Fatwa ID: 05556

Answered by: Shaykh Shafiur Rahman

Question:

Today while I was sleeping, I had weird and negative dreams and then I think I woke up. But I closed my eyes again.

And I felt Shaytaan whispering to my ear, “Commit kufr”. I was half-asleep at this time and I don’t know if I did this by my choice or not but I had this determination to do kufr, Astaghfirullah. I even felt my face had changed into negative emotion.

Then even in half-sleep, I suddenly stopped myself even though the determination had covered my heart, Astaghfirullah. I then woke up and felt worried that I might have committed kufr. I don’t think I was in the right state of mind or had some control over myself.

But I’m worried that I did have control over myself since I was half asleep.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

One of the pre-conditions for responsibility for actions is the soundness of our mental faculties, in other words, we must be in a normal state of awareness and knowledge of what we are doing.

Hence if someone is unconscious or asleep or loses control of their aql then the person is not responsible for their actions.

If you said something or think you said something in your dream or half state of sleep or confusion, then you will not be held accountable for it, and it will have no legal effect.

Abu Dharr reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, Allah has pardoned my nation for their mistakes, their forgetfulness, and what they are coerced into doing.” (Sunan Ibn Mājah Kitab al-Talaq. Hadith no 2043)

It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:

“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, has forgiven my Ummah for what is whispered to them or what enters their minds, so long as they do not act upon it or speak of it.'” (Sunan Ibn Mājah, Bab Man Tallaqa fi Nafsihi. Hadith no 3434)

To reassure yourself and to keep away the whispers of shaytan you may simply recite the shahadah to yourself if you are ever doubtful of this kind of situation. You should not allow the whispers of shaytan to cause doubt in you, you should be confident and ignore these thoughts and engage in positive thinking. Also before you sleep, if you are not already doing so, you can try to sleep with wudu, recite the three quls and some adhkar according to the sunnah and sleep on your right side.

Only Allah knows best

Written by Shaykh Shafiur Rahman

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham