Dreams and Dream Interpretation

Praise be to Allaah.

Important Note: Some of the information below are duplicate in various subject headings, but please do not neglect to read it thru as they all contain various useful information.

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)

The same may be said of the miracles which appeared after the time of the Sahaabah. This did not happen during their time because they did not need them, due to their strong faith, but the people who came after them needed them (the miracles) because their faith was weak.

Dreams are of three types: rahmaani (those that come from Allaah), nafsaani (psychological, they come from within a person) and 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]

As for the book “Interpretation of Dreams” that is attributed to Ibn Seereen, many researchers doubt that it can be attributed to him at all, so we should be certain that this book was written by this prominent scholar.

Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

 

Dreams

Praise be to Allaah.  

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) 

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. And Allaah knows best.

 

Different types of dreams; is there any kind of warning dream?

Praise be to Allaah.

We ask Allaah to protect us and you from all bad and evil things and to divert from us and from you the plots of the devils among mankind and the jinn, for He is the best of protectors and the Most merciful of those who show mercy.

With regard to what the sleeper sees in his sleep, it falls into three categories: good dreams which come from Allaah; bad dreams which come from the shaytaan; and what a person is thinking about.  

Good dreams are those in which the sleeper sees good things; they come from Allaah. They may be meant as good news, or warning against evil, or helping and guiding. It is Sunnah to praise Allaah for them and to tell one’s loved ones, but not others, about them. 

Bad dreams are those in which the sleeper sees bad things; they come from the shaytaan. It is Sunnah to seek refuge with Allaah from them and to spit to the left three times, and not to talk about them, but if a person does that it will not harm him. It is also mustahabb to turn onto one’s other side, and to pray two rak’ahs. 

It may be that what one sees is not a dream of either of these two types, rather it stems from what one is thinking about. This is called confused dreams and it stems from events and fears stored in the memory and subconscious, which are replayed during sleep. For example, a man who works in a certain profession and spends all day working in that field, and before he goes to sleep he thinks about it, so he may see things having to do with it in his dream; or one who thinks about someone whom he loves and sees things that have to do with that person. There is no interpretation for these things. 

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Towards the end of time, hardly any dream of a Muslim will be false. The ones who have the truest dreams will be those who are truest in speech. The dream of a Muslim is one of the forty-five parts of Prophethood. Dreams are of three types: a good dream which is glad tidings from Allaah, a dream from the Shaytaan which causes distress, and a dream that comes from what a man is thinking of to himself…” 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

The meaning of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “The dreams of the believer are one of the forty-six parts of Prophethood” is that the dreams of the believer come true, because they are like parables that the angel gives to the one who sees them. They may tell of something that is happening or that is going to happen, so it happens in accordance with the dream, so these dreams are like the wahy of Prophethood in that they come true, yet they are different from it. Hence they are one of the forty-six parts of Prophethood.  

Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (1/327). 

The dreams of the believer are described in the ahaadeeth as “true” and “good” and “from Allaah”. What is meant by “true” is explained in the words of Ibn ‘Uthaymeen quoted above as meaning that they come true. What is meant by “good” is that they bring good news or draw attention to some mistakes that one is not aware of. What is meant by their being “from Allaah” is that they happen by His grace and mercy, or as a warning or glad tidings from Him, or as guidance from Him. 

Bad dreams are described as “causing grief” or being “from the shaytaan.” What is meant by “causing grief” is that they make one sad and cause distress. What is meant by them being “from the Shaytaan” is that they are instilled by him in an effort to cause fear or because of his toying with the sleeper. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

Alarm comes from the shaytaan. The shaytaan depicts to a person in his sleep things that alarm him with regard to himself, his wealth or his family, or in his community, because the shaytaan loves to make the believers sad, as Allaah says: 

“Secret counsels (conspiracies) are only from Shaytaan (Satan), in order that he may cause grief to the believers. But he cannot harm them in the least, except as Allaah permits” [al-Mujaadilah 58:10] 

Everything that causes distress to people and upsets them, the shaytaan is eager for it, whether it is when they are awake or asleep, because the shaytaan is an enemy as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Surely, Shaytaan (Satan) is an enemy to you, so take (treat) him as an enemy” [Faatir 35:6] 

Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (1/329). 

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught us what we should do if a person sees something in his dream that he dislikes and wakes up as a result. It is: spitting dryly to the left, seeking refuge with Allaah from the shaytaan, turning over, praying if one wants, and not telling people about it. 

We should point out an important matter, which is that if a person is righteous and strives to obey Allaah always, he will not be harmed if he sees or is seen (in a dream) in a situation that causes distress, but if he is an evildoer and sinner in his real life, then he will not benefit from seeing himself or being seen in the best state.  

Ibn Muflih said:  

Hishaam ibn Hassaan said: Ibn Sireen was asked about one hundred dreams and he did not give any answer except to say: Fear Allaah and do good whilst you are awake, and whatever you see in your sleep will not harm you. 

Al-Adaab al-Shar’iyyah (3/451). 

And he said: 

Al-Marwadhi said: I brought Ibraaheem al-Humaydi with me to meet Abu ‘Abd-Allaah, and he was a righteous man. He said: My mother saw [in a dream] that such and such happened to you, and she mentioned Paradise. He said: O my brother, the people used to say such things to Sahl ibn Salaamah, and Sahl rebelled and shed blood, and he said: Dreams may bring joy to the believer but they cannot deceive him.

Al-Adaab al-Shar’iyyah (3/453). 

Conclusion: 

There may be warnings in a dream to the person or to others, of some mistake that they are negligent about, or some sin that they are committing, or of a bad end if they continue as they are, following deviation or misguidance. This cannot be the bad dreams which come from the shaytaan’s plots and efforts to cause grief, rather they come from Allaah by His grace and mercy. So if a person sees something in his dream which indicates that he should alert and warn others, he should do so. The same applies if he sees something that warns and alerts him (i.e., he should pay heed). 

You can warn your relative about a possible plot or evil that is expected, without mentioning who may be behind this plot. If you are worried that something bad may happen, then you should take precautions, and nothing will harm you in sha Allaah, even if what you fear happens. But if what you feared did not happen, and the dream did not come true, no harm will befall you because you did not speak badly of anyone and did not transgress against anyone. 

And Allaah knows best.

 

Frightening dreams

You should note that the best way in which the Muslim can protect himself against the Shaytaan is to remember Allaah. According to the hadeeth narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2863), Allaah commanded Yahya ibn Zakariyya (peace be upon him) to tell the Children of Israel to do five things, including the following: 

“I command you to remember Allaah, for the likeness of that is that of a man who enemy comes after him, until he comes to a strong fortress where he protects himself from him. Similarly, a person cannot protect himself against the Shaytaan except by remembering Allaah.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmdihi. 

If the Muslim fears Allaah in all his affairs, and adheres to that which Allaah has commanded and avoids that which He has forbidden, and he constantly remembers Allaah, praying and fasting and other kinds of worship, and he fortifies himself by reading Qur’aan night and day, out loud and silently, and he regularly recites the wirds and dhikrs prescribed in Islam for the morning and evening, and when eating, drinking, getting dressed and going to sleep, then the Shaytaan will go away from him, blameworthy and defeated, and will have no power to do anything to him. How can it be otherwise when Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Those who believe, fight in the Cause of Allaah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Taaghoot (Satan).  So fight you against the friends of Shaytaan (Satan); ever feeble indeed is the plot of Shaytaan (Satan)” [al-Nisa’ 4:76]? 

The Shaytaan only comes close to those who are far away from their religion and Qur’aan. The Shaytaan may try to divert the righteous from the straight path, in order to ruin their lives and religious commitment and worldly interests. But protection may be sought against him in the manner described above. You can also refer to the books of dhikr such as al-Adhkaar by al-Nawawi; ‘Aml al-Yawm wa’l-Laylah by al-Nasaa’i; ‘Aml al-Yawm wa’l-Laylah by Ibn al-Sunni; and other books of dhikr that deal with this topic, or books of Sunan in general. If you do that we hope that your situation will improve and you will find peace of mind, and Allaah will change your situation to a better one. 

Among the dhikrs with which we advise you to recite regularly are the following: 

1 – Adhkaar for morning and evening.

(a)     Reciting every evening the words, “A’oodhu bi kalimaat Allaah il-taammah min sharri ma khalaqa (I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allaah from the evil of that which He has created).” 

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allaah, I am suffering because of a scorpion that stung me yesterday.” He said, “If you had said in the evening, A’oodhu bi kalimaat Allaah il-taammah min sharri ma khalaqa (I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allaah from the evil of that which He has created),’ it would not have harmed you. Narrated by Muslim. 

Indeed, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) encouraged us to say that in every place where we stop (when travelling). 

It was narrated that Khawlah bint Hakeem al-Salamiyyah said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “Whoever makes a stop in some place, then says, ‘A’oodhu bi kalimaat Allaah il-taammah min sharri ma khalaqa (I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allaah from the evil of that which He has created),’ nothing will harm him until he moves on from that place.” Narrated by Muslim, 2708. 

(b)    It was narrated that ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There is no person who says in the morning and evening of each day, ‘Bismillaah illaahi laa yadurru ma’a ismihi shay’un fi’l-ard wa la fi’l-sama’ wa huwa al-samee’ ul-‘aleem (In the name of Allaah with Whose name nothing is harmed on earth nor in heaven, and He is the All-Hearing, All-Knowing)’ three times, but nothing will harm him.”  

Narrated and classed as saheeh by al-Tirmidhi, 3388; also narrated by Ibn Maajah, 3869. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah. 

(c)    Reciting Aayat al-Kursiy and al-Mu’awwidhaat before going to sleep. 

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah 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 to me and started grabbing handfuls of 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, ‘I will teach you some words by means of which Allaah will benefit you.’ I said, ‘What are they?’ He said, ‘When you go to your bed, recite this aayah (interpretation of the meaning): “Allaah! Laa ilaaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), Al-Hayyul-Qayyoom (the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists)…” [al-Baqarah 2:255] – until he completed the aayah.

Then Allaah will appoint a guard for you who will stay with you and no shaytaan (devil) will come near you until morning.’ The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked me, ‘What did your prisoner do last night?’ I said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, he taught me something, and claimed that Allaah would benefit me by it.’ He said, ‘What was it?’ I said, ‘He taught me to recite Aayat al-Kursiy when I go to bed, and said that no shaytaan would come near me until morning, and that Allaah would appoint a guard for me who would stay with me.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘He told you the truth, although he is an inveterate liar. That was the Shaytaan.’”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3101; Muslim, 505. 

There are many such dhikrs; we do not have room to mention them all here.

Thirdly:

With regard to the hasad (envy) and the evil eye of which you speak, it may be that this harm has come to you through hasad. Protection against that is to be sought by reciting the dhikrs prescribed in sharee’ah.

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with them both) said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to seek refuge with Allaah for al-Hasan and al-Husayn. He said: ‘Your father [i.e., Ibraaheem] used to seek refuge with Allaah for Ismaa’eel and Ishaaq with these words: A’oodhu bi kalimaat Allaah al-taammah min kulli shaytaanin wa haammah wa min kulli ‘aynin laammah (I seek refuge in the perfect words of Allaah, from every devil and every poisonous reptile, and from every bad eye).’”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3191. 

With regard to the remedy:

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The evil eye is real, and if anything were to overtake the divine decree (al-qadar) it would be the evil eye. When you are asked to take a bath (to provide a cure) from the influence of the evil eye, you should take a bath”

Narrated by Muslim, 2188.

If you know that the evil eye has been put on you by a certain person, then you should ask him to do ghusl and wudoo’, then you should pour the water of his ghusl or wudoo’ over yourself. The way in which this should be done has been explained by Ibn al-Qayyim, who said:

In Sunan Abi Dawood it is narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The ‘aa’in (the one who put the evil eye on another) would be ordered to do wudoo’, then the ma’een (the one on whom he had put the evil eye) would do ghusl with that water. 

In al-Saheehayn it is narrated that ‘Aa’ishah said: “The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded me or he commanded us to recite ruqyah for protection against the evil eye.”

Al-Tirmidhi narrated from Sufyaan ibn ‘Uyayanah from ‘Amr ibn Dinaar from ‘Urwah ibn ‘Aamir from ‘Ubayd ibn Rafaa’ah al-Sarqi that Asma’ bint Umays said: “O Messenger of Allaah, the children of Ja’far have been afflicted by the evil eye, shall we recite ruqyah for them?” He said, “Yes, for if anything were to overtake the divine decree it would be the evil eye.” Al-Tirmidhi said: a saheeh hasan hadeeth.

Then he mentioned the hadeeth which described how ‘Aamir ibn Rabee’ah afflicted Sahl ibn Hunayf with his eye, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded ‘Aamir to do ghusl.

So he washed his face, hands, forearms, knees and the sides of his feet, and inside his izaar (lower garment) in the vessel. Then that water was poured over him, and a man poured it over his head and back from behind. He did that to him, then Sahl got up and joined the people.

Al-Tibb al-Nabawi, p. 127-129.

And Allaah knows best.

 

Ways of protecting oneself from nightmares and disturbing dreams

Praise be to Allaah.

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 Qur’aan and du’aa’s 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).

(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 Mi’wadhatayn (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.

And Allaah knows best.

Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

 

It is not possible to see the Prophet (SAW) (in a dream) in anything but his true form

Praise be to Allaah.

It should be noted that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever sees me in a dream has indeed seen me, for the Shaytaan cannot imitate me.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6994; Muslim, 2266 – this version narrated by Muslim. 

In their commentary on this hadeeth, the scholars said that this is to be understood as referring to seeing the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the physical form that is described in the saheeh ahaadeeth, for the Shaytaan cannot imitate the form of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). 

But if the Shaytaan comes in another form, whether one is asleep or awake, then lies and says, “I am the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),” then this is false and does not count as seeing the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). 

So you should know the physical attributes of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). These attributes have been mentioned in many ahaadeeth which describe his stature, his hands, his forearms, his mouth and teeth, his eyes and his hair – (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). 

There were many people who resembled the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). Those who most resembled him were al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him), and ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ja’far ibn Abi Taalib. So if you see the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the form that is narrated in the Sunnah, then you have truly seen him, but if you see him in a form that is other than that described in the Sunnah and the Seerah – such as if you see him clean-shaven, or missing a hand or foot – then there are two scholarly points of view in this case: 

1 – That this is indicative of a person’s shortcoming in religious commitment 

2 – The view that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah thought more likely to be correct, which is that this is a false image that comes from the Shaytaan, especially if one sees it whilst awake. That is definitely a false image, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is alive in al-Barzakh and no one can see him whilst he is awake and he cannot visit anyone or speak to him. 

What some people claim, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to them when they were awake, and spoke to them and told them about things, this undoubtedly comes from the shayaateen (devils) and the jinn, especially since that did not happen to the greatest Sahaabah such as Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthmaan, ‘Ali, al-Zubayr, Talhah, ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf, Sa’eed ibn Zayd, Abu ‘Ubaydah and Sa’d, or the people who had been present at Badr or had given their bay’ah (oath of allegiance) beneath the tree, and other great and Allaah-fearing Sahaabah.

If anyone claims that he saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) whilst he was awake, then undoubtedly the one who appeared to him was a devil or a jinn, and no ruling can be established from that. Something worse than that happened to Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qaadir al-Jilaani (may Allaah have mercy on him), when he saw someone sitting on a throne between heaven and earth, saying, “I am your Lord.” He said: “Be gone, enemy of Allaah, for you are Iblees.” He said: “How do you know that I am Iblees?” He said: “Because Allaah cannot be seen in this world until we die, and because you said, ‘I am your Lord’ but you did not dare to say, ‘I am Allaah.’”

So visions of this sort come from the Shaytaan. We should not be deceived by the stories that are narrated by some people who are thought to be righteous, such as stories about seeing the Prophets and sitting with them. We may believe that they sat with them but with whom were they sitting? They sat with the jinn and devils so that that may cause fitnah (tribulation).

But those whom Allaah protects by their following the Qur’aan and Sunnah and reciting dhikrs, Aayat al-Kursiy, al-Mi’wadhaat (the soorahs seeking refuge with Allaah) and seeking the help of Allaah, will be protected against that in sha Allaah, as happened with the awliya’ (close friends of Allaah) and those who fear Him – as was narrated by Shaykh al-Islam in his valuable book: al-Furqaan bayna Awliya’ al-Rahmaan wa Awliya’ al-Shaytaan. 

There remains another issue to which we must refer, which is that if a person sees the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the form described in the saheeh Sunnah, this is glad tidings, telling him that he will also see him when he is awake. If he tells him of some shar’i matter that seems to go against the apparent meaning of the Qur’aan and Sunnah, should he follow what he has been told or follow the apparent meaning of the Qur’aan and Sunnah? Or if he tells him about some matter concerning which there has to be proof – such as the people being shown the new moon when they did not see it, and he says that tomorrow is Ramadaan – should he follow that or not? Or if he tells him that So and so stole something from So and so, or that in the case of a dispute So and so is in the right – should he bear witness to that? 

The scholars have stated that if a person sees the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he tells him something that goes against the apparent meaning of the Qur’aan or Sunnah, or tells him of some matter concerning which there has to be proof, he should not act upon it, because what one sees in a dream is not binding; what is binding is the facts that one learns when awake. You should note that the dreams of the Prophets are wahy (revelation), but seeing the Prophets in a dream is not wahy – according to scholarly consensus. Rather it is bushra (glad tidings), as was explained by al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him).

 

Is seeing Allaah is a dream possible?

Praise be to Allaah.

Seeing Allaah in this world is definitely not possible. The evidence for that is the fact that Moosa, who was one of the greatest Messengers and one of the five Messengers of strong will said: “ ‘O my Lord! Show me (Yourself), that I may look upon You’” Allaah said to him: “ ‘You cannot see Me, but look upon the mountain; if it stands still in its place then you shall see Me.’ So when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it collapse to dust.” So the mountain crumbled before Moosa as he was looking on, and “Moosa (Moses) fell down unconscious” So he lost consciousness, because he was watching something that he could not bear. “Then when he recovered his senses he said: ‘Glory be to You, I turn to You in repentance and I am the first of the believers.’” [Quotations from al-A’raaf 7:143 – interpretation of the meaning].

So he repented to Allaah for having asked this question, because it was asking for something that was not possible, and Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Invoke your Lord with humility and in secret. He likes not the aggressors” [al-A’raaf 7:55] 

Seeing Allaah in this world when one is awake is something that is not possible. Even the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) on the night of the Mi’raaj (ascent into heaven) did not see his Lord. He was asked ‘Did you see your Lord?’ He said, “I saw Light.” According to another report: “Light – how could I see Him?” i.e., between me and Him there was a great veil of light.

According to a hadeeth in al-Saheeh, it is narrated that Allaah is veiled in Light. That appears in the hadeeth in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “His veil is Light and if He were to remove it, the glory of His Countenance would burn everything of His creation, as far as His gaze reaches.” Because His sight reaches everything, and everything would be burned by this immense Light. Based on this, we say that it is not possible to see Allaah in this world when one is awake. 

As for dreams, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw his Lord in a dream, but is it possible for anyone else to see Him? It is narrated that Imam Ahmad (may Allaah have mercy on him) saw his Lord, and some of the scholars said that this is possible. And Allaah knows best. But I am afraid to open the door to Sufi shaykhs and others who will start saying, “I saw my Lord last night and we chatted and talked together,” then he will come up with myths and lies for which there is no basis. I think it is better to keep this door closed from the outset.

Liqaa’aat al-Baab il-Maftooh, 3/418.