Animals
Dreaming of a spider in Islam
In short
For al-Nabulusi the spider stands for a weak schemer — or, in another view, an ascetic — and its web for fragility.
A summary of the passages quoted below. These are authors’ interpretations, not a prediction: a dream is understood through the dreamer and all its details.
What the interpretation books say
al-Nabulusi — Taʿṭīr al-Anām fī Taʿbīr al-Manām
(عنكبوت) هو في المنام امرأة ملعونة تهجر فراش زوجها
A spider in a dream is an accursed woman who forsakes her husband’s bed.
(ومن رأى) عنكبوتا فإنه يرى رجلا مكايدا ضعيفا متوانيا وقيل العنكبوت رجل نساج وقيل هو رجل عابد زاهد فمن أصاب عنكبوتا صاحب رجلا عابدا زاهدا
Whoever sees a spider will see a scheming, weak and sluggish man. It has also been said that the spider is a weaver, or a pious ascetic: whoever catches a spider befriends a pious ascetic.
(ومن رأى) بيت العنكبوت ونسجها ضعف ووهن
Seeing the spider’s web and its weaving: weakness and frailty.
Keep in mind
- An interpretation is a human effort: Abu Bakr himself was partly wrong before the Prophet ﷺ. (al-Bukhari 7046 and Muslim 2269)
- Appearances deceive: an unpleasant-looking dream may be interpreted as good, and vice versa. (al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
- A dream is not a fatwa: make no serious decision on its strength alone. (al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 1/115)
If this dream upset you: what the Sunnah asks
The Prophet ﷺ taught that an unpleasant dream comes from Satan, and that it does not harm the one who does the following. (al-Bukhari 7045 · al-Bukhari 3292)
Seek Allah’s protection, three times
Against the evil of this dream and against Satan. The wording given by al-Nawawi: “aʿūdhu billāhi mina sh-shayṭāni wa min sharrihā” — I seek refuge with Allah from Satan and from the evil of this dream. (al-Bukhari 7044 · Muslim 2262 · al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
Blow lightly three times to your left
The narrations say “blow” (nafth), “spit lightly” (tafl) or “spit” (basq): a light breath, to drive Satan away. (Muslim 2261 · al-Bukhari 7044 · Muslim 2262)
Turn over onto your other side
Change the side you were sleeping on. (Muslim 2262)
Get up and pray
If you can; al-Nawawi recommends two units of prayer (rakʿa). (Muslim 2263 · al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
Tell no one about it
Neither recount it nor seek to have it interpreted. A Bedouin dreamt that his head was cut off; the Prophet ﷺ told him: “Do not tell of how Satan toys with you in your sleep.” (al-Bukhari 7045 · Muslim 2263 · Muslim 2268 · al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
“It will not harm him”: that is the promise of the hadith. Al-Nawawi adds that doing only some of these acts is enough, by Allah’s leave. (al-Bukhari 7045 · al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)
Related symbols
- ScorpionFor al-Nabulusi the scorpion is a slanderer or an enemy among one’s relatives; killing it means overcoming that enemy.
- Worms, maggotsFor both books, worms are the children and dependants who live off the dreamer’s wealth.
- HouseThe house stands for the dreamer’s life and those who live in it: a new, well-equipped house announces ease and relief; what happens to the house happens to its occupants. The “bayt”, the room one retires to, stands for the wife.
All the symbols in the dictionary