8th. Dream in the Qur’an - DREAMS IN ISLAM

8th. Dream:

The eighth dream is by far the most important of all the dreams narrated in the Qur’an and, as a consequence, deserves to be examined at some length.  The Qur’an referred to the dream in the following:

“Allah has in truth fulfilled His Apostle’s vision (i.e., dream).  You shall certainly enter the Sacred Masjid in security if Allah so wills, with hair cropped or shaven and without fear.  He knew what you did not know; and what is more, He granted you a speedy victory.”

(Qur’an: al-Fath:-48:27)

                        

The Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, who had been in Madina for some six years after having migrated from Makkah, dreamt one night that he was performing the pilgrimage to the Ka’aba in Makkah. The battles of Badr, Uhud and Khandaq in 2H, 3H, and 5H  had resulted in a military stalemate. Neither side had the strength to conclusively defeat the other and bring the war to an end. The migration of the Muslims to Madina and the subsequent five years of war had been the talk of all Arabia. What would be the next episode in the drama?  Which side will take an initiative? Arabia was waiting with a sense of suspense.

But for the Muslims there was more to the situation than mere military stalemate.  The Muslims had recently defeated and expelled the Jews from Madina and they had concentrated themselves at Khaibar and were thirsting for revenge.  There was the distinct possibility of Jewish diplomacy pursuing and winning an alliance with the Quraish which would corner the Muslims in a strategic check-mate.  If the Muslims did not do something quickly the strategic environment  would turn drastically against them.  What could they do?

If the Muslims were to attempt to attack Khaibar, which was North-West  of Madina and quite some distance away, Madina would be exposed and greatly vulnerable to an attack from the Quraish.  If, on the other hand, the Muslim army were to march on Makkah then a similar situation would arise with the threat to Madina coming from Khaibar.  And if the Muslims did  nothing they faced a possible Makkah-Khaibar alliance which would be disaster for Madina.   

The Muslims did take an initiative and it stunned their enemies as well as all of Arabia  with its dazzling brilliance.  A dream of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam which came from Allah  Most High led to the initiative.  He saw himself  in the dream that, “with his head shaved he entered the Ka’aba, and its key was in his hand.”  ¹⁶       

 

He woke from his sleep and announced that he was going to make the sacred visit to the House of Allah  Most High in Makkah (i.e., umrah).  Fourteen hundred Muslim immediately decided that they also would make the pilgrimage. And so the dream led to a dramatic peace offensive in the form of an attempt by the Muslims to perform the pilgrimage to Makkah while still a state of war existed with the Quraish.

The brilliance of this magnificent strategic initiative was clearly understood by the Jews in Khaibar.  Although Madina was exposed and defenseless they dared not attack because such an attack would have horrified and alienated all the Arabs.  The pilgrimage was the most sacred of all things held sacred by the Arabs.  All of Arabia would thus unite against the Jews  who had violated the sacred in such a despicable way.  That was a risk the Jews dared not take.  And so the Muslim pilgrims left Madina defenseless and traveled South without any fear of a Jewish attack.

The Muslims camped at Hudaibiyah, close to Makkah, with their animals of Qurbani (seventy camels) gaily decorated in accordance with custom. They thus made it abundantly clear to all observers that they had come in peace and for a cause which was universally recognized by all Arabs to be sacred cause.   Ibn Ishaq informs us that the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam  not only “took the sacrificial animals but he also donned the pilgrim garb (ihram) so that all would know that he did not intend war and that his purpose was to visit the temple and to venerate it”. ¹⁷

Such was the stunning diplomatic brilliance of the peace initiative of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam that the Quraish found themselves firmly trapped on the horns of a terrible dilemma. They quickly realized that they could not indefinitely deny to the Muslims the right recognized for all Arabs, - the right to make the pilgrimage to the House of Allah  Most High at Makkah.  If they  were to do so it would turn all Arabia against them and that would hand to the Muslims a  political and propaganda victory which could result in truly ominous consequences for the Quraish.  

On the other hand there would be serious ‘loss of face’ for the Quraish if the Muslims should visit Makkah, their capital city, with impunity at a time while they were still at war with them. The Arabs were following with great interest the conflict between the Quraish and the Muslims, and would respond to this amazing Muslim initiative by laughing at the Quraish.  The Quraish would be subjected to universal ridicule and this, also, could result in truly ominous consequences for them. The security status, influence and power which the  Quraish  enjoyed in the entire Arabian peninsula was the direct outcome of the respect and esteem they inherited in consequence of their descent from Ishmael sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam  and their custody of the Ka’aba. If they were to be subjected to ridicule it would have disastrous implications for their status, influence and power. This was the dilemma.

The Quraish were literally forced to the negotiating table and were forced to concede to the Muslims the following three major concessions: firstly they had to concede to the Muslims their right to make the pilgrimage to the Ka’aba; secondly, they were also forced to offer a truce to the Muslims since conceding the right to the Muslims to visit the Makkah while still a state of war existed with them would have subjected the Quraish to ridicule;  thirdly, they were forced to offer as long a period of a truce as ten years since they had to give themselves enough time to try to resolve the problem with the Muslims and so avoid a situation which would place them once more on the ‘horns of a terrible dilemma’.

The Quraish were sufficiently diplomatically astute to recognize that these  three major concessions on their part represented significant political successes for the Muslims,  and so they presented additional conditions specifically designed  as ‘face-saving’ measures for them, and as ‘humiliation’ for the Muslims. These were some of the additional conditions:

a) the animals of qurbani which the Muslims had brought with them from Makkah would have to be sacrificed at Hudaibiyah; never before in the thousands of years that the Arabs had performed the pilgrimage had the animals of Qurbani ever been sacrificed except at the House of Allah;

b) the Muslims would have to return that year to Madina from Hudaibiyah without visiting the House of Allah; their right to visit the Ka’aba would be recognized from the following year;

c) if any Muslim were to escape from Makkah and make his way to Madina  he must be returned to Makkah; if, on the other hand, any Makkan Muslim in Madina were to return to Makkah there would be no corresponding obligation to return him to Madina.

These conditions were so humiliating, and appeared to be so unjust, that the Muslims revolted and none was prepared to accept the decision of the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam.  He, on the other hand, had the diplomatic genius to recognize that the Quraish had conceded the ‘grain’ itself and was grabbing for ‘husk’.  And so he concluded the Treaty of Hudaibiyah even though all the Muslims were opposed to it.

The Muslim peace offensive thus resulted in the Treaty of Hudaibiyah, which was proclaimed by the Qur’an as a manifest victory since it resulted in both a political victory as well as a favorable change in the strategic environment - an opportunity which the Muslims then hastened to exploit to their advantage. They returned to Madina, rested for two weeks, and then attacked the Jews at Khaibar.  This was possible since the truce with the Quraish meant that they could leave Madina and attack Khaibar without any fear that the Quraish would exploit the opportunity and attack Madina in their absence. ¹⁸

They Quraish had to grind their teeth in utter frustration as they were forced by the Prophet to the negotiating table.  They were even more frustrated when then had to concede the grain itself before negotiations even began.  And now they were watching in despair as the Prophet exploited the advantage derived from the Treaty to attack Khaibar and to defeat the Jews and expel them from Arabia.  There was nothing that the Quraish could do as Arabia now recognized and respected the Muslims as a new power in the peninsula.  Makkah’s star began to wane! 

And so, in a very real sense, Khaibar fell on the day that Hudaibiyah was concluded.  It was only a matter of time!  And again, in a very real sense,  Makkah fell on the day that Khaibar fell.  It was only a matter of time.  A dream took the Muslims out of a very desperate situation fraught with great danger, and led them on a road which culminated in victory. 

Surely there is a very important message from Allah (st) to the believers in these events.  The message is that dreams are a very important phenomenon which must be treated with the greatest care by the believers.  Yet even those who are the great scholars of Islam in this age have not recognized this.

These, then, are the dreams in the Qur’an and our summary analysis of their importance.  It is a matter of vital importance that we should take careful note of the fact that five of the dreams located in the Qur’an are ‘true’ dreams.  The implication is that the believers are directed to pay the greatest attention to the phenomenon of ‘true’ dreams.  And this is why we long for a scholarly work on the Metaphysics of a True Dream.

Let us now turn to the phenomenon of dreams and their relation to the institution of prophethood.

Source: Dreams in Islam by Imran Hosein
To be continued ....