Concept and method of Dream Interpretation in Islam - Preventing from Bad Dreaming (Nightmares)

According to the teaching of Islam dreams are the indicators of future events. In Quran the dreams of Hazrat Ibrahim are mentioned and the dreams of the King of Egypt which were interpreted by Hazrat Yousaf (peace be upon him). According to Sahih Bukhari Book No.4, Hadith No.140 Hazrat Umar reported as saying that the dreams of Prophets were Divine Inspiration. In another Hadith of Sahih Bukhari in Book No.87 Hadith No.116 it is narrated by Ubada bin As-Samit: "The Prophet said that the (good) dreams of a faithful believer is a part of the forty-six parts of prophet-ism.

According to another Hadith there are three types of dreams:

1. Good dreams that are from the Almighty.
2. The dreams which represents the psychological state of a person’s mind.
3. Bad dreams are from the Shayateen (Satan).

It is advised by the Holly Prophet (Peace be upon him) that one may share his good dreams only with his loved ones while bad dreams should not be mentioned to anyone. According to the Islamic belief all the good deeds come from the Almighty and bad from Satan.

According to the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) near Qayamah [judgment day] there would be hardly any dream which would be false. There are true dreams all over the world. This is also narrated in Bible in Act 2 verses 18 to 21 when it is said that everybody e.g. children older and young would be purporting prophecies.

Dream telling is a science of predicting future events. Though fortune telling is prohibited in Islam dream telling or interpretation of dreams is acknowledged as a science of predicting future events. So what if you dreamed solar or lunar eclipse? Dreaming of a solar eclipse is the indicator of loss of wealth. You may be inflicted with business loss of money through theft or otherwise. Lunar eclipse is the indicator of loss of health. The person who dreamed lunar (moon) eclipse may suffer from any injury or decease.

What if you have a bad dream? Loss of money and health can be prevented through saying prayers, seeking repentance from Almighty, spending in the way of God. Seek refuge from Almighty Who is always forgiving and pardoning. Almighty likes his being to repent and seek forgiveness from Him. According to Sahih Muslim Hadith No.5613 in Book No.2 a good vision(dream) comes from Allah and a (bad) dream from devil. So if someone dreams a bad dream that he does not like, he should spit on his left side (without saliva) thrice and seek refuge with Allah from the mischief of the satan and its mischief (i. e. of the dream), and he should not relate it to anyone, then it would not harm him. Same contents are appearing in Book #029, Hadith #5619.

Abu Qatada One of the followers of Holly Prophet (Peace be upon him) had a bad dream that he was used to be weighing more heavily than a mountain but he did not care of it just for the reason that he had heard the above hadith ((Book #029, Hadith #5616)

Dreams of Prophets

Dreams of the Prophets are in fact a way of Wahih from Allah and must come true. According to Sahih Bukhari [Volume 9, Book 87, Number 111] Hazrat Aisha narrates that Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon him)'s all the dreams came true like bright day light. It was a dream of Hazrat Ibrahim wherein he saw that he was sacrificing his son Hazrat Ismail. He understood that it is a message/wahih from Almighty.

What if someone Sees Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon him) in his dream

According to Ahadith the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said that if someone sees me in the dreams he must be sure that he has seen me as Satan cannot imitate hazrat Muhammad (HBUH) in shape. There is another glad tiding for the believers in the following hadith:

It is narrated by Hazrat Abu Huraira: "I heard the Prophet saying, "Whoever sees me in a dream will see me in his wakefulness."

Companions of Holly Prophet (Pbuh) used to tell their dreams to the holly prophet (PBUH) as is evident from the following adiths:

It is narrated by Ibn 'Umar that men from the companions of Allah's Apostle used to see dreams during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle and they used to narrate those dreams to Allah's Apostle. Allah's Apostle used to interpret them as Allah wished [Volume 9, Book 87, Number 155].

It is narrated by Samura bin Jundub: "Allah's Apostle very often used to ask his companions, "Did anyone of you see a dream?" So dreams would be narrated to him by those whom Allah wished to tell." [Volume 9, Book 87, Number 171]

One should not lie about his dreams as it is a great sin. Allah's apostle said: ""The worst lie is that a person claims to have seen a dream which he has not seen."Volume 9, Book 87, Number 167

There are complaints that children awake up in the midnight afraid of nightmares. Even the elders have the same problem. Solution to this problem is very simple.

Before sleep following the following steps which is a guarantee for preventing from bad dreaming.

1. Be sure that you have offered your prayer of Isha

2. Perform wudu.

3. Before sleep recite Aitul qursi.

4. Lay on the right side, which is according to the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and also good for health as heart is located on the left side.

5. Take you night meal at least 3 hours before going to sleep.

6. Take light meal at night and perform light exercise before going to sleep.

7. Avoid meal at night which is hard to digest like meat, potato etc.

8. While going to sleep think how you consumed your day and what kind of blessings you consumed during the day. Thank God for his blessings.