وَإِن تُطِعۡ أَڪۡثَرَ مَن فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنۡ هُمۡ إِلَّا يَخۡرُصُونَ • إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعۡلَمُ مَن يَضِلُّ عَن سَبِيلِهِۦۖ وَهُوَ أَعۡلَمُ بِٱلۡمُهۡتَدِينَ ﴾
(116. And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah’s path. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but lie.) (117. Verily, your Lord! It is He Who knows best who strays from His way, and He knows best the rightly guided.)

Here Allah تبارك وتعالى says to His Prophet Muhammad, ﷺ warning him against obeying the majority of people:
وَإِن تُطِعۡ أَڪۡثَرَ مَن فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ
({If you were to obey most of those who are on earth, they would lead you astray from the path of Allah)
For most of them have gone astray in their religions, deeds, and knowledge. Hence their religions are corrupt, their deeds follow their whims and desires, and their knowledge is not based on facts and does not guide them to the straight path. Rather the most that can be said is that they follow nothing but mere conjecture, but conjecture is no substitute for certain truth (cf 10:36), and they say things about Allah on the basis of speculation, things of which they have no knowledge. It is appropriate that Allah should warn His slaves against one who is like that, and describe them as they are. Although this is addressed to the Prophet (ﷺ), it is intended for his Ummah, because they – like him are subject to all rulings that are not specifically for him alone.
Allah (تبارك وتعالى) is the truest in speech,
هُوَ أَعۡلَمُ مَن يَضِلُّ عَن سَبِيلِهِۦۖ وَهُوَ أَعۡلَمُ بِٱلۡمُهۡتَدِينَ
He knows best who goes astray from His path, and He knows best who is guided.
So you – O believers – must follow His instructions, commands, and prohibitions, because He knows best what is in your best interests, and is more merciful to you than you are to yourselves.
This verse indicates that the number of followers is no indicator of truth, and that scarcity of followers does not signal that something is not truth. Rather reality is something other than that, for the people of truth are the fewest in number, but are the greatest in esteem and reward before Allah. Rather we must determine what is true and what is false on the basis of proof and evidence.
Tafsir Saadi Surah Al-Annam Ayah 116
Most People are Misguided
﴿ وَإِن تُطِعۡ أَڪۡثَرَ مَن فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ يُضِلُّوكَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنۡ هُمۡ إِلَّا يَخۡرُصُونَ • إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ أَعۡلَمُ مَن يَضِلُّ عَن سَبِيلِهِۦۖ وَهُوَ أَعۡلَمُ بِٱلۡمُهۡتَدِينَ ﴾
(116. And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allah’s path. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but lie.) (117. Verily, your Lord! It is He Who knows best who strays from His way, and He knows best the rightly guided.)

Allah states that most of the people of the earth are misguided. Allah said in other Ayat,
﴿ وَلَقَدۡ ضَلَّ قَبۡلَهُمۡ أَڪۡثَرُ ٱلۡأَوَّلِينَ ﴾
(And indeed most of the men of old went astray before them.) (37:71) and,
﴿ وَمَآ أَڪۡثَرُ ٱلنَّاسِ وَلَوۡ حَرَصۡتَ بِمُؤۡمِنِينَ ﴾
(And most of mankind will not believe even if you eagerly desire it.) (12:103) They are misguided, yet they have doubts about their way, and they rely on wishful thinking and delusions.
﴿ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَإِنۡ هُمۡ إِلَّا يَخۡرُصُونَ ﴾
They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but lie.) Thus, they fulfill Allah’s decree and decision concerning them,
﴿ هُوَ أَعۡلَمُ مَن يَضِلُّ عَن سَبِيلِهِۦۖ ﴾
It is He Who knows best who strays from His way.) and facilitate that for him,
﴿ وَهُوَ أَعۡلَمُ بِٱلۡمُهۡتَدِينَ ﴾
And He knows best the rightly guided.
He facilitates that for them, all of them are facilitated for what He created them.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir Surah Al-Annam Ayah 116
قال الفُضيل بن عِياض رحمه الله : ” الزمْ طريقَ الهدَى ، ولا يضرُّكَ قلَّةُ السالكين ، وإياك وطرقَ الضلالة ، ولا تغترَّ بكثرة الهالكين “
الأذكار” للنووي صـ221، “الاعتصام “للشاطبى (1 / 83)
Al-Fudayl Ibn ‘Iyaad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Adhere to the path of guidance and do not be affected by the small numbers of those who follow the path. Beware of the paths of misguidance, and do not be deceived by the large numbers of those who are doomed (by following them)
Al-Adhkaar by an-Nawawi (p. 221); al-I‘tisaam by ash-Shaatibi (1/83)
Ahlul-Hadith 