even our ulema have submitted to these ideas where Islam is limited to rituals and has nothing (in thought or practice) to offer the real problems that we face today. All they have been able to do is imitate the failed ideologies that have created chaos throughout the world.
وَإِن تُطِعْ أَكْثَرَ مَن فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَخْرُصُونَ
If you obey most of those on earth, they will lead you away from the way of Allah. They follow nothing but speculation and they do nothing but lie. (al-Anam 116)
It is time we stopped being afraid of being different. It is time we reassert the truth—that 2 + 2 = 4, no matter how many people claim otherwise.
There is only one truth. It is the truth of Allah, and it is found in our deen.
Living For Islam 