The World of Dreams

Bismillahi Arrahmani Arraheem

Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala says in the Holy Quran:

يُنَزِّلُ الْمَلآئِكَةَ بِالْرُّوحِ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَى مَن يَشَاء مِنْ عِبَادِهِ أَنْ أَنذِرُواْ أَنَّهُ لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ أَنَاْ فَاتَّقُونِ

He doth send down His Angels with inspiration of His Command, to such of His servants as He pleaseth, (saying): "Warn (Man) that there is no god but I: so do your duty unto Me."

(An-Nahl 16:2)

This verse makes clear that Allah sends His inspiration and revelation to such of His servants (aibadihi) as He pleases. There is a common myth among Muslims that only the Prophets can be recipients of revelation, however, the Holy Quran and authentic ahadeeth testify otherwise. The example of the mother of the Promised Messiah, Maryam (alaihi salaam), who was not a Prophet, but nonetheless a pious and God-fearing lady possessing highest virtues and chastity, as mentioned in the Holy Quran, is an example of Allah bestowing revelation to non-Prophets:

وَإِذْ قَالَتِ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ يَا مَرْيَمُ إِنَّ اللّهَ اصْطَفَاكِ وَطَهَّرَكِ وَاصْطَفَاكِ عَلَى نِسَاء الْعَالَمِينَ

Behold! the Angels said: "O Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and purified thee - chosen thee above the women of all nations."

(Al-Imran 3:42)

Prophethood has culminated to a glorious end in the person of the Mercy for the Worlds, Hadhrat Sayyidina Muhammad Mustafa (alaihi sala'atu wa sala'am), who is the embodiment of all moral perfections and spiritual excellences. However, by our beloved master's (alaihi sala'atu wa sala'am) own testimony, revelation will not end with prophethood. Rather there are forty-six parts of prophethood, all of them have been terminated except for one - the mubashirat, or the inspired dreams which Allah bestows upon His righteous servants, a glad tiding for the Believers of this age:

When the Day of Resurrection approaches, the dreams of a believer will hardly fail to come true, and a dream of a believer is one of forty-six parts of prophethood, and whatever belongs to prothethood can never be false.

(Sahih Bukhari: Kitabut T'abeer)

In this respect there are three classifications of dreams: i) the nafsani dream, which is the natural reflection of one's day or inner thoughts which becomes manifested in a dream. This is the most common type of dream which everyone experiences, ii) the shaytani dream, an evil dream caused by Satan which it intended to make one despair of the Power and Mercy of Allah, and iii) the roohani dream or mubashirat, which is one of the forty-six parts of nabuwat, a form of revelation, which gives glad tidings from Allah.

As the Day of Resurrection (Yaum-ul-Qiyamat) hastens towards us, the inspired dreams that descend upon the Believers will become numerous and will almost always prove to be true. They will doubtless be prophetic in nature, and it becomes important to understand their true meaning and act accordingly. Because Allah can reveal matters to His ordinary servants through dreams, He also uses such dreams to make commandments and ordinances, though they are not through prophets. For example, the words of the Adhan, the call to prayer, which are an integral part of the Sunnat and of Islam, were not revealed to our Prophet Muhammad (alaihi sala'atu wa sala'am). The words of the Adhan were revealed to a companion of the Prophet, Abdullah ibn Zaid (radhi Allahu anhu), in the form of an inspired dream. Though Islam was completed in the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (alaihi sala'atu wa sala'am), what we have inherited as the beliefs and commandments of Islam were not specifically vouschafed to the Prophet, but also his illustrious companions, as demonstrated by the example of adhan.

Because we are rapidly approaching the latter days of this world, and the tribulations which will consequently be a part of it, ordinary Muslims must become intimately aware of Allah's plan, and prepared to accept even divine communication from their Maker in the form of dreams.