Interpretation of Dreams and Their Categories
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
With Allah's blessing, we begin this session with this question that came to the program. The questioner says, may Allah preserve you: Is dream interpretation considered one of the sciences, meaning is it a science? And should a Muslim strive to interpret the dreams he sees, or is he not required to engage in that?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. Dreams are of three categories. The first category is confused dreams, which is when a person is preoccupied with something and thinks about it, so when he sleeps, it comes to his mind and he sees things from what he was telling himself while awake. This is confused dreams, and one should not pay attention to it.
The second category is dreams from Shaytan. If a person does not remember Allah when sleeping, and does not recite Ayat al-Kursi, Surah al-Ikhlas, and the two Surahs of protection, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite the three Surahs—al-Ikhlas and the two Surahs of protection—in his palm, blow into his palm, and then wipe with them over the front of his body. If a person recites Ayat al-Kursi when sleeping, Shaytan does not approach him until he wakes up, so he is safe from Shaytan and from disturbances in his sleep. If he does not recite Ayat al-Kursi and does not recite the three Surahs when sleeping, Shaytan dominates him in his sleep and brings him things that disturb him in his dreams. This is also not to be paid attention to, and it does not harm him; rather, it only disturbs him in his sleep and in his life.
The third category is the true dream that comes through the hand of the angel. This is a dream of truth. If a person sees something that pleases him, he seeks its interpretation and tells those he loves about it if it pleases him. If he sees something he dislikes, he keeps it secret. He deals with it in three ways, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explained. The first is that he changes the side on which he was sleeping to the other side. The second is that he spits on his left side three times. The third is that he seeks refuge in Allah from Satan, and it will not harm him. He does not tell anyone about it, and this is the fourth thing: he does not tell anyone about it, and it will not harm him. He changes the side on which he was sleeping to the other side, he spits on his left side three times, he seeks refuge in Allah from Satan three times, he does not tell anyone about it, and he does not seek its interpretation, and it will not harm him, by the permission of Allah. Yes.
The questioner:
He asks: Should a Muslim strive to interpret the dreams he sees?
The Shaykh:
As we mentioned, if it is pleasant, he asks about it from someone he trusts. If it is not pleasant, he leaves it, does not interpret it, and does not give it a figurative interpretation. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. Some interpreters, may Allah guide them, make mistakes and hit the mark, which causes disturbance for families or disintegration in some families?
The Shaykh:
What we mentioned is that one does not go to those who interpret dreams and cause confusion for him. If it is pleasant, he goes to the scholars known for interpreting dreams and who are trustworthy. If it is harmful, he leaves it, meaning if it does not please him, he leaves it and keeps it secret, and it does not harm him. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh
With Allah's blessing, we begin this session with this question that came to the program. The questioner says, may Allah preserve you: Is dream interpretation considered one of the sciences, meaning is it a science? And should a Muslim strive to interpret the dreams he sees, or is he not required to engage in that?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. Dreams are of three categories. The first category is confused dreams, which is when a person is preoccupied with something and thinks about it, so when he sleeps, it comes to his mind and he sees things from what he was telling himself while awake. This is confused dreams, and one should not pay attention to it.
The second category is dreams from Shaytan. If a person does not remember Allah when sleeping, and does not recite Ayat al-Kursi, Surah al-Ikhlas, and the two Surahs of protection, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite the three Surahs—al-Ikhlas and the two Surahs of protection—in his palm, blow into his palm, and then wipe with them over the front of his body. If a person recites Ayat al-Kursi when sleeping, Shaytan does not approach him until he wakes up, so he is safe from Shaytan and from disturbances in his sleep. If he does not recite Ayat al-Kursi and does not recite the three Surahs when sleeping, Shaytan dominates him in his sleep and brings him things that disturb him in his dreams. This is also not to be paid attention to, and it does not harm him; rather, it only disturbs him in his sleep and in his life.
The third category is the true dream that comes through the hand of the angel. This is a dream of truth. If a person sees something that pleases him, he seeks its interpretation and tells those he loves about it if it pleases him. If he sees something he dislikes, he keeps it secret. He deals with it in three ways, as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) explained. The first is that he changes the side on which he was sleeping to the other side. The second is that he spits on his left side three times. The third is that he seeks refuge in Allah from Satan, and it will not harm him. He does not tell anyone about it, and this is the fourth thing: he does not tell anyone about it, and it will not harm him. He changes the side on which he was sleeping to the other side, he spits on his left side three times, he seeks refuge in Allah from Satan three times, he does not tell anyone about it, and he does not seek its interpretation, and it will not harm him, by the permission of Allah. Yes.
The questioner:
He asks: Should a Muslim strive to interpret the dreams he sees?
The Shaykh:
As we mentioned, if it is pleasant, he asks about it from someone he trusts. If it is not pleasant, he leaves it, does not interpret it, and does not give it a figurative interpretation. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. Some interpreters, may Allah guide them, make mistakes and hit the mark, which causes disturbance for families or disintegration in some families?
The Shaykh:
What we mentioned is that one does not go to those who interpret dreams and cause confusion for him. If it is pleasant, he goes to the scholars known for interpreting dreams and who are trustworthy. If it is harmful, he leaves it, meaning if it does not please him, he leaves it and keeps it secret, and it does not harm him. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/218 — archive.org (0:56)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.