The Ruling on the Hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) Seeing His Lord in a Dream

The questioner : The time up to today, so this is a prophetic miracle for the Messenger (peace be upon him). Therefore, Imam al-Bayhaqi mentioned it in *Dala'il al-Nubuwwah* (Proofs of Prophethood), which is a collection of the proofs of his (peace be upon him) truthfulness in his claim of prophethood. This is the word on this question.

The Shaykh : First, this is a dream, not a vision. So, what is unclear to you about its meaning?

The questioner : You may place your hand on it.

The Shaykh : Yes, it is not a reality.

The questioner : Are you following me, my Shaykh?

The Shaykh : The hadith of the Messenger (peace be upon him) seeing his Lord in a dream, and that he placed his hands between his shoulders until he felt the coolness of his fingers, is a dream, my brother. And a dream is not interpreted by its literal appearance. The story of Yusuf in the Qur'an, where seven fat cows were interpreted as seven years of plenty and seven lean cows as seven years of drought, is an example. Likewise, all dreams are not interpreted by their literal realities but by some form of figurative interpretation (ta'wil). This is a matter of the unseen. The Messenger (peace be upon him) saw this dream, a dream of sleep, as it is narrated from Imam Ahmad that he saw his Lord so many times, meaning in a dream.