[The Necessity of Abandoning Preconceptions]

Moreover, human satisfactions and dissatisfactions create expectations of the truth in his mind, making it difficult for him to know it; because these mental expectations, referred to as “preconceptions,” expect the truth in accordance with human likes before it is known and consider it falsehood whenever it appears contrary to these likes. An example of these preconceptions was the preconception of polytheists, who expected that the Prophet would neither eat nor walk in the marketplace and would have an angel accompanying him, and when the Prophet appeared contrary to their expectation, they denied him; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَقَالُوا مَالِ هَذَا الرَّسُولِ يَأْكُلُ الطَّعَامَ وَيَمْشِي فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ ۙ لَوْلَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مَلَكٌ فَيَكُونَ مَعَهُ نَذِيرًا﴾[1]; “And they said: ‘What is the matter with this Prophet that he eats and walks in the marketplace?! Why was no angel sent down to him to be a warner with him?!’” Or they expected that Allah Himself would speak to them or that a sign in accordance with their desires would come, and when this expectation of theirs was not fulfilled, they became disbelievers; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ لَوْلَا يُكَلِّمُنَا اللَّهُ أَوْ تَأْتِينَا آيَةٌ ۗ كَذَلِكَ قَالَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِثْلَ قَوْلِهِمْ ۘ تَشَابَهَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۗ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ﴾[2]; “And those who do not know say: ‘Why does Allah Himself not speak to us, or why does a sign not come to us?!’ Those who were before them said something similar; their hearts are alike! We have made the signs clear for a people who are certain,” or they expected that each of them would be given what was given to the Prophet, and when it was not given to them, they disbelieved in the Prophet; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿بَلْ يُرِيدُ كُلُّ امْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ أَنْ يُؤْتَى صُحُفًا مُنَشَّرَةً﴾[3]; “Rather, each of them wants to be given separate letters,” and: ﴿قَالُوا لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ حَتَّى نُؤْتَى مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِيَ رُسُلُ اللَّهِ﴾[4]; “They said: ‘We will not believe until what was given to the Prophets of Allah is also given to us.’” However, these expectations of theirs were not based on the intellect and merely originated from their likes. Another example of these preconceptions was the preconception of Jews, who expected that the last Prophet would be from the descendants of Ishaq. Then, when they found him to be from the descendants of Isma‘il, they denied him;