Animals
Dreaming of a mouse or rat in Islam
In short
Both books see the mouse as a dishonest woman or a thief; yet many mice playing in the house announce provision, and black and white mice are nights and days.
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
والفأر الكثير يدل على الرزق فمن رأى فأرا يلعب بداره كثر رزقه لأنه لا يكون إلا في مكان فيه رزق ومن خرج الفأر من منزله قلت بركته ونعمته
Many mice indicate provision: whoever sees a mouse playing in his house will see his provision grow, for it only lives where there is food. Whoever’s mice leave the house sees his blessing and favours decrease.
Muntakhab al-Kalām fī Tafsīr al-Aḥlām (attributed to Ibn Sirin)
Attribution to Ibn Sirin rejected: why
(الفأرة) امرأة فاسقة أو سارقة أو لها سريرة فاسدة وإن كانت جماعة وألوانها مختلفة سود وبيض فهي الليالي والأيام تقرض الأعمار والأبدان في غفلة واستتار
The mouse is a debauched woman, or a thief, or one with corrupt intentions. If there are many of them, of mixed colours, black and white, they are the nights and days that gnaw away lives and bodies unnoticed.
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
- CatIn both books the cat is a servant or someone living in the house — sometimes a thief. A calm female cat announces a restful year; a bite or scratch, harm or illness.
- 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