Body and health
Dreaming of excrement in Islam
In short
For both books excrement is money; relieving oneself means a worry leaving or freedom from a sin. Doing it in front of people warns of a scandal or an ugly word.
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
(غائط) هو في المنام مال فمن رأى أنه تغوط غائطا صلبا جامدا فإنه ينفق مالا في صحة جسم
Excrement in a dream is money: whoever sees himself passing hard stools spends money while in good health.
(ومن رأى) أنه يتغوط فإنه يذهب همه
Whoever sees himself relieving himself sees his worry go away.
وخروج الغائط نجاة من إثم
Passing excrement is deliverance from a sin.
ومن تغوط والناس ينظرون إليه فليحذر من فضيحة تبدو منه أو كلام قبيح
Whoever relieves himself while people are watching should beware of a scandal coming from him, or of ugly words.
Muntakhab al-Kalām fī Tafsīr al-Aḥlām (attributed to Ibn Sirin)
Attribution to Ibn Sirin rejected: why
ومن رأى أنه أحدث ذهب غمه فإن كان ذا مال فإنه يزكي ماله
Whoever sees himself relieving himself: his sorrow goes away; if he has wealth, he pays its zakat.
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
- UrinatingUrinating, for al-Nabulusi, is spending; urine flowing freely announces abundant provision and relief, and simply urinating, an expense that comes back to the spender.
- Money, coinsThe books speak of coins: silver dirhams and gold dinars. They mostly see in them speech, knowledge and religion; receiving money is better than giving it. Banknotes, later than these books, do not appear in them.
- 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