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Dreaming of shoes in Islam

In short

For al-Nabulusi, a shoe may symbolize a wife, a son, a mount, a friend, a partner, or a journey. Losing both shoes may signify the theft of a donkey or mount, while walking with only one shoe may mean separation from one’s wife or partner.

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

هو في المنام زوجة وغلام ودابة وصديق وشريك وسفر.

A shoe in a dream represents a wife, a son, a mount, a friend, a partner, and a journey.

al-Nabulusi, p. 359 · read the page on al-Shamela

نعليه فقدا ربما سرق حماره أو دابته ومن وقع نعله ذم حال زوجته والنعل المشتركة بنت وإن رأى أنه لبس نعلا مشعرة جديدة محذوة لم تشرك ولم تلبس تزوج بكرا وإن مشى بها في محلته وطىء امرأة وإن مشى قاصدا في طريق فإنه يحج أو يسافر سفرا في بر وإن انقطع شسع نعله أو شراكها برئ من كفالة وإن كان النعل من الفضة فإنها امرأة حرة جميلة وإن كان من الرصاص فامرأة ذات وهن وضعف وإن كان من النار فامرأة سليطة أو من الخشب فامرأة منافقة خائنة وإن كان النعل ذا لون فهي امرأة ذات تخليط وإن كان من جلود البقر فهي من العجم وإن كان من جلود الخيل فهي من العرب وإن كان من جلود السباع فامرأة من ظلمة السلاطين.

[Whoever sees] both his shoes lost, his donkey or mount may be stolen. Whoever’s shoe falls sees his wife’s condition censured. A shared shoe is a daughter. [Whoever sees] that he wears a new, hairy, iron-shod shoe that has neither been shared nor worn marries a virgin. If he walks in it in his neighborhood, he has intercourse with a woman. If he walks purposefully on a road, he performs the pilgrimage or travels overland. If the thong or strap of his shoe breaks, he is released from a surety. If the shoe is silver, it is a free and beautiful woman; if lead, a weak and frail woman; if fire, a woman of difficult temperament; if wood, a hypocritical and treacherous woman. If the shoe is colored, it is a fickle woman. If it is made of cowhide, she is foreign; if horsehide, she is Arab; and if the hide of predatory beasts, she is a woman among the oppressors of rulers.

al-Nabulusi, p. 360 · read the page on al-Shamela

نعله بلا عقب فامرأته لا تحمل أبدا ومن مشى بفردة نعل واحدة فإنه يفارق زوجته أو شريكه

[Whoever sees] his shoe without a heel, his wife will never bear a child. Whoever walks with only one shoe separates from his wife or partner.

al-Nabulusi, p. 360 · read the page on al-Shamela

Keep in mind

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)

  1. 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)

  2. 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)

  3. Turn over onto your other side

    Change the side you were sleeping on. (Muslim 2262)

  4. Get up and pray

    If you can; al-Nawawi recommends two units of prayer (rakʿa). (Muslim 2263 · al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim 15/18)

  5. 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

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