Truthful dreams/Visions

Truthful dreams/Visions

“True dreams are one of the forty-six parts of Prophethood.” (al-Bukhaari, 6472; Muslim, 4201)

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)

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)

These visions/truthful dreams are extremely rare. They have a meaning behind them and may require interpretation. These dreams are glad tidings for the believers. Especially at times of tests and trials, these dreams are a source of comfort for believers – in order to keep them firm in their deen. They could also be a warning against an evil, or a window to some events that will happen in the future. However, new laws and legislation cannot be derived from such dreams as our deen is complete and was perfected before the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

At times, even disbelievers may have truthful dreams. For instance, the dream of Pharaoh about Musa ‘alayh is-salaam and the dream of the king at the time of Prophet Yusuf ‘alayh is-salaam. However, both these truthful dreams were actually a means of honor and benefit to the believers – Prophet Musa and Yusuf, and not the disbelievers.

Two types of visions/truthful dreams:

1. واضح: These are very clear, truthful dreams. That is, the exact same thing you dreamt about will occur in the future. This is a big test from Allah as it tests one’s faith in believing who really is the true possessor of the ghaib (Unseen). Only Allah possess the knowledge of the unseen, and He chooses to reveal some of this knowledge to those whom He wills according to His infinite wisdom. So it is crucial that the person due to these clear visions/ dreams is not deviated in believing that these dreams are due to their own righteousness/ability. Hence, this is a huge test for one’s faith. May Allah protect us from such deviations, ameen
2. مرموز : These truthful dreams require interpretation as they are not clear visions. However, only a person with a great deal of ilm and taqwa can interpret dreams. The interpreter needs to have ilm of the Quran and Sunnah, should to be smart, and most importantly, should have taqwa and be away from indulging in sins.

Imam Malik mentioned that the interpretation of a dream not only depends on the dream itself, but also on the one who dreamt it.

What should we do when we have good dreams:

1.Praise and thank Allaah for the good dream (Say Alhumdulillaah)
2.Feel happy about it
3.Talk about it to those whom one loves and trusts, and they too love him/her (i.e. they should not be envious of him as this might trigger them to plot against you. For example, in the case of Prophet Yusuf ‘alayh is-salaam, his father commanded him not to convey his dream to his brothers due to their jealously.

The prohibition on lying about visions and dreams

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Whoever tells of a dream that he did not see will be commanded [on the Day of Resurrection] to tie two grains of barley together, but he will never be able to do it.’ (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6635)