First kind of dream:
A good true dream - like
Seeing the Prophet in a dream
Shaikh Abdul Ghani al-Nabulisi began his work
entitled: Ta’teer al-Anaam fi tafseer al-Ahlaam, with a hadith of
the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam as follows:
“Whoever does not believe in ‘good and true’ dreams (R’uya
al-Saliha) certainly does not believe in Allah and in the Last Day.” 27
The Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam also commented on the subject of which
dreams were the best of all dreams:
“The best of all dreams”, said the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam,
“are the ones where you see your Lord, or your Prophet, or your Muslim
parents.” 28
Prophet Muhammad sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam also spoke of believers seeing him in a
dream:
Anas reported that the Prophet said: “Whoever has seen me in a
dream has truly seen me, for Satan cannot take my form.”
(Bukhari)
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said: “Whoever sees me in
a dream will see me while awake
(perhaps this means he will see the Prophet in a vision, - visions and dreams
appear to differ only in form, but represent the same substance), and Satan cannot take my form.” Abu ‘Abdullah said that Ibn Sireen said:
“Only if he sees the Prophet in his (real) form.”
(Bukhari)
Abu Qatada narrated that the Prophet said: “Whoever sees me (in
a dream) has indeed seen the Truth (i.e., he has truly seen me).”
(Bukhari)
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri narrated that the Prophet said: “Whoever
sees me (in a dream) has truly seen the Truth, for Satan cannot appear in my
form.”
(Bukhari)
For Muslims who live in this age, when the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam
is no longer physically in our midst, the only medium through which we may
satisfy the deepest longings in our heart for even a glimpse of his blessed
face or person, is through the medium of a dream. And no one can possibly over-estimate the
importance of such an experience in terms of the impact it makes in sealing a
private compact with the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam
to love, to obey, to follow, to defend and
to project his person, his mission, and the Truth on which it is founded.
That mission of his, which remains with us (the ummah) as
the most sacred of all trusts (amanah), and which requires of us that we
make the supreme effort towards achieving once again, in the historical
process, the supremacy of the truth over falsehood, is in dire need of renewal.
Now the Qur’an declares that success lies in purification
and growth (tazkiyah) (91:9). And purification and growth implies, most
of all, moral and spiritual growth. But for the Muslim moral and spiritual
growth is not possible without intense love for Allah Most High and for
the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Since it is not possible for one to be
blessed by Allah Most High with a dream of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam if intense love for the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam does not reside in the heart, it follows that
dreams of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam are, perhaps, an indicator of some measure of moral and
spiritual growth.
I remember the smile and the relief which was written on the
face of the Pakistani Islamic scholar, Mr. A. K. Brohi, who confided to me just
before he died in 1987 that it was only very late in life that he experienced,
for the first time, a dream of the Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam. And who could possibly have failed to see
the light on the face of the Ft. Lauderdale Pakistani Muslim doctor who
informed me in 1990 that he had already seen the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam
in dreams on eight occasions!
One of the most extraordinary of all dreams of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam
I have ever encountered was narrated to me in Singapore in 1991. I had just finished delivering a lecture on the
subject of ‘Dreams in Islam’ at the new headquarters of PERTAPIS,
the Islamic Theological Society of Singapore which has now become an Islamic
social welfare organization. I had also completed
a long and interesting question and answer session which was dominated with questions,
comments and revelations concerning dreams of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. A
young man approached me and requested a moment with me in privacy. I took him to the corner of the room where he
could speak to me without anyone being able to listen. He then informed me that he had just returned
about a month earlier from a visit to Makkah where he had experienced an
extraordinary dream of the Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam one night while asleep in his hotel
room. The dream was so extraordinary
that he was reluctant to speak of it in public, hence his request to speak in
private. In the dream the blessed
Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam entered the room in which he was asleep. The most remarkable thing of the event was
that he was overwhelmed by a heavenly fragrance which came from the person of
the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Apparently the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam
did not speak to him. And that was the end of the dream. When he woke from sleep, however, he found to
his utter astonishment that the heavenly fragrance he had experienced in the
dream was present in the room and continued to linger in the room for a few
hours.
My teacher of blessed memory, Maulana Dr. Muhammad Fadlur
Rahman Ansari al-Qaderi, (1914-1974) told us, his students, of a dream
he had of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam which changed his life.
He was 17 years of age and an exceptionally talented and brilliant
student. He was unimpressed by the
exposition of religion by those with whom he came into contact. His studies of science at school pushed him
further into scepticism until he was close to being an atheist. Then one hot summer night as he lay tossing
restlessly on his bed on the roof of his home in Meerut, India, he saw the
Prophetsallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam
in a dream. That dream impacted upon him
with such pulsating power that it shook him to the very core of his being. That was the moment that utterly changed his
life. He spent the rest of his life in
total devotion to the cause of Islam and rose to become not only a Sufi Shaikh
of the Qaderiyyah Order, but also one of the most outstanding scholars
of Islam of the age in which he lived.
He produced a masterpiece of scholarship, ‘The Qur’anic Foundations
and Structure of Muslim Society’ in two volumes that ranks as the most
important scholarly work on Islam to have emerged from those who came under the
influence of the thought of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal.
He traveled around the world on no less than five occasions for the
purpose of tableeg and da’wah.
And he also established the Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies in
Karachi, Pakistan, where a young man from Trinidad, West Indies, (who is the
author of this book) could study Islam.
There are many who may read this book and who may, themselves,
have had dreams of the Prophet that they may wish to share with others. We may, perhaps, have an opportunity to publish
another edition of this book that may include such dreams Insha Allah.
I interrupted the printing of this book to include the following
two dreams that were narrated to me at the funeral of my beloved friend and
brother, Shaikh Alphahim Jobe, which took place on Saturday May
31, 1997. I was about to conduct the salatul
janaza (funeral prayer) over the body of Shaikh Alphahim when
someone approached me and said that he would like to speak to me urgently. I took him aside and he then informed me that
he had a dream of Shaikh Alphahim some two weeks previously in which the
Shaikh was leading the morning prayer as Imam. He led the first raka’at of prayer but
did not lead the second. The prayer was
thus left unfinished. That was the dream! Had he informed Shaikh Alphahim
or myself about the dream we might have understood it.
The second dream was narrated to me later the same day. An American of Puerto Rican origin resident
in Astoria, Queens, New York, came to an Astoria Masjid recently and
declared that he had seen Prophet Muhammad sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam in a dream and, as a consequence of that
dream, he wanted to become a Muslim. The
Muslims present in the Masjid attempted to first teach him what was Islam but he interrupted them and insisted that he
wanted to enter into Islam there and then.
They asked him to make wudu (ablutions) and he then made the
declaration: “I declare that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His
Messenger.” After entering into Islam he stayed in the Masjid for the rest of
the afternoon and evening, joining in the Asr, Maghrib and Isha
prayers. He then returned to his home
and died during that very night.
All through the history of this ummah, and even in this
godless age, pious Muslims have continuously been blessed with dreams of
the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. In fact there are those who repeatedly dream of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam
- not to mention other more profound spiritual experiences which occur in
states other than that of sleep. And in
the context of the statement of the Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam just quoted, one is justified in
concluding that such people have, in fact, truly seen the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam
in a dream! But if dreams are
exclusively constructed from the material of past experiences how can it be
possible to construct a face no one in our age has ever actually seen, - and no
likeness of which has ever been permitted to be drawn or painted or sculptured?
A dream of the Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam cannot possibly be constructed from the
material of past experiences since none exist today. Indeed, none has existed
since the age of the Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam since Muslims, all through history,
faithfully observed the prohibition of representing any human form and, in
particular, the form of the Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam. And yet, when we dream the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam
we have the assurance that we have actually seen him. How else is this possible
other than through the belief that a good or true dream, which come from
Allah, is a transcendental experience (known in philosophy as a religious
experience) that discloses transcendental knowledge and thus confirms a transcendental
reality! True and good dreams have a very important status indeed. They are so important that the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam described them to be a one fortieth part of
prophethood and, indeed, the only part of prophethood now remaining in the
world:
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Allah’s Apostle said, “A good dream of a righteous person (which
comes true) is one of forty-six parts of prophethood.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated ‘Ubada bin As-Samit:
The Prophet said, “The (good) dreams of a faithful believer is a
part of the forty-six parts of prophethood.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah’s Apostle said, “The (good) dream of a faithful believer
is a part of the forty-six parts of prophethood.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri:
I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “A good dream is a part of the
forty-six parts of prophethood.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Huraira:
I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “Nothing is left of the
prophethood except al-Mubashshirat.” They asked, “What are al-Mubashshirat?” He
replied, “The true good dreams (that conveys glad tidings).”
(Bukhari)
“Abu Huraira reported: When the Apostle of Allah finished his
morning prayer he used to ask whether anyone had dreamt a dream, and he used to
say: After me there would be nothing left of Prophethood except good dreams”
(Muwatta, Imam Malick)
‘Ata bin Yasaar reported: The Apostle of Allah declared: Nothing
would remain of prophethood after me except al-Mubashshiraat. The companions asked: Apostle of Allah, what
do you mean by al-Mubashshiraat? He
replied: Good dreams seen by a good man and those seen for him by another
man. This is one part of the forty-six
parts comprising prophethood.”
(Muwatta, Imam Malick)
The Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam declared that Prophethood consisted of
forty-six parts. True dreams constituted one-forty-sixth part of Prophethood.
After me, declared the Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam, nothing remains of Prophethood except true
dreams. The only means we now have,
therefore, of understanding anything of the nature of prophetic experience is
through the study and analysis of the phenomenon of true dreams.
Prophethood consists essentially in a particular form of divine
communication to a human being who has been chosen by Allah Most High to
be a Prophet. Such communication
constitutes mandatory divine guidance for those to whom he transmits it. The phenomenon of true dreams contain something
which can assist us in understanding the phenomenon of Prophetic revelation.
