In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate
"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"
Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
"I see Dead People in my Dreams ..."
- Ruling on Scary Dreams
compiled from islam-qa by Adil Khan
Dreams and dream interpretation
True dreams are a part of Prophethood,
as it was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “True dreams are one of the forty-six parts of Prophethood.”
(al-Bukhaari, 6472; Muslim, 4201)
Dreams marked the onset of Revelation
(al-Bukhaari, 3; Muslim, 231)
The truthfulness of the dream is related to the sincerity of the dreamer. Those who have the most truthful dreams are those who are the most truthful in speech.
(Muslim, 4200)
Towards the end of time, hardly any dreams will be untrue.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “That will be because the Prophethood and its effects will be so far away in time, so the believers will be given some compensation in the form of dreams which will bring them some good news or will help them to be patient and steadfast in their faith.”
(al-Bukhaari, 6499; Muslim, 4200)
Dreams are of three types:
Rahmaani (those that come from Allaah),
Nafsaani (psychological, they come from within a person)
Shaytaani (those that come from the Shaytaan).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Dreams are of three types: a dream from Allaah, a dream which causes distress and which comes from the Shaytaan, and a dream which comes from what a person thinks about when he is awake, and he sees it when he is asleep.”
(al-Bukhaari, 6499; Muslim, 4200)
The dreams of the Prophets are wahy (revelation) for they are protected from the Shaytaan. The Ummah is agreed upon this. This is why Ibraaheem set out to fulfil the command of Allaah to sacrifice his son Ismaa’eel when he saw that in a dream; may peace be upon them both.
The dreams of people other than the Prophets are to be examined in the light of the clear Wahy [i.e., the Qur’aan and Sunnah]. If they are in accordance with the Qur’aan and Sunnah, all well and good; otherwise, they should not be acted upon. This is a very serious matter indeed, for many of the innovators among the Sufis and others have gone astray because of this.
Whoever wants to have true dreams should strive to speak honestly, eat halaal food, adhere to the commandments of sharee’ah, avoid that which Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have forbidden, sleep in a state of complete purity facing the Qiblah, and remember Allaah until he feels his eyelids drooping. If he does all this, then his dreams can hardly be untrue.
The most truthful of dreams are those that are seen at the time of suhoor [just before dawn], for this is the time when Allaah descends and when mercy and forgiveness are close. It is also the time when the devils are quiet, unlike the time of darkness just after sunset, when the devils and devilish souls spread out.
(See Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/50-52)
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said:
All dreams are either of two types:
True dreams. These are the dreams of the Prophets and of the righteous people who follow them. They may also happen to other people, but this is very rare, such as the dream of the kaafir king which was interpreted for him by Yoosuf (peace be upon him). True dreams are those which come true in real life as they were seen in the dream.
Mixed up false dreams, which warn of something. These are of different types:
games of the Shaytaan to make a person distressed, such as when he sees his head cut off and he is following it, or he sees himself falling into a crisis and cannot find anyone to save him from it, and so on.
When he sees some of the angels telling him to do something forbidden, or other things that cannot possibly make sense.
When he sees something that happens to him in real life, or he wishes it would happen, and he sees it very realistically in his dream; or he see what usually happens to him when he is awake or what reflects his mood. These dreams usually speak of the future or the present, rarely of the past.
See: Fath al-Baari, 12/352-354
Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he likes, this is from Allaah, so let him praise Allaah for it and talk about it to others. If he sees other than that, a dream that he dislikes, this is from the Shaytaan, so let him seek refuge with Allaah from its evil and not mention it to anyone, for it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6584, and Muslim, 5862).
Abu Qutaadah said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Good dreams come from Allaah, and (bad) dreams come from Shaytaan. Whoever sees something that he dislikes, let him spit to his left three times and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan, for it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6594, and Muslim, 5862).
The “spitting” referred to here is a soft, dry spitting with no saliva ejected.
It was reported from Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him spit to his left three times, and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan three times, and turn over from the side on which he was sleeping.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 5864)
Ibn Hajar said: to sum up what has been said about good dreams, we may say three things:
A person should praise Allaah for the good dream
He should feel happy about it
He should talk about it to those whom he loves but not to those whom he dislikes.
To sum up what has been said about bad dreams, we may say four things:
He should seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of the dream
He should seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of the Shaytaan
He should spit to his left three times when he wakes up
He should not mention it to anyone at all.
In al-Bukhaari, Baab al-Qayd fi’l-Manaam, a fifth thing was narrated from Abu Hurayrah, which is to pray. The wording of the report is: whoever sees something he dislikes (in a dream) should not tell anyone about it; rather he should get up and pray.
This was reported as a Mawsool report by Imaam Muslim in his Saheeh.
Muslim added a sixth thing, which is to turn over from the side on which one was lying.
In conclusion, there are six things to do, the four mentioned above, plus praying two rak’ahs, for example, and turning over from the side on which one was lying to lie on one’s back, for example.
See Fath al-Baari, 12/370.
According to a hadeeth narrated from Abu Razeen by al-Tirmidhi, he should not tell anybody about it except a very close friend who loves him very much, or who is very wise.
According to another report, he should not talk about it except to one who is wise or one who is dear to him.
According to another report, he should not tell of his dream except to a scholar or one who will give sincere advice.
Al-Qaadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi said: as for the scholar, he will interpret it in a good way for him as much as he can, and the one who will give him sincere advice will teach him something that will be of benefit to him and will help him to do that. The one who is wise is the one who knows how to interpret it and will tell him only that which will help him, otherwise he will keep quiet. The one who is dear, if he knows something good he will say it, and if he does not know or he is in doubt, he will keep quiet.
See Fath al-Baari, 12/369
Imaam al-Baghawi said:
Know that the interpretation of dreams falls into various categories. Dreams may be interpreted in the light of the Qur’aan or in the light of the Sunnah, or by means of the proverbs that are current among people, or by names and metaphors, or in terms of opposites.
(Sharh al-Sunnah, 12/220)
He gave examples of this, such as:
Interpretation in the light of the Qur’aan: such as a rope meaning a covenant, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allaah…”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:103]
Interpretation in the light of the Sunnah: such as the crow representing an immoral man (faasiq), because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) called it such.
Interpretation by means of proverbs: such a digging a hole meaning a plot, because people say “Whoever digs a hole will fall in it.”
Interpretation by means of names: such as seeing a man called Raashid meaning wisdom.
Interpretation by means of opposites: such as fear meaning safety, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear”
[al-Noor 24:55]
Ways of protecting oneself from nightmares and disturbing dreams
1. Dreams that disturb a person and keep him awake come from the Shaytaan. In general, the dreams that people see are either good dreams which come from Allaah, a reflection of things which a person is thinking about, or a third type, which are dreams that come from the Shaytaan.
It was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Towards the end of time, hardly any dreams that the Muslim sees will not come true. The one whose dreams are the most truthful will be the one whose speech is the most honest. The dreams of the Muslim form one of the forty-five parts of Prophecy. Dreams are of three types: the good dream which is good news from Allaah; dreams which cause distress, which come from the Shaytaan; and dreams concerning matters which a person is thinking about…”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2263)
2. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us how to rid ourselves of the influence of Shaytaan during sleep. This can be achieved by reciting verses from the Quraan and dua narrated from him, before going to sleep.
It was reported that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) put me in charge of guarding the zakaah of Ramadaan. Someone came and started to scatter the food. I took hold of him and said, ‘I will take you to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).’… He said, ‘When you go to bed, recite Aayat al-Kursi and you will be protected by Allaah, and no shaytaan (devil) will come near you until morning.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘He told you the truth even though he is a liar. That was a shaytaan.’”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3101)
[learn more about Ayatul Kursi from http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/LoveIslam_ LiveIslam/ message/3 ]
(b) It was reported that Abu Mas’ood al-Badri (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘The last two aayahs of Soorat al-Baqarah – whoever recites them at night, they will be sufficient for him.’”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3786; Muslim, 807).
Al-Nawawi said: “Concerning the phrase, ‘The last two aayahs of Soorat al-Baqarah – whoever recites them at night, they will be sufficient for him’, it was said that it means, they will be sufficient for him instead of praying qiyaam al-layl, or as protection from Shaytaan, or as protection from vermin. It could mean all of these things.”
(Sharh Muslim, 6/91, 92).
(c) It was reported that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: “When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went to his bed, he would blow into his hands and recite Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad (Soorah 112) and the Miwadhatayn (Soorahs 113 and 114). Then he would wipe his hands over his face and his body, as far as they could reach.” ‘Aa’ishah said: “When he fell ill, He would ask me to do that for him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5416; Muslim, 2192)
(d) It was reported that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to tell us, when any one of us wanted to sleep, to lie on his right side, then say ‘Allaahumma Rabb al-samaawaati wa Rabb al-ard wa Rabb al-‘Arsh il-‘Azeem, Rabbana wa Rabba kulli shay’in, faaliq al-habb wa’l-nawa wa munazzil al-Tawraata wa’l-Injeeli wa’l-Furaan, a’oodhu bika min sharri kulli shay’in anta aakhidhun bi naasiyatihi. Allaahumma anta al-awwal fa laysa qablaka shay’un, wa anta al-aakhir fa laysa ba’daka shay’un. Wa anta al-zaahir fa laysa fawqaka shay’un wa anta al-baatin fa laysa doonaka shay’un. Iqdi ‘annaa al-dayna wa aghninaa min al-faqr
(O Allaah, Lord of the heavens and the earth, and Lord of the Mighty Throne, our Lord and Lord of all things, Splitter of the seed and the date stone, Revealer of the Tawraat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel) and the Furqaan (Qur’aan), I seek refuge in You from the evil of all things that You will seize by the forelock [i.e., have full control over them]. O Allaah, You are the First and there is nothing before You; You are the Last and there is nothing after You. You are the Manifest (al-Zaahir) and there is nothing above You; You are the Hidden (al-Baatin) and there is nothing beyond You. Settle our debt and spare us from poverty).’”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2713)
(e) It was reported that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “Abu Bakr said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, teach me something that I can say in the morning and in the evening.’
He said: ‘Say, Allaahumma ‘Aalim al-ghaybi wa’l-shahaadah, Faatir al-samawaati wa’l-ard, Rabba kulli shay’in wa maleekahu, ashhadu an laa ilaaha illa anta. A’oodhi bika min sharri nafsi wa min sharr il-shaytaan wa shirkih
(O Allaah, Knower of the seen and the unseen, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Lord and Sovereign of all things, I bear witness that there is no god except You. I seek refuge in You from the evil of my own self and from the evil and shirk of the Shaytaan).
Say this in the morning and in the evening, and when you go to bed.’”
(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3392; Abu Dawood, 5067).
3. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also taught us what to do when someone sees something unpleasant in a dream and wakes up as a result.
That is: to spit drily to the left, to seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan, to change the side on which one was sleeping, and to pray if one wishes.
(a) It was reported that Abu Qutaadah said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams come from the Shaytaan. If any one of you sees a bad dream which makes him afraid, let him spit drily to his left and seek refuge with Allaah from its evil, then it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3118; Muslim, 2261)
(b) It was reported from Jaabir that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him spit drily to his left three time, and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan three times, and change the side on which he was sleeping.”
(narrated by Muslim, 2262).
(c) It was reported that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘If any one of you sees something that he dislikes (in a dream), let him get up and pray, and not tell people about it.’”
(narrated by Muslim, 2263)
If the Muslim follows this advice given by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), before he goes to bed, it is hoped that no shaytaan will come anywhere near him, and if he follows this advice when he wakes up from a bad dream, it will take away all anxiety and distress from him.
http://www.islam- qa.com/index. php?ref=9577&ln=eng&txt=dream
He dreams about a dead relative chasing him
These dreams and other unpleasant dreams come from the Shaytaan. What is prescribed for the Muslim if he sees a dream that he does not like is to spit drily to his left three times, and to seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan and from the evil of what he has seen (three times), then to turn over onto his other side. Then the dream will not harm him. He should not tell anyone about it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, according to a saheeh hadeeth, “Good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams come from the Shaytaan. If anyone of you sees something that he dislikes in a dream, let him spit drily to his left three times, and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan and from the evil of what he has seen three times, then let him turn over onto his other side. Then it will not harm him. He should not tell anyone of what he has seen. But if he sees (a dream) that he likes, let him praise Allaah and tell others whom he loves about it.”
http://www.islam- qa.com/index. php?ref=9771&ln=eng&txt=dream
She sees disturbing dreams
These and similar unpleasant dreams come from the Shaytaan. What is prescribed for the Muslim, if he sees a dream that he dislikes, is to spit drily to his left three times and to seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan and from the evil of what he has seen, three times, and he should turn over onto his other side. Then it (his dream) will not harm him. And he should not tell anyone about it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The good dream comes from Allaah and the bad dream comes from the Shaytaan. So if any one of you sees a bad dream which frightens him, let him spit drily to his left and seek refuge with Allaah from its evil, then it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, Bad’ al-Khalq, 3049).
http://www.islam- qa.com/index. php?ref=11731&ln=eng&txt=dream
Dreams
Note that the things people see in their sleep may come under one of two categories :
1 – Dreams/visions
2 – Confused dreams
Confused dreams in turn are divided into two categories:
1 – The Shaytaan’s attempts to frighten
2 – The workings of the subconscious.
So it may be said that what people see in their dreams may be divided into three categories:
1- Visions or dreams that come from Allaah.
2- Attempts by the Shaytaan to frighten us
3- The workings of the subconscious.
These categories are indicated by the hadeeth narrated in Saheeh Muslim (no. 2263) from Abu Hurayrah, which says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When the time (of the Day of Resurrection) draws near, a believer's dream will hardly be false. And the truest vision will be of one who is himself the most truthful in speech, for the vision of a Muslim is the forty-fifth part of Prophecy, and dreams are of three types:
the good dream which is glad tidings from Allah;
the bad dream which causes distress, which is from the Shaytaan;
and the dream which represents what a person is thinking about.
So if any one of you sees a dream which he does not like he should get up and pray, and not tell people about his dream…”
It was narrated from ‘Awf ibn Maalik that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Dreams are of three types: some are terrifying things from the Shaytaan, aimed at causing grief to the son of Adam; some are things that a person is concerned with when he is awake, so he sees them in his dreams; and some are a part of the forty-six parts of Prophecy.”
(Saheeh Sunan Ibn Maajah, 3155)
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Dreams are of three types: glad tidings from Allaah, what is on a person’s mind, and frightening dreams from the Shaytaan. If any of you sees a dream that he likes, let him tell others of it if he wishes, but if he sees something that he dislikes, he should not tell anyone about it, and he should get up and pray.”
(Saheeh Sunan Ibn Maajah, 3154)
There follow a number of saheeh ahaadeeth which describe how to deal with what one sees in one’s dream.
1 – It was narrated that Abu Qutaadah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams come from the Shaytaan. If anyone sees a bad dream that scares him, let him spit drily to his left and seek refuge with Allaah from its evil, then it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3292)
2 – It was narrated that Abu Salamah said: I used to see such terrible dreams that that I began to shake and have a fever, but did not cover myself with a cloak until I met Abu Qutaadah, and I mentioned that to him. He said, “I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, ‘Good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams come from the Shaytaan. If anyone sees a bad dream that he dislikes, let him spit drily to his left three times and seek refuge with Allaah from its evil, then it will not harm him.’”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2261)
3 – It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him turn over, and spit drily to his left three times and ask Allaah of His goodness, and seek refuge with Him from its evil.”
(Saheeh Sunan Ibn Maajah).
4 – It was narrated from Jaabir that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him spit drily to his left three times and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan three times, and turn over onto his other side.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2262).
5 – The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us the difference between good dreams and bad dreams. It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “If any one of you sees a dream that he likes, it is from Allaah, so let him praise Allaah for it and tell people about it. But if he sees something other than that, that he dislikes, it is from the Shaytaan, so let him seek refuge with Allaah from its evil and not mention it to anyone, for it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 7045).
So it is clear that good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams which a person dislikes come from the Shaytaan, so he has to seek refuge with Allaah from their evil.
6 – It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees something that he dislikes, let him get up and pray, and not tell people about it.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2263).
7 – It was narrated from Jaabir that a Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “I dreamt that my head was cut off and I was chasing it.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) rebuked him and said: “Do not tell anyone how the Shaytaan is messing about with you in your dreams.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2268)
Conclusion
So we may sum up from these ahaadeeth the most important points about what a person should do if he sees a dream that he dislikes, as follows:
1- He should know that this dream is from the Shaytaan who wants to cause him grief, so he should annoy the Shaytaan by not paying any attention to him.
2- He should seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan.
3- He should seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of this dream.
4- He should spit drily to his left three times, i.e., blowing with a little bit of saliva.
5- He should not tell anyone about it.
6- He should turn over from the side on which he was sleeping, so if he was lying on his left side he should turn over to his right side, and vice versa.
7- He should get up and pray.
If a person adheres to this etiquette, then we hope that this bad dream will not harm him, as it says in the texts
"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"
Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah
As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu
"I see Dead People in my Dreams ..."
- Ruling on Scary Dreams
compiled from islam-qa by Adil Khan
Dreams and dream interpretation
True dreams are a part of Prophethood,
as it was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “True dreams are one of the forty-six parts of Prophethood.”
(al-Bukhaari, 6472; Muslim, 4201)
Dreams marked the onset of Revelation
(al-Bukhaari, 3; Muslim, 231)
The truthfulness of the dream is related to the sincerity of the dreamer. Those who have the most truthful dreams are those who are the most truthful in speech.
(Muslim, 4200)
Towards the end of time, hardly any dreams will be untrue.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “That will be because the Prophethood and its effects will be so far away in time, so the believers will be given some compensation in the form of dreams which will bring them some good news or will help them to be patient and steadfast in their faith.”
(al-Bukhaari, 6499; Muslim, 4200)
Dreams are of three types:
Rahmaani (those that come from Allaah),
Nafsaani (psychological, they come from within a person)
Shaytaani (those that come from the Shaytaan).
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Dreams are of three types: a dream from Allaah, a dream which causes distress and which comes from the Shaytaan, and a dream which comes from what a person thinks about when he is awake, and he sees it when he is asleep.”
(al-Bukhaari, 6499; Muslim, 4200)
The dreams of the Prophets are wahy (revelation) for they are protected from the Shaytaan. The Ummah is agreed upon this. This is why Ibraaheem set out to fulfil the command of Allaah to sacrifice his son Ismaa’eel when he saw that in a dream; may peace be upon them both.
The dreams of people other than the Prophets are to be examined in the light of the clear Wahy [i.e., the Qur’aan and Sunnah]. If they are in accordance with the Qur’aan and Sunnah, all well and good; otherwise, they should not be acted upon. This is a very serious matter indeed, for many of the innovators among the Sufis and others have gone astray because of this.
Whoever wants to have true dreams should strive to speak honestly, eat halaal food, adhere to the commandments of sharee’ah, avoid that which Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) have forbidden, sleep in a state of complete purity facing the Qiblah, and remember Allaah until he feels his eyelids drooping. If he does all this, then his dreams can hardly be untrue.
The most truthful of dreams are those that are seen at the time of suhoor [just before dawn], for this is the time when Allaah descends and when mercy and forgiveness are close. It is also the time when the devils are quiet, unlike the time of darkness just after sunset, when the devils and devilish souls spread out.
(See Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/50-52)
Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar said:
All dreams are either of two types:
True dreams. These are the dreams of the Prophets and of the righteous people who follow them. They may also happen to other people, but this is very rare, such as the dream of the kaafir king which was interpreted for him by Yoosuf (peace be upon him). True dreams are those which come true in real life as they were seen in the dream.
Mixed up false dreams, which warn of something. These are of different types:
games of the Shaytaan to make a person distressed, such as when he sees his head cut off and he is following it, or he sees himself falling into a crisis and cannot find anyone to save him from it, and so on.
When he sees some of the angels telling him to do something forbidden, or other things that cannot possibly make sense.
When he sees something that happens to him in real life, or he wishes it would happen, and he sees it very realistically in his dream; or he see what usually happens to him when he is awake or what reflects his mood. These dreams usually speak of the future or the present, rarely of the past.
See: Fath al-Baari, 12/352-354
Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he likes, this is from Allaah, so let him praise Allaah for it and talk about it to others. If he sees other than that, a dream that he dislikes, this is from the Shaytaan, so let him seek refuge with Allaah from its evil and not mention it to anyone, for it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6584, and Muslim, 5862).
Abu Qutaadah said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Good dreams come from Allaah, and (bad) dreams come from Shaytaan. Whoever sees something that he dislikes, let him spit to his left three times and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan, for it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6594, and Muslim, 5862).
The “spitting” referred to here is a soft, dry spitting with no saliva ejected.
It was reported from Jaabir (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him spit to his left three times, and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan three times, and turn over from the side on which he was sleeping.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 5864)
Ibn Hajar said: to sum up what has been said about good dreams, we may say three things:
A person should praise Allaah for the good dream
He should feel happy about it
He should talk about it to those whom he loves but not to those whom he dislikes.
To sum up what has been said about bad dreams, we may say four things:
He should seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of the dream
He should seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of the Shaytaan
He should spit to his left three times when he wakes up
He should not mention it to anyone at all.
In al-Bukhaari, Baab al-Qayd fi’l-Manaam, a fifth thing was narrated from Abu Hurayrah, which is to pray. The wording of the report is: whoever sees something he dislikes (in a dream) should not tell anyone about it; rather he should get up and pray.
This was reported as a Mawsool report by Imaam Muslim in his Saheeh.
Muslim added a sixth thing, which is to turn over from the side on which one was lying.
In conclusion, there are six things to do, the four mentioned above, plus praying two rak’ahs, for example, and turning over from the side on which one was lying to lie on one’s back, for example.
See Fath al-Baari, 12/370.
According to a hadeeth narrated from Abu Razeen by al-Tirmidhi, he should not tell anybody about it except a very close friend who loves him very much, or who is very wise.
According to another report, he should not talk about it except to one who is wise or one who is dear to him.
According to another report, he should not tell of his dream except to a scholar or one who will give sincere advice.
Al-Qaadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi said: as for the scholar, he will interpret it in a good way for him as much as he can, and the one who will give him sincere advice will teach him something that will be of benefit to him and will help him to do that. The one who is wise is the one who knows how to interpret it and will tell him only that which will help him, otherwise he will keep quiet. The one who is dear, if he knows something good he will say it, and if he does not know or he is in doubt, he will keep quiet.
See Fath al-Baari, 12/369
Imaam al-Baghawi said:
Know that the interpretation of dreams falls into various categories. Dreams may be interpreted in the light of the Qur’aan or in the light of the Sunnah, or by means of the proverbs that are current among people, or by names and metaphors, or in terms of opposites.
(Sharh al-Sunnah, 12/220)
He gave examples of this, such as:
Interpretation in the light of the Qur’aan: such as a rope meaning a covenant, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allaah…”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:103]
Interpretation in the light of the Sunnah: such as the crow representing an immoral man (faasiq), because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) called it such.
Interpretation by means of proverbs: such a digging a hole meaning a plot, because people say “Whoever digs a hole will fall in it.”
Interpretation by means of names: such as seeing a man called Raashid meaning wisdom.
Interpretation by means of opposites: such as fear meaning safety, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear”
[al-Noor 24:55]
Ways of protecting oneself from nightmares and disturbing dreams
1. Dreams that disturb a person and keep him awake come from the Shaytaan. In general, the dreams that people see are either good dreams which come from Allaah, a reflection of things which a person is thinking about, or a third type, which are dreams that come from the Shaytaan.
It was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Towards the end of time, hardly any dreams that the Muslim sees will not come true. The one whose dreams are the most truthful will be the one whose speech is the most honest. The dreams of the Muslim form one of the forty-five parts of Prophecy. Dreams are of three types: the good dream which is good news from Allaah; dreams which cause distress, which come from the Shaytaan; and dreams concerning matters which a person is thinking about…”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2263)
2. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us how to rid ourselves of the influence of Shaytaan during sleep. This can be achieved by reciting verses from the Quraan and dua narrated from him, before going to sleep.
It was reported that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) put me in charge of guarding the zakaah of Ramadaan. Someone came and started to scatter the food. I took hold of him and said, ‘I will take you to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).’… He said, ‘When you go to bed, recite Aayat al-Kursi and you will be protected by Allaah, and no shaytaan (devil) will come near you until morning.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘He told you the truth even though he is a liar. That was a shaytaan.’”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3101)
[learn more about Ayatul Kursi from http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/LoveIslam_ LiveIslam/ message/3 ]
(b) It was reported that Abu Mas’ood al-Badri (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘The last two aayahs of Soorat al-Baqarah – whoever recites them at night, they will be sufficient for him.’”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3786; Muslim, 807).
Al-Nawawi said: “Concerning the phrase, ‘The last two aayahs of Soorat al-Baqarah – whoever recites them at night, they will be sufficient for him’, it was said that it means, they will be sufficient for him instead of praying qiyaam al-layl, or as protection from Shaytaan, or as protection from vermin. It could mean all of these things.”
(Sharh Muslim, 6/91, 92).
(c) It was reported that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: “When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went to his bed, he would blow into his hands and recite Qul Huwa Allaahu Ahad (Soorah 112) and the Miwadhatayn (Soorahs 113 and 114). Then he would wipe his hands over his face and his body, as far as they could reach.” ‘Aa’ishah said: “When he fell ill, He would ask me to do that for him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5416; Muslim, 2192)
(d) It was reported that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to tell us, when any one of us wanted to sleep, to lie on his right side, then say ‘Allaahumma Rabb al-samaawaati wa Rabb al-ard wa Rabb al-‘Arsh il-‘Azeem, Rabbana wa Rabba kulli shay’in, faaliq al-habb wa’l-nawa wa munazzil al-Tawraata wa’l-Injeeli wa’l-Furaan, a’oodhu bika min sharri kulli shay’in anta aakhidhun bi naasiyatihi. Allaahumma anta al-awwal fa laysa qablaka shay’un, wa anta al-aakhir fa laysa ba’daka shay’un. Wa anta al-zaahir fa laysa fawqaka shay’un wa anta al-baatin fa laysa doonaka shay’un. Iqdi ‘annaa al-dayna wa aghninaa min al-faqr
(O Allaah, Lord of the heavens and the earth, and Lord of the Mighty Throne, our Lord and Lord of all things, Splitter of the seed and the date stone, Revealer of the Tawraat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel) and the Furqaan (Qur’aan), I seek refuge in You from the evil of all things that You will seize by the forelock [i.e., have full control over them]. O Allaah, You are the First and there is nothing before You; You are the Last and there is nothing after You. You are the Manifest (al-Zaahir) and there is nothing above You; You are the Hidden (al-Baatin) and there is nothing beyond You. Settle our debt and spare us from poverty).’”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2713)
(e) It was reported that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “Abu Bakr said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, teach me something that I can say in the morning and in the evening.’
He said: ‘Say, Allaahumma ‘Aalim al-ghaybi wa’l-shahaadah, Faatir al-samawaati wa’l-ard, Rabba kulli shay’in wa maleekahu, ashhadu an laa ilaaha illa anta. A’oodhi bika min sharri nafsi wa min sharr il-shaytaan wa shirkih
(O Allaah, Knower of the seen and the unseen, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Lord and Sovereign of all things, I bear witness that there is no god except You. I seek refuge in You from the evil of my own self and from the evil and shirk of the Shaytaan).
Say this in the morning and in the evening, and when you go to bed.’”
(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3392; Abu Dawood, 5067).
3. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also taught us what to do when someone sees something unpleasant in a dream and wakes up as a result.
That is: to spit drily to the left, to seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan, to change the side on which one was sleeping, and to pray if one wishes.
(a) It was reported that Abu Qutaadah said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams come from the Shaytaan. If any one of you sees a bad dream which makes him afraid, let him spit drily to his left and seek refuge with Allaah from its evil, then it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3118; Muslim, 2261)
(b) It was reported from Jaabir that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him spit drily to his left three time, and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan three times, and change the side on which he was sleeping.”
(narrated by Muslim, 2262).
(c) It was reported that Abu Hurayrah said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘If any one of you sees something that he dislikes (in a dream), let him get up and pray, and not tell people about it.’”
(narrated by Muslim, 2263)
If the Muslim follows this advice given by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), before he goes to bed, it is hoped that no shaytaan will come anywhere near him, and if he follows this advice when he wakes up from a bad dream, it will take away all anxiety and distress from him.
http://www.islam- qa.com/index. php?ref=9577&ln=eng&txt=dream
He dreams about a dead relative chasing him
These dreams and other unpleasant dreams come from the Shaytaan. What is prescribed for the Muslim if he sees a dream that he does not like is to spit drily to his left three times, and to seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan and from the evil of what he has seen (three times), then to turn over onto his other side. Then the dream will not harm him. He should not tell anyone about it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, according to a saheeh hadeeth, “Good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams come from the Shaytaan. If anyone of you sees something that he dislikes in a dream, let him spit drily to his left three times, and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan and from the evil of what he has seen three times, then let him turn over onto his other side. Then it will not harm him. He should not tell anyone of what he has seen. But if he sees (a dream) that he likes, let him praise Allaah and tell others whom he loves about it.”
http://www.islam- qa.com/index. php?ref=9771&ln=eng&txt=dream
She sees disturbing dreams
These and similar unpleasant dreams come from the Shaytaan. What is prescribed for the Muslim, if he sees a dream that he dislikes, is to spit drily to his left three times and to seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan and from the evil of what he has seen, three times, and he should turn over onto his other side. Then it (his dream) will not harm him. And he should not tell anyone about it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The good dream comes from Allaah and the bad dream comes from the Shaytaan. So if any one of you sees a bad dream which frightens him, let him spit drily to his left and seek refuge with Allaah from its evil, then it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, Bad’ al-Khalq, 3049).
http://www.islam- qa.com/index. php?ref=11731&ln=eng&txt=dream
Dreams
Note that the things people see in their sleep may come under one of two categories :
1 – Dreams/visions
2 – Confused dreams
Confused dreams in turn are divided into two categories:
1 – The Shaytaan’s attempts to frighten
2 – The workings of the subconscious.
So it may be said that what people see in their dreams may be divided into three categories:
1- Visions or dreams that come from Allaah.
2- Attempts by the Shaytaan to frighten us
3- The workings of the subconscious.
These categories are indicated by the hadeeth narrated in Saheeh Muslim (no. 2263) from Abu Hurayrah, which says that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When the time (of the Day of Resurrection) draws near, a believer's dream will hardly be false. And the truest vision will be of one who is himself the most truthful in speech, for the vision of a Muslim is the forty-fifth part of Prophecy, and dreams are of three types:
the good dream which is glad tidings from Allah;
the bad dream which causes distress, which is from the Shaytaan;
and the dream which represents what a person is thinking about.
So if any one of you sees a dream which he does not like he should get up and pray, and not tell people about his dream…”
It was narrated from ‘Awf ibn Maalik that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Dreams are of three types: some are terrifying things from the Shaytaan, aimed at causing grief to the son of Adam; some are things that a person is concerned with when he is awake, so he sees them in his dreams; and some are a part of the forty-six parts of Prophecy.”
(Saheeh Sunan Ibn Maajah, 3155)
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Dreams are of three types: glad tidings from Allaah, what is on a person’s mind, and frightening dreams from the Shaytaan. If any of you sees a dream that he likes, let him tell others of it if he wishes, but if he sees something that he dislikes, he should not tell anyone about it, and he should get up and pray.”
(Saheeh Sunan Ibn Maajah, 3154)
There follow a number of saheeh ahaadeeth which describe how to deal with what one sees in one’s dream.
1 – It was narrated that Abu Qutaadah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams come from the Shaytaan. If anyone sees a bad dream that scares him, let him spit drily to his left and seek refuge with Allaah from its evil, then it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3292)
2 – It was narrated that Abu Salamah said: I used to see such terrible dreams that that I began to shake and have a fever, but did not cover myself with a cloak until I met Abu Qutaadah, and I mentioned that to him. He said, “I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, ‘Good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams come from the Shaytaan. If anyone sees a bad dream that he dislikes, let him spit drily to his left three times and seek refuge with Allaah from its evil, then it will not harm him.’”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2261)
3 – It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him turn over, and spit drily to his left three times and ask Allaah of His goodness, and seek refuge with Him from its evil.”
(Saheeh Sunan Ibn Maajah).
4 – It was narrated from Jaabir that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him spit drily to his left three times and seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan three times, and turn over onto his other side.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2262).
5 – The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told us the difference between good dreams and bad dreams. It was narrated from Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “If any one of you sees a dream that he likes, it is from Allaah, so let him praise Allaah for it and tell people about it. But if he sees something other than that, that he dislikes, it is from the Shaytaan, so let him seek refuge with Allaah from its evil and not mention it to anyone, for it will not harm him.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 7045).
So it is clear that good dreams come from Allaah and bad dreams which a person dislikes come from the Shaytaan, so he has to seek refuge with Allaah from their evil.
6 – It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees something that he dislikes, let him get up and pray, and not tell people about it.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2263).
7 – It was narrated from Jaabir that a Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “I dreamt that my head was cut off and I was chasing it.” The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) rebuked him and said: “Do not tell anyone how the Shaytaan is messing about with you in your dreams.”
(Narrated by Muslim, 2268)
Conclusion
So we may sum up from these ahaadeeth the most important points about what a person should do if he sees a dream that he dislikes, as follows:
1- He should know that this dream is from the Shaytaan who wants to cause him grief, so he should annoy the Shaytaan by not paying any attention to him.
2- He should seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan.
3- He should seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of this dream.
4- He should spit drily to his left three times, i.e., blowing with a little bit of saliva.
5- He should not tell anyone about it.
6- He should turn over from the side on which he was sleeping, so if he was lying on his left side he should turn over to his right side, and vice versa.
7- He should get up and pray.
If a person adheres to this etiquette, then we hope that this bad dream will not harm him, as it says in the texts