: Section 3: Requirements to ensure the veracity of dreams regarding the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him

1. How can Satan deceive the believer?

We have seen above that it is not allowed for Satan to incarnate the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in a dream. However, Satan is not stupid and could draw from his tricks to circumvent this eternal ban and deceive the believers in another way!

In fact, it is common that Satan shows himself in a dream taking the traits of a pious and virtuous man, while suggesting to the dreamer that he is in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him! Thus he succeeds to pass easily its incitement to misguidance and debauchery.

B. Words showing the obligation to ensure that it is really the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

To protect the believer against such Satanic acts, and be sure that he is actually in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, it must absolutely be aware of the traits of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, his appearance and look, otherwise relate the story of the dream to someone who could help to identify the message that is eventually conveyed in it.

Let’s examine below, what has been reported on this subject:

1. Case of the dream of Assim, confirmed by Ibn Abbas

• Abu Hurairah may Allah be pleased with him, also narrated what follows : The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, «Whoever has seen me in a dream, it's really me. Indeed, Satan cannot incarnate me ». Assim recounted that his father told Ibn Abbas may Allah be pleased with him, that he has dreamed of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and has found him very similar to AL Hassan Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, in his traits as well as his look. After hearing the dream, Ibn Abbas considered that it is a true dream[1].

2. Case of the dreams reported to the oneiromancer  Ibn Sirine

• Abu Hurairah may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him said «whoever has seen me in a dream will see me in a waking state. Indeed, Satan cannot incarnate me» and Ibn Sirine commented « provided that you see him in a dream in his usual appearance »[2].

3. Case of the dream of Yazid Al Farissi, confirmed by Ibn Abbas

• Yazid AL Farisi, the copyist of the Koran, said « I dreamed of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and talked about it to Ibn Abbas who told me that Satan cannot incarnate the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and asked me to describe the traits of the person I saw in the dream. I answered: the person I dreamed of is an easily remarkable person between people, with a smiling face, dark black eyes, beautiful facial traits, and a long beard falling on his chest. Ibn Abbas amazed said: You really saw him! [3]»

4. Comment of the three cases

The three cases above show that the fact of dreaming of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, cannot be true unless the facial traits of the person seen in the dream, and his appearance look exactly like what has been reported concerning the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, through his companions may Allah be pleased with them.

For the first case: the dreamer has reported that the person in the dream look like Al Hassan Ibn ABi Taleb, what was confirmed by Ibn Abbas. We will see later that the people, who most look like the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, are four: His daughter Fatima Azzahraa, AL Hassan and Al Houssaîn both of them sons of Ali Ibn Abi Talib, as well as Jaafar Ibn ABi Talib, may Allah be pleased with them all.

For the second case: AL Boukhari, reporter of this word, added a precision of the famous oneiromancer Muhammad Ibn Sirine as follows « provided you see him in a dream in his usual appearance ». Commenting this quote, Al Askalani wrote « … Ayoub reported that Muhammad Ibn Sirine always asked person who told him this category of dreams to describe the person seen in the dream. If this description does not correspond to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, he used to tell the dreamer: You do not dream of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him! »[4].

For the third case: the dreamer has accurately described the traits and the appearance of the person in the dream and are consistent with those of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, as it was confirmed by Ibn Abbas.

Thus, whoever believes having dreamed of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, must report his dream to a person who knows the traits and appearance of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, otherwise be sure of himself that the traits of the person in the dream are exactly the ones reported about the appearance of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

5. Cases of dreams involving a change in his appearance, peace and blessings be upon him

In some situations, the dreamer could see the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, with changes in his traits and appearance or his limbs. Is it in this case a true dream with a message for the dreamer or just a vague and irrelevant dream?

To answer this question, we have not found more relevant than this synthesis by AL Askalani after reviewing all doctrinal tendencies related to this subject «we can reconcile what has been said in this context by Al Cadi and AL Maaziri as follows :

• This dream would be true when the traits of the person in the dream correspond exactly to those of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

• When the traits or limbs of the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him, as it has been seen in the dream, have flaws or changes altering his appearance, peace and blessings be upon him, these flaws and defects would be related rather to the dreamer himself! Indeed, the corrupted and altered image of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him exists only in the mind and imagination of the dreamer, whereas in reality the traits and appearance of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him are intact and have not undergone any change. In this case, the dream would require an examination by an expert or oneiromancer in order to identify the message that is conveyed in it. It would be generally about a behavior to correct in order to maintain compliance with the demands of faith.

 This position is shared by all Muslims oneiromancers as follows:

• The dream is rejected when the description given by the dreamer does not correspond to that of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.
• When there are changes and imperfection in his traits and attributes, they must not alter the overall representation of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him in the imagination of the dreamer of course during his dream. The imperfections in question must, during the interpretation of the message of the dream, be reported to the dreamer himself, in particular to his faith, his reputation and power.
• Seeing him in his regular appearance and look symbolizes the good faith of the dreamer, his reputation as well as his victory over his enemies.
• Seeing him in a different or tensed look symbolizes especially the weak faith of the dreamer.

Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him is bright and shiny like a shiny  mirror , and the one  who uses it only sees his own face, the dreamer, as he is in reality, good or bad, normal or sullied of flaws and alterations[5]».