Surah 22. Al-Hajj, Ayah 12

By failing to commit himself unreservedly to the faith which he professes, man is often inclined to attribute to all manner of extraneous forces, be they real or imaginary, a decisive "influence" on his own destiny, and thus invests them, as it were, with divine qualities.

Lit., "this, this (dhalika huwa) is the straying far-away". For an explanation of my paraphrase, see note [25] on the last sentence of 14:18 .

To such minds religion does not mean high endeavour, self-sacrifice for noble ends, the recognition of Allah's infinite world, but just a small concession to formalism, perhaps a present to an idol (literal or figurative), perhaps attendance at worship if it can be done without trouble! It is false gods they worship, and the more they worship, the more they stray.