People
Dreaming of a religious man in Islam
In short
Seeing a jurist or scholar indicates, for al-Nabulusi, intelligence and knowledge; for the sinner, repentance; for the misguided, guidance. An unknown old man is good fortune and happiness, and following him is following good.
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
(فقيه) رؤيته في المنام دالة على الذكاء والفطنة والعلم
Seeing a jurist [faqih] in a dream indicates intelligence, discernment and knowledge.
وإن كان الرائي عاصيا تاب إلى الله تعالى أو جاهلا اهتدى أو كافرا أسلم
If the dreamer is a sinner, he repents to Allah; if ignorant, he is guided; if an unbeliever, he embraces Islam.
(شيخ مجهول) هو في المنام الجد والسعد
An unknown old man in a dream is good fortune and happiness.
وإن رأى أنه قد تبع شيخا اتبع خيرا وخصبا
If he sees himself following an old man, he follows good and plenty.
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
- MosqueFor al-Nabulusi the mosque stands for a scholar who gathers people for good; building a mosque announces goodness, the Sunna and family ties, and seeing one’s house become a mosque, piety and honour.
- A man, someone you knowA known man seen in a dream is, for both books, that man himself — or someone like him or bearing his name — from whom one expects something. The Muntakhab sees an unknown young man as an enemy; an unknown old man is good fortune.
- The Prophet ﷺThe authentic hadith says the devil cannot take the Prophet’s ﷺ form. Ibn Sirin asked dreamers to describe what they had seen, and interpreters say that seeing him in a fine form reflects the good state of the dreamer’s religion.
All the symbols in the dictionary