Body and health
Dreaming of being ill in Islam
Did this dream upset you?Seek Allah’s protection, blow lightly three times to your left, turn onto your other side, pray if you can, and tell no one: “it will not harm you”.Details and sources
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)
In short
Al-Nabulusi interprets illness as a weakness in faith, and specifies that whoever sees himself ill is in good health that year.
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
(مرض) هو في المنام نفاق
Illness in a dream is hypocrisy [in the sense of the verse “in their hearts is a disease”].
(ومن رأى) أنه مريض نقص دينه وصح جسمه في ذلك العام
Whoever sees himself ill: his religion weakens, and his body is healthy that year.
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)
Related symbols
- The dead, deathSeeing a deceased person looking happy is, for both books, a good sign for him; seeing him alive announces relief. Dreaming of one’s own death has varied meanings: a journey, poverty, repentance or even marriage.
- BloodFor al-Nabulusi blood mostly means unlawful wealth or a sin; but blood flowing from a wound or out of necessity means health and relief, and blood on a garment, a lie told against oneself.
- PrisonPrison has several meanings in al-Nabulusi: attachment to religion, or worry. Entering it may announce a long life and reunion with loved ones; leaving it, recovery.
All the symbols in the dictionary