Dreams in Islam

Dreams in Islam
The good dream of a man who is salih is a forty-sixth part of prophecy

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Talha al-Ansari from Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The good dream of a man who is salih is a forty-sixth part of prophecy." Yahya related the like of that to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj from Abu Hurayra from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Maliks Muwatta Book 52, Number 52.1.1

True dreams are a part of Prophethood, as it was reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “True dreams are one of the forty-six parts of Prophethood.” (al-Bukhaari, 6472; Muslim, 4201)

Ayesha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "The first revelation that was granted to the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) was the true dream in a state of sleep,’ so that he never dreamed a dream but the truth of it shone forth like the dawn of the morning...."

So why are dreams 1/46th forty-six parts of Prophethood. Because Dreams marked the onset of Revelation (al-Bukhaari, 3; Muslim, 231). The first Wahy (revelation) came down for Six Months. And Wahy (revelation) lasted 23 years. So the first Wahy being 6 months ( beause 2 six months = 1 Year) 2 x 23 years = 46 months. Thus Dreams are 1/46th part Prophethood. So now you know why 46th is mentioned but not explained before by anyone one on the net, this i found out while listening to Shaykh Muhammad Yaqubi's CD The Perfect_Mirror_Seeing_the Prophet(pbuh)_in_Our_Dreams : Proofs and Interpretations (audio CD). The Shaykh tells about describes over ninety ways the Prophet (sal Allahu `alayhi wa salam) appears in people's dreams, giving the interpretation of each dream: If you see the Prophet (sal Allahu `alayhi wa salam) with his hands open, you will perform Hajj. If you see him leaning, your worries and difficulties will be removed. If he hands you a book, you will become a teacher. If he gives you bread, you will attain wealth. If he offers you honey, you will memorize the Qur'an. If he appears beardless or having a short beard, it means you lack righteousness and should strive to improve.....

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 Allahbe 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)

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (Peace be upon him) (The Holy Prophet Muhammed) as saying: "When the time draws near (when the Resurrection is near) a believer’s dream can 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: One, a good dream which is a sort of good tidings from Allah; the evil dream which causes pain and is from Satan; and the third one is a suggestion of one’s own mind; so if any one of you sees a dream which he does not like he should stand up and offer prayer and he should not relate it to people…."

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 Allah)
Nafsaani (psychological, they come from within a person)
Shaytaani (those that come from the Shaytaan).

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Dreams are of three types: a dream from Allah, 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 Ibrahim set out to fulfil the command of Allah 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'an and Sunnah]. If they are in accordance with the Qur'aan and Sunnah, all well and good.

How see the Noble Prophet Peace and blessings be upon him 1000 times
Whoever wants to have true dreams should strive to speak honestly, eat halaal food, adhere to the commandments of shari'ah, avoid that which Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) have forbidden, sleep in a state of complete purity facing the Qiblah, and remember Allah 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 Allah 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)

So understanding this how to i see the how see the Noble Prophet Peace and blessings be upon him, Well Shaykh Muhammad Yaqubi's Says by Studying the Shamail_of_Imam_Tirmidhi1. Shamil_link2 which are the outward appearence of the Noble Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, like his Noble Features, merits, conduct, practices, and qualities such as his Clothing, Eating, Shoes, Hair ,laughing, walk,sitting,....

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 Yusuf (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:

A. 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.

B. When he sees some of the angels telling him to do something forbidden, or other things that cannot possibly make sense.

C. 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 Allah be pleased with him) said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “If any one of you sees a dream that he likes, this is from Allah, so let him praise Allah 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 Allahfrom 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 Allahbe upon him) said: “Good dreams come from Allah, and (bad) dreams come from Shaytaan. Whoever sees something that he dislikes, let him spit to his left three times and seek refuge with Allahfrom 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 Allahbe pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allahbe 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 Allahfrom 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:

1. A person should praise Allahfor the good dream
2. He should feel happy about it
3. 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:

1. He should seek refuge with Allahfrom the evil of the dream
2. He should seek refuge with Allahfrom the evil of the Shaytaan
3. He should spit to his left three times when he wakes up
4. 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 hadith 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

...Since only one to whom Allah Almighty has given the power can interpret dreams correctly, to the average person dreams seem nonsensical to a certain extent, since he or she does not, in fact, possess the mental capability to perceive or to unravel their meaning. Dreams are, then, messages in a code superior to that with which the brain can cope in certain cases. However, other dreams may be very simple and true. There are many traditions regarding Hadith dreams.

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) Imaam al-Baghawi said:

He gave examples of this, such as:
Interpretation in the light of the Qur'aan: such as a rope meaning a covenant, because Allahsays (interpretation of the meaning): “And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah…” [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 Allahbe 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 Allahsays (interpretation of the meaning): “And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear” [al-Noor 24:55]

Commentary in Kitab al-Ruya
The problem of seeing dreams in sleep or a semi-wakeful state of mind is, from the point of view of psychology, a highly complex phenomenon about which much has been written. We need not go into the details of this phenomenon in the light of the modern or old theories of dreams. What we learn from the Quran and Hadith is that dreams are mainly of three types.

One is the dream or the vision of the Prophets. These dreams are always true, as these are revelations from God to His Messengers (may Allah be pleased with them).

So far as the dreams of the ordinary persons are concerned, these can be divided into two kinds.
One is the vision seen by the noble and pious men in a state of mind when even in sleep the lower elements in the soul are dominated by the noble elements in man. Thus their dreams represent a truth. These types of dreams have been called as forty-fifth or forty-sixth or even seventieth part of prophecy.’

These cannot be called authentic prophecies because no other human being, besides the Prophets, can have complete control over his lover elements in the state of sleep and thus remain absolutely free from its effects. There is, however, no denying the fact that the unconscious and subconscious mind of the noble man is dominated by noble longings and desires; he therefore receives in the dream suggestion from the Divine, but this suggestion is never held to the immune from error as is the case with the prophetic suggestions of the Prophets.

The second type of dream which has been called HULM in the Quran and the Sunnah is in fact the expression of one’s suppressed carnal desires. This is what has been termed in the Hadith as a vision emanating from the devil.