Is it appropriate to interpret dreams according to Islam? We come across different dream interpretations in different websites, books, etc. every day. Is it permissible to act based on a dream?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

"A person who sees the good in things has good thoughts. And he who has good thoughts has beautiful dreams; and he who has beautiful dreams receives pleasure from life."

According to Islam, there are three kinds of dreams:

1- Righteous dream

2- Satanic dream

3- Dream caused by events one experiences

Righteous dream is the state of understanding the events yet to happen before they occur through natural ability. The Prophet (pbuh) states the following about it:

“The dream of believers is one part of the forty-six parts of prophethood.”

Satanic dream is the delusion that the Satan inspires in man's heart during sleep in order to scare man and cause him to distress. The Prophet says:

“If one of you has a dream that s/he likes, it is from Allah. Let him/her offer thanks to Allah for that and let him/her tell others about his/her dream. If s/he has a dream that s/he does not like, it is from Satan. Let him/her seek refuge in Allah from its harm; and let him/her not mention it to anyone. Otherwise, s/he will harm himself/herself.”

As for the dream caused by one's experiences, when one busies oneself with something and cares very much about it, one will have dreams about it. The Prophet says in one of his hadiths:

“Dream is of three kinds: The righteous dream from Allah which gives glad tidings; the dream from Satan which causes sorrow; the dream caused by man's talking to himself about something and imagining.”

The verse mentioned in the chapter of Yusuf about Joseph's dream and the hadiths mentioned above express that righteous dream. There are true ones in dreams. However, it cannot be said that every dream is true and every interpretation is true.

 It is not appropriate to act in accordance with dreams and to base one's decisions and actions on them. Moreover, the books of fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) state the following:

 "Although Satan cannot assume the image of the Prophet (pbuh), if the Prophet said in one's dream on the 29th of Shaban, ‘Tomorrow is the first day of Ramadan; perform fasting’, it is not permissible to act in accordance with that dream. This is because, dream is neither knowledge, nor can it be grasped." (Halil GÜNENÇ, Günümüz Meselelerine Fetvalar, II. 300 )

Acting in Accordance with Dreams and Inspirations

Dreams and inspirations can be from Allah or from Satan and the evil commanding soul. Therefore, they must be well differentiated. The scholars of Islam state that in such matters, if the following conditions are met, one can act accordingly, but that it is not appropriate to force anybody.

1- The dream or the inspiration must not be of the kind which abolishes a command of our religion or which makes a prohibition of our religion lawful; in other words, it must not be against the religion and the sunnah

2- The dream or the inspiration must be from such people as Abu Hanifa, Shafii, Imam Rabbani, Imam Ghazali, whom everybody trusts. Everybody should accept that that person does not ever tell lies and that he knows and follows the principles of the religion thoroughly.

3- The knowledge obtained from dreams or inspirations must not be accepted as commands of the religion. They can only be accepted as advice. Dreams and inspirations are warnings and guidance. They cannot be binding and forcing. Those who comply with dreams and inspirations cannot be blamed; similarly, those who do not comply with them cannot be blamed, either.

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