Ruling on Reading Books of Dream Interpretation

Question:
He asks another question, Your Eminence the Shaykh, saying: Is it permissible to read books of dream interpretation and to rely on what is in them?
May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
I do not know of any harm in reading books of interpretation, such as those by Ibn Sirin and others. A student of knowledge can benefit from them, but he should not rely on them exclusively; rather, he must look to the evidence, learn, and examine the circumstances. If something is unclear to him, he should not be definitive; he should say, "Perhaps the meaning is such and such." If he sees a good dream, he should praise Allah for it. For example, if he sees that he is studying Islamic jurisprudence, or that he enters Paradise, he should praise Allah for that. If he sees that he is dutiful to his parents, or that he is careful to maintain the prayers, all of this is good, and he should praise Allah for it.
If he sees something he dislikes, such as seeing that he fell into a well, or that he was killed, or that he is drinking intoxicants, or something similar, this is from Satan. If he sees such a thing, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded him to spit to his left three times and say: .
The one who interprets a dream should look at what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, know the narrated hadiths, and benefit from the books, but he should not rely on the sayings of so-and-so or so-and-so. He should rely on the hadiths and the legal proofs, and the legal circumstances to benefit him. He should be careful in matters and not interpret a dream except with insight. If he is in doubt, he should say, "Perhaps it is such and such, perhaps it is such and such." When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about the good dream, he said: If he sees what he loves, or what pleases him, he said: And when he was asked about when a person sees what he dislikes, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is a great methodology established by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
O Muslim man and O Muslim woman; if a person sees what he loves, such as seeing that he prays in the manner prescribed by the Shari'ah, seeing that he learns knowledge and studies Islamic jurisprudence, seeing that he enters Paradise, or something similar from the good visions, seeing that he keeps the company of the righteous and the good, seeing that he is in circles of knowledge, this is a good vision. He should praise Allah and say, "Praise be to Allah," when he wakes up. "Praise be to Allah." He should be pleased with this thing and tell his loved ones and those he loves about it; there is no harm in that.
As for when he sees what he dislikes, such as seeing that he is beaten, or threatened, or that he is with the wicked, or that he enters the Fire, or that he is sick, or something similar from the disliked things, if he wakes up frightened by it and dislikes it, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has advised him that he should: .
And he (peace and blessings be upon him) explained that this is from Satan, that this vision is from Satan; to sadden the person, to harm him. He shows him this vision to sadden him and to harm him. So it is not permissible to approve of Satan and please him. No; rather, he should be an enemy to Satan. He should seek refuge in Allah from Satan, spit to his left three times, seek refuge in Allah from Satan and from the evil of what he saw, until he angers Satan. Then he should turn over to his other side, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded, and he should not tell anyone about it. He should not say, "I saw, I saw." He should leave it, for it will not harm him, and praise be to Allah. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.