Are dreams from Allah or from angels?

- Is a dream a direct message from Allah or is it transmitted by an angel?

Dear Brother / Sister,

There are dreams that are directly inspired by Allah, and there are also dreams that are inspired through angels.

Nothing happens without Allah’s knowledge, power and will. However, in dreams that take place based on causes, dreams can be seen due to good or bad reasons. However, the points of creation and invention belong to Allah.

This fact is also underlined in the verse below.

“It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect.” (az-Zumar, 39/42)

However, it is reported in the hadiths that dreams are either divine or satanic. In the hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) on the real nature of dreams, dreams are classified as follows:

“There are three types of dreams. Some of them are fears from the devil to distress man; some of them are things that occupy a person’s mind when he is awake; he sees them in his sleep; and there are some dreams that are one of the forty-six parts of prophethood.” (Bukhari, Tabir 2-4; Muslim, Ruya 18)

According to Ibn Khaldun, there are three kinds of dreams:

Dreams from Allah, dreams coming through angels, and dreams from Satan. (see Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddima, 281)

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