As an example, Allah Almighty has mentioned Pharaoh against Musa , saying: ﴿وَنَادَى فِرْعَوْنُ فِي قَوْمِهِ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ أَلَيْسَ لِي مُلْكُ مِصْرَ وَهَذِهِ الْأَنْهَارُ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِي ۖ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ ۝ أَمْ أَنَا خَيْرٌ مِنْ هَذَا الَّذِي هُوَ مَهِينٌ وَلَا يَكَادُ يُبِينُ ۝ فَلَوْلَا أُلْقِيَ عَلَيْهِ أَسْوِرَةٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ أَوْ جَاءَ مَعَهُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ مُقْتَرِنِينَ﴾[1]; “And Pharaoh called out among his people; he said: ‘O my people! Is the kingship of Egypt not mine, and do these rivers not flow beneath me?! Do you not see?! Or I am better than this one who is insignificant and can hardly speak clearly! Then why were no gold bracelets sent down upon him, or why did the angels not come alongside him?!’” Yet, Musa overcame him despite all these descriptions! Similarly, the dominance of Muslims over the empires of the West and East in the early decades of Islam was not due to their advanced military or invitation tools, but rather due to the attractiveness of their message, which was able to shatter the grandeur of world empires in the eyes of people and pave the way for the political and military advances of Muslims despite their limited resources.

As a result, knowing the truth is possible for one who has abandoned imitation in all its forms—including imitating predecessors, scholars, oppressors, disbelievers, and the majority of people—and has made the intellect the criterion for his knowing, refusing to be satisfied with the conjecture resulting from the statement and action of others regarding his beliefs and deeds.

3. Desires of the Self

Another impediment to knowing is “desires of the self”; because the human self, due to his instincts, has likes and dislikes that do not necessarily correspond to reality and influence his understating of it; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ ۖ وَعَسَى أَنْ تُحِبُّوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ﴾[2]; “And perhaps you dislike something and it is good for you, and perhaps you like something and it is evil for you. And Allah knows, and you do not know.” These likes and dislikes, which originate from human emotions and are not in accordance with his intellect, create optimism and pessimism in his mind that prevent his intellect from seeing reality; because his intellect, fenced in by his likes and dislikes,