5) Cult of Personality
Another cause of wrong thinking is the cult of personality. Because of the great respect in which they are held, the celebrated historical and contemporary personalities influence the thinking and the will of others. In fact the famous personalities control the thinking of others, who think as they think and have the same opinions as they have. Other people do not dare differ from the great people and so lose their independence of thought and will.
The Holy Qur'an calls upon people to think independently and not to follow their elders and other influential personalities blindly, because to do that is likely to bring them bad luck.
The Holy Qur'an tells us that the misguided people will be saying on the Day of Judgement:
"Our Lord! We obeyed our chiefs and great men who misled us from the right path." (Surah al-Ahzab, 33:67)