Fatwa ID: 01487

Answered by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Question:

Scary dreams

Answer:

In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.

The interpretations of dreams is a gift given by Allah to some of his chosen servants therefore dreams should only be discussed with ones close friends or ones shaikh or guide. (Mazahirul Haqq p.330 v.5)

If it is a good dream then it is from Allah ; he should thank Him and may tell others of the dream.  If it is a bad dream, one should seek refuge from Allah and should not tell anyone of the dream.

Saaiduna Abu Saaed ul-Khudri narrates that he heard the Prophet of Allah say ‘When someone amongst you sees a good and pleasing dream, he should know that it is from Allah, and so he should praise an thank Allah, and describe to others what he saw in his dream.  But is he sees something that he dislikes then it is from Shaitan, so he should seek refuge from Allah from its evil and should not mention it to anyone’.  (Sahih Bukhari p.1034 v.2)

The following ahadith have been taken from Imam Nawawi’s Riyadhus Saliheen with regards to seeing a bad or scary dream.

Saaiduna Abu Qatadah reports that the Prophet of Allah has said, "A good vision (dream) is from Allah and a bad dream is from the Satan. He who sees something in a dream that he dislikes, should blow thrice on his left, must seek Allah's Refuge from the evil of the Satan (i.e., by saying: A`udhu billahi minash-Shaitanir-Rajim). Then it will not harm him.'' (Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim).

Saaiduna Jabir reports that the Prophet of Allah said, "When one of you sees a bad dream let him blow three times on his left, seek refuge in Allah from the Satan three times (i.e., by saying: A`udhu billahi minash-Shaitanir-Rajim) and change the side on which he was lying.'' (Sahih Muslim) (Extracted from Riyadhus Saliheen p.245)

From the aforementioned ahadith we can conclude that scary dreams and nightmares are from Shaitan and they have no meanings. One should not tell anyone of the scary dream and as mentioned in the hadith blow three times on his left, seek refuge in Allah from the Satan three times (i.e., by saying: A`udhu billahi minash-Shaitanir-Rajim) and change the side on which he was lying.

Only Allah Knows Best

Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham.