Visions and Dreams
- philhoraia
- May 17, 2024
- 11 min read
Muslims will sometimes object to the idea of visions and dreams. Allah's boss had a tendency to use the word 'vision' in the sense of 'dream'. But in this post I divide the quranic references by the choice of 'vision' and 'dream'.
Visions:
S 12:5 He said: My son, do not relate your vision to your brothers lest they scheme a scheme against you. The Devil is an obvious enemy to man.
S 12:43 And the king said: I see seven fat cows which seven lean eat and seven green ears and others dry. Chiefs, give me an advisory opinion on my vision if you used to interpret a vision.
S 12:100 And he raised his parents upon the throne and they fell down to him doing sujud. And he said: My father, this is the interpretation of my vision before. My lord has made it true. And he did good to me when he took me out of the prison and brought you from the Bedouin life after the Devil had incited between me and my brothers. My lord is nice to what he wills. He is the knower, the wise.
S 17:60 And when we said to you: Your lord has encompassed people. And we did not make the vision which we showed you but fitnah for people and the cursed tree in the Quran. And we frighten them but it does not increase them except in big oppression.
S 37:105 You have fulfilled the vision. We thus recompense the good-doers.
S 48:27 And Allah has confirmed his messenger the vision in truth. You shall enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, secure, your heads shaved and shortened, not fearing. But he knew what you did not know and he made instead of that a close conquest.
Dreams:
S 8:43 When Allah shows you them in your dream as few and had he shown you them as many you would have lost heart and disputed concerning the matter but Allah protected. He is learned in that in the chests.
S 12:44 They said: Fagots of dreams and we are not learned in the interpretation of dreams.
S 37:102 So when he reached the striving with him he said: My son, I see in the dream that I am sacrificing you so look what you see. He said: Father, do what you are commanded. You will find me if Allah wills of the patient.
In non-quranic ahadith:
The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was in the form of good righteous (true) dreams in his sleep. He never had a dream but that it came true like bright day light....
Abu Hurairah reported the Prophet (May peace be upon him) as saying:
When the time draws near, a believer’s vision can hardly be false. The truer one of them is in his speech, the truer he is in his vision. Visions are of three types: Good visions are glad tidings from Allah, a terrifying vision caused by the devil, and the ideas which come from within a man. So when one sees anything he dislikes, he should get up and pray, and should not tell it to the people. He said : I like a fetter and dislike a shackle on the neck; a fetter indicates being firmly established in religion.
Abu Sa'id reported the Prophet as saying:
“The truest vision comes a little before daybreak.” Tirmidhi and Darimi transmitted it.
Some visions are truer than others?
Abu Dawud said : “when the time draws near” means that when the day and night are equal.
Ibn 'Abbas commented on Allah, the Most High, saying:
And We made not the vision which We showed but a trial for mankind (17:60). He said: "It is the vision he saw with his eyes, on the night the Prophet (ﷺ) was taken on the journey to Bait Al-Maqdis. And the accursed tree in the Qur'an (17:60). He said: "It is the Zaqqum tree."
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:
(regarding the Verse) "And We granted the vision (Ascension to the heavens "Miraj") which We showed you (O Muhammad as an actual eye witness) but as a trial for mankind.' (17.60): Allah's Apostle actually saw with his own eyes the vision (all the things which were shown to him) on the night of his Night Journey to Jerusalem (and then to the heavens). The cursed tree which is mentioned in the Qur'an is the tree of Az-Zaqqum.
Anas reported God’s messenger as saying:
"A good vision is a forty- sixth part of prophecy.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)
Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying:
"All that is left of prophecy is the mubashshirat.”* He was asked what that meant and said it was a good vision. Bukhari transmitted it. Malik added in the version of ‘Ata’ b. Yasar, "which a Muslim man sees, or which is shown to him.” * Literally the things which bring news. The news may cause either pleasure or pain.
Abu Qatada reported Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
The good vision are from Allah and the evil dreams are from the satan. If one sees a dream which one does not like, one should spit on one's left side and seek the refuge of Allah from the satan; it will not do one any harm, and one should not disclose it to anyone and if one sees a good vision one should feel pleased but should not disclose it to anyone but whom one loves.
If Allah's boss had a vision, he shouldn't tell the Ummah?
Abu Qatada reported God’s messenger as saying:
"A good vision comes from God and a dream (hulm) from the devil. So when one of you sees what he likes he must tell it only to one whom he likes; but when he sees What he dislikes he must seek refuge in God from its evil and from the evil of the devil, spit on his left three times, and not tell anyone of it. It will then not harm him.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)
How might a dream harm a man and how might spitting prevent that harm?
Abu Razin al-‘Uqaili reported God’s messenger as saying:
“A believer’s vision is a forty-sixth part of prophecy. It flutters over a man as long as he does not talk about it, but when he talks about it it settles.” And I think he said, “Talk only to a friend or one with sound judgment." Tirmidhi transmitted it. In Abu Dawud’s version he said, The vision flutters over a man as long as it is not interpreted, but when it is interpreted it settles.” And I think he said, “Tell it only to one who loves him or one who has judgment.”
Ibn `Abbas reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) used to say to his Companions:
He who amongst you sees a vision should narrate it and I would interpret it for him, and a person came and said: Allah's Messenger, I saw a canopy. The rest of the hadith is the same.
Ibn 'Abbas said that the Prophet got his sword Dhul Fiqar as private booty at the battle of Badr. Ibn Majah transmitted it, and Tirmidhi added that it was that about which he had the vision at the battle of Uhud.
Narrated AbuHurayrah:
When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) finished the dawn prayer, he would ask: Did any of you have a dream last night? And he said: All that is left of Prophecy after me is a good vision.
'Abdallah b. ‘Umar told of the vision the Prophet had about Medina. He said, “I saw a black woman with dishevelled hair go out of Medina and settle at Mahya'a, and interpreted it as meaning that the pestilence of Medina had been transferred to Mahya'a, which is al-Juhfa.” Bukhari transmitted it.
'Abdullah b. Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:
It was shown in a vision that I was rinsing my mouth with miswak and two persons began to contend with one another for getting that miswak. One was older than the other. I gave the miswak to the younger one amongst them, but it was said to me: (Let it be given) to the older one. So I gave it to the older one.
Manam 'dream' is used above.
Ziyad related to me from Malik from Nafi from Ibn 'Umar that some of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were shown Laylat al-Qadr in their sleep during the last seven days. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I see that your visions agree about the last seven days, so whoever is searching for it should do so in the last seven days."
https://sunnah.com/urn/507050 / Muwatta Malik Book 19, Hadith 15
Umm al-‘Ala’ al-Ansariya said that while she was asleep she saw a spring belonging to 'Uthman b. Maz'un flowing, and when she told God’s messenger he replied:
“That represents his good deeds* which are kept increasing for him.” Bukhari transmitted it. * ‘Uthman had died after the battle of Badr, but this vision is taken as showing that his good deeds were still increasing. This is said to mean their reward. Cf. Mirqat, iv, 545.
Ibn 'Abbas reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Whoever fashions an image will have to breathe life into it and he will be punished since he will not be able to breathe life into it. Anyone who claims to have seen a vision in a dream will have to string two beads of barely together and he will be punished because he will not be able to string them together. Anyone who listens to people's conversation when they move away from him will have molten lead poured into his ears."
This hadith has been reported from 'A'isha by another chain of transmitters and the words are:
He (the Holy Prophet) came to Khadija an his heart was trembling. The rest of the hadith has been narrated like one transmitted by Yunus and Ma'mar, but the first part is not mentioned, i. e. the first thing with which was started the revelation to the Prophet was the true vision. And these words like those transmitted by Yunus are mentioned thus: By Allah, Allah would never humiliate you. And there is also a mention of the words of Khadija: O son of my uncle! Listen to the son of your brother.
Abu Musa reported the Prophet as saying:
“I saw in a dream that I was emigrating from Mecca to a land containing palm-trees and I conjectured that it was to al-Yamama or to Hajar, but it was the city of Yathrib.* In this vision of mine I saw that I brandished a sword and the front part of it was cut off; this represented those believers who were smitten at the battle of Uhud. I brandished it again and it was restored to perfect condition; and this represented the victory and the community of believers which God brought about.”** (Bukhari and Muslim.) The old name of Medina. * Probably a reference to the Conquest of Mecca and the numbers who accepted Islam. Cf. Qur'an, 110
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Zaid bin Abd-Rabbihi (RA):
A man appeared to me while I was asleep and told me to say, "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Most Great, Allah is the Most Great)" and he mentioned the Adhan with Allahu Akbar four times without Tarji', and the Iqama once except Qad qamat-is-Salah (the prayer stood ready to begin), (he repeated it twice). He ('Abdullah) said when it was morning I went to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and he said, "It is a true vision..." [Reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud; at-Tirmidni and Ibn Khuzaimah graded it Sahih (authentic)].
Zaid b. Thabit said:
We were commanded to say after every prayer, 'Glory be to God’ thirty-three times, ‘Praise be to God’ thirty-three times, and ‘God is most great’ thirty-four times. One of the Ansar had a vision in sleep in which he was asked, “Has God’s Messenger commanded you to say ‘Glory be to God’ such and such a number of times after every prayer?” When the Ansari replied in his sleep that that was so, the visitant said, “Do it twenty-five times, and join to it ‘There is no god but God’ twenty-five times.” In the morning, when he went and told the Prophet, he said, “Do so." Ahmad, Nasa’i and DarimI transmitted it.
Before this dream, was Allah's boss just making things up?
Narrated Sa'eed bin Hilal:
that Jabir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansari said: "One day the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came out to us and said: "While I was sleeping I had a vision as if Jibra'il was at my feet. One of them said to his companion: 'Make a parable for him' so he said: 'Listen so that your ears may hear. Hearken so that your heart may understand! The parable of you and your Ummah is but the parable of a king who conquers a land, then he constructs a house in it. Then he places a table-spread in it, then he sends a messenger to call the people to eat from it. Among them are those who answer the call of the messenger, and among them are those who forsake it. So Allah is the king and the land is Islam, and the house is Paradise, and you O Muhammad! You are the Messenger, so whoever responds to you he enters Islam, and whoever enters Islam he enters Paradise, and whoever enters Paradise, he shall eat of what is in it.'"
Abu Huraira said that God’s messenger told of a man who expressed his intention to give sadaqa, and who when he took it out placed it in a thief’s hand. In the morning the people were talking and saying, “Sadaqa was given to a thief last night.” The man said, “O God, to Thee be the praise—to a thief!’’ He then expressed his intention to give sadaqa and when he took it out he placed it in a prostitute’s hand. In the morning the people were talking and saying, “Sadaqa was given to a prostitute last night." The man said, "O God, to Thee be the praise— to a prostitute!" He then expressed his intention to give sadaqa and when he took it out he placed it in a rich man’s hand. In the morning the people were talking and saying, “Sadaqa was given to a rich man last night." The man said, “O God, to Thee be the praise—to a thief, a prostitute and a rich man!” He then had a vision in which he was told that his sadaqa to a thief might result in his refraining from his theft, the prostitute might perhaps refrain from her immorality, and the rich man might perhaps pay heed and spend from what God had given him. (Bukhari and Muslim, the wording being Bukhari’s.)
‘Abdallah b. Zaid b. “Abd Rabbihi said:
When God’s Messenger ordered a bell to be made so that it might be struck to gather the people for prayer, a man carrying a bell in his hand appeared to me while I was asleep, and I said, “Servant of God, will you sell the bell ?” When he asked what I would do with it and I replied that we would use it to call people to prayer, he said, “Shall I not guide you to something better than that?" I replied, “Certainly”; so he told me to say, “God is most great ...” and similarly in the iqama. When I told God’s Messenger in the morning what I had seen he said, “It is a genuine vision, if God will; so get up along with Bilal, and when you have taught him what you have seen let him use it in making the call to prayer, for he has a stronger voice than you have. So I got up along with Bilal and began to teach it to him, and he used it in making the call to prayer. ‘Umar b, al-Khattab heard that when he was in his house, and he came out trailing his cloak and said, “Messenger of God, by Him who has sent you with the truth, I have seen the same kind of thing as has been revealed," to which God’s Messenger replied, “To God be the praise!” Abu Dawud, Darimi and Ibn Majah transmitted it, but Ibn Majah did not mention the iqama. Tirmidhi said that this is a sahih, tradition, but that it did not make the story of the bell explicit.
So the Adhan was introduced following someone's dream? And notice that Allah's boss had no problem with bells at this point.
I could include more ahadith but I think that this is sufficient.
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