as Allah Almighty has said about them: ﴿وَكَانُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ يَسْتَفْتِحُونَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ مَا عَرَفُوا كَفَرُوا بِهِ ۚ فَلَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ﴾[1]; “And before, they used to seek victory over those who disbelieved. But when that which they recognized came to them, they denied it; so may the curse of Allah be upon disbelievers,” or they expected that every Prophet would bring them a sacrifice that fire would consume, and when a Prophet did not bring it, they denied him; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَهِدَ إِلَيْنَا أَلَّا نُؤْمِنَ لِرَسُولٍ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَنَا بِقُرْبَانٍ تَأْكُلُهُ النَّارُ﴾[2]; “Those who said: ‘Allah has made a covenant with us that we should not believe in any Prophet until he brings us a sacrifice that fire will consume.’” However, these expectations of theirs were not based on the intellect and merely originated from their wishes; as Allah Almighty has said: ﴿تِلْكَ أَمَانِيُّهُمْ ۗ قُلْ هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ﴾[3]; “That is their wishes. Say: ‘Bring your proof if you are truthful.’” In this way, preconceptions arising from desires of the self establish conditions for knowing the truth, while in reality, knowing the truth is not conditional on them. Moreover, by stirring up prejudgments, they remove the opportunity to know the truth and leave no room for the intellect to examine it; like a judge who rejects a plaintiff’s claim before listening to his reasons because he does not like him to be truthful or, based on his preconceptions, he cannot be truthful; or he accepts the plaintiff’s claim before listening to his reasons because he likes him to be truthful or, based on his preconceptions, he cannot be a liar. Similarly, many Muslims like some individuals and therefore consider everything they say or do to be right, and they dislike some individuals and therefore assume everything they say or do to be wrong, whereas Allah Almighty has said: ﴿وَلَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شَنَآنُ قَوْمٍ عَلَى أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا ۚ اعْدِلُوا هُوَ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى﴾[4]; “And the hatred of a people shall not lead you not to practice justice. Practice justice; that is nearer to piety.” It is clear that this prejudgment is one of the greatest impediments to knowing and one of the most important causes of denying the truth;