Question 561: Salamualekum warah matul laa. Please from the view of ahlulbat(as) at which time of the day does dreams comes true. True Dreams and False? At which time are dream considered satanic. At which time are dreams have equal chance of been true or not coming to pass.
Please help.
Answer 561: Although, time has no real effect on defining our dreams as the true or false dream, but the probability of being true or false can be determined in some of the times. In this regards, there is a hadith in which mentioned that those dreams have been seen in the third time of the night are of the true dreams. Because, the angels descend during this time.[1] Also, those dreams have been seen during the time when sleeping is considered as makruh are probably counted as false dreams, especially during the time of worshipping Allah, the Almighty when a person fell asleep due to the carelessness or being faraway from Allah (SWT).
Imam Sadiq (as) said: During the time of morning, sleeping is considered as sinister. It prevents sustenance from reaching you. A similar hadith has also narrated from the holy Prophet (pbuh).[2]
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: Dream is of three types: Sometimes, a good news from Allah, a cause of sorrow and grief from Satan and sometimes, it is kinds of different issues we think about them during the day, and that’s why we see them in our dreams during night.[3]
Dream is divided into three divisions:
- Those dreams that are related to the past and desires. Most of our dreams are of this type. These kinds of dreams have no special interpretation.
- Confused and unknown dreams. Such dreams caused by our imagination and hallucinations. So, these kinds of dreams have also no special interpretation.
- Those dreams that are related to the future or give evidence of the future. These dreams are of two types: A. Definite dreams that don’t require any interpretation as they would happen in the future. B. Indefinite dreams that need to be interpreted. These kinds of dreams can be categorized as the true dreams. But, we ought not to recognize whether our dreams are of the true dreams or false. Because, a dream is an imaginary series of events that everyone experiences in his mind while he is asleep. It is still not clear enough for scientists as to how it really takes place. The Holy Quran speaks about Joseph’s dreams which came true[4] and whom God taught the science of interpreting dreams.[5]
When in prison, Yusuf interpreted the dreams of his inmates and when he was out of the prison, he interpreted the dreams of the king of Egypt. Therefore, interpreting dreams or the allegorical explanation (ta’vil)[6] of dreams, as termed by the Quran, is a reality and a science which God, the Exalted, taught Prophet Yusuf. Daniel was also one of the prophets whom God taught the science of interpreting dreams.[7] The Quran gives examples of other divine prophets whose dreams God confirm and endorses to have been true.[8]
We come across two kinds of dreams in the narrations:
Some dreams are true and some are false.[9] The true dreams have been described and termed as “one part out of seventy parts of prophethood”[10]. This science cannot be acquired as it needs purification and cleansing of the soul, and it is given to an individual only on specific circumstances. It is for the same reason that the number of people bestowed with this ability is few and far between[11].
How to interpret our Dreams:
Imam Musa Kadhim (as) said: dream would be come true as how it has interpreted. According to a tradition, the king of Egypt’s dream was of such confused dreams[12]. Meaning that his dream had no interpretation, but when the Prophet Josef (as) interpreted the dream it had come true. Imam Kadhim (as) also narrated a tradition: At the time of the holy Prophet, a woman saw a dream that a pillar of her house has been broken, so she goes to the Prophet and explained her dream. The Prophet interpreted: Your husband will come back home safely from journey. So, her husband come back home as the Prophet explained. She saw the same dream and the Prophet interpreted the same. So, the same thing happened again. but, she saw it for the third time but before she explained it to the Prophet she told it to another one and he said: Soon, your husband will die. When the Prophet heard the news, He said: why this man didn’t interpreted a good interpretation.[13] In other sources it is said that when the woman saw the same dream for the third time she wanted to explain it to the holy Prophet (pbuh), but He wasn’t present on that time, so she found Abu Bakr and told him about the dream. When the woman met the Prophet, He said to her: your husband will die as Abu Bakr interpreted your dream.[14]
Therefore, the important thing is to interpret our dreams good as Imam Reza (as) narrated a Qudsi hadith in which Allah, the Most High says: “I am as My servant excepts of Me, so if he thinks good of Me then he will have it, and if he thinks evil of Me then he will have it.”.[15]
[1] . Allamah Muhammad Baqir Majlesi, Hilyatul Muttaqeen, Qom, Hijrat publication, 1994, Pg. 246.
[2] . Hilyatul Muttaqeen, Pg. 170.
[3] . Biharul Anwar, Vol. 14, Pg. 441
[4] – Yusuf (Joseph): 4
[5] – Yusuf: 101
[6] – Yusuf: 101
[7] – Majlisi, Behar al-Anwar, Vol.14, p.371
[8] – Saffat: 105; Fath: 27.
[9] – Kulayni, Al-Kafi, Vol.8, p.91, Dar al-Kotub al-Islamiyah.
[10] – Saduq, Man La Yahzoruhu al-Faqih, Vol.2, p.584.
[11] . Adopted from answer 5212.
[12] . أَنَّ رُؤْيَا الْمَلِكِ كَانَتْ أَضْغَاثَ أَحْلَام
[13] . Kuleini, Muhammad bin Yaqoub, al-Kafi, editor and researcher: Ghafari, Ali Akbar, Akhoundi, Muhammad, Vol. 8, Pg. 335, 336, Dar l-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, fourth edition, 1407 A.H; Majlesi, Muhammad Baqir, Mer’atul Uqul fee Sharh e Akhbar Aal e al-Rasool, editor and researcher: Rasooli, Sayyid Hashem, Vol. 26, Pg. 491, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya, Tehran, second edition, 1404 A.H.
[14] . Jazri, ibn Athir, Mubarak bin Muhammad, al-Nihayat fee Gharib al-Hadith wal Athar, Vol. 1, Pg. 314, Esmaeeliyan publications, Qom, first edition, 1988; Zamakhshari, Mahmood bin Umar, al-Faeq fee Gharib al-Hadith, editor and researcher: Shams al-Din, Ebrahim, Vol. 1, Pg. 211, Dar al-Kutub al-Elmiyyah, Beirut, first edition, 1417 A.H; ibn Mandoor, Muhammad bin Mukarram, Lisan al-Arab, editor and researcher: Mir Damadi, Jamal al-Din, Vol. 5, Pg. 328, Dar al-Fikr Li al-Tabaat wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzee, Dar e Sader, Beirut, third edition, 1414 A.H.
[15] . Al-Kafi, Vol. 2, Pg. 72; Sheikh Hurr Ameli, Hidayat al-Ummah ila Ahkam al-Aemmah (Muntakhab al-Masael), Vol. 5, Pg. 541, Majma al-Bohuth al-Islamiyyah, Mashhad, first edition, 1412 A.H.