The second kind of Dreams: Evil dreams
An evil dream is a dream from Satan, and will almost certainly
come our way if we were, for example, to eat so much in the evening meal that
tiredness and sleep overpowered us and we went to sleep without performing our
evening prayer.
An example of the phenomenon of evil dreams which can plague and
distress the dreamer and make his life truly miserable would be that of a
husband who continuously dreams of his wife’s infidelity. If the husband does not exercise care it can
result in the break-up of his marriage. The
Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam therefore took pains to explain that Satan can and does invade our
dreams to plant such experiences which can have dangerous consequences if we do
not know how to handle them. “When any
of you has an evil dream”, said the Prophet sallalahu
‘alaihi wa sallam, “he should spit three times to his left
as soon as he rises from sleep, - and then refrain from narrating that dream to
any one at all. Then the dream would not
harm him in any way.”
The spitting was meant to be a purely symbolic act with only the
sound being emitted and no saliva actually leaving the mouth. Its importance appears to be essentially
psychological in the sense of impressing upon the self that the evil is being
dispelled. Then by refraining from narrating the dream to anyone the dream is
not activated, i.e., it does not enter into force. One then ceases to think of it thus depriving
the dream of the opportunity of making any kind of negative impact upon the
conscious mind.
Narrated Abu Salama:
I used to see a dream which would make me sick till I heard Abu
Qatada saying: “I too, used to see a dream which would make me sick till I
heard the Prophet saying: A good dream is from Allah, so if anyone of you saw a
dream which he liked, he should not tell it to anybody except to the one whom
he loves, and if he saw a dream which he disliked, then he should seek refuge
with Allah from its evil and from the evil of Satan, and spit three times (on
his left) and should not tell it to anybody, then it will not harm him.”
(Bukhari)
(Abu Salama narrated, in
another hadith reported in Sahih Muslim, the following words of the Prophet:
“And he should change the side on which he had been lying before.”)
Narrated Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri:
I heard Allah’s Apostle saying: “If anyone of you saw a dream
which he liked, then that was from Allah, and he should thank Allah for it and
tell it to others; but if he saw something else, i.e, a dream which he did not
like, then that is from Satan and he should seek refuge with Allah from it and
should not tell it to anybody for it will not harm him.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Qatada Al-Ansari:
(a companion of the Prophet and one of his cavalry men) “I heard
Allah’s Apostle saying: “A good dream is from Allah, and a bad dream is from
Satan; so, if anyone of you had a bad dream which he disliked, then he should
spit on his left and seek refuge with Allah from it, for it will not harm
him.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Qatada:
The Prophet said, “A good dream is from Allah, and a bad dream
is from Satan. So whoever has seen (in a dream) something he dislikes, then he
should spit without saliva, thrice on his left and seek refuge with Allah from
Satan, and it will not harm him; and Satan cannot appear in my shape.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Qatada:
The Prophet said, “A good dream that comes true is from Allah,
and a bad dream is from Satan, so if anyone of you sees a bad dream, he should
seek refuge with Allah from Satan and should spit on the left, and the bad
dream will not harm him.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Qatada:
The Prophet said, “A true good dream is from Allah, and a bad
dream is from Satan.”
(Bukhari)
Narrated Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri:
The Prophet said, “If anyone of you sees a dream that he likes,
then it is from Allah, and he should thank Allah for it and narrate it to
others; but if he sees something else, i.e., a dream that he dislikes, then it
is from Satan, and he should seek refuge with Allah from its evil, and he should
not mention it to anybody, for it will not harm him.”
(Bukhari)
The Prophet also explained that “A dream sits on the wing of
a flying bird and will not take effect unless it is related to someone.” 29
An example of an evil dream is this dream which was narrated to
the Prophet sallalahu ‘alaihi wa sallam by one of his companions:
“Jabir reported that a man came to Allah’s Messenger and said:
Allah’s Messenger, I have seen in the state of sleep as if my head had been cut
off. (In another version of the hadith,
also narrated by Jabir, the following is also mentioned: I saw my head rolling
before me, and I saw myself running after it and seeking it in the dream). Thereupon Allah’s Messenger laughed and said:
When Satan plays with anyone of you while sleeping, do not mention it to the
people.”
(Muslim)
Additionally one may also recite the verse of the throne (ayah
al-kursi) when going to sleep for protection from Satan while one is
asleep. We learn this from the following
incident;
Narrated Muhammad bin Sireen: Abu Huraira said:“Allah’s Apostle
put me in charge of the zakat of Ramadan (i.e., zakat al-Fitr). Someone came to me and started scooping some
of the foodstuff of (zakat) with both hands. I caught him and told him that I
would take him to Allah’s Apostle.” Then Abu Huraira told the whole narration
and added: “He (i.e., the thief) said: Whenever you go to your bed, recite the
verse of “al-Kursi” (Qur’an: al-Baqara:-2:255) for then a guardian from Allah
will be guarding you, and Satan will not approach you until dawn.” On that the
Prophet said: “He told you the truth, though he is a liar, and he (the thief)
himself was the Satan.”
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