Dreams in Islam

by

Dr. Umar Azam

 

DEDICATION

Dedicated to Allah Almighty,

of whose mercy dreams are an example.

 

PREFACE

 

 

Glory be to God,

In Whose Grasp

Was my Soul.*


And He did shower

His Mercy

On me.


He did

with His

Bounties bless.


He did

Of His

Favour reveal.**


He who has

Created sleep

As repose.


He Who has

Created waking

As resurrection.


And I know that

When I dream,

He rewards me.


Glory be to God,

For there is

None other.

Dr. Umar Azam

*When I was asleep

**When I dreamt a happy and comforting dream

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to thank the following publishers for kind permission to use copyright material:

 

SH. MUHAMMED ASHRAF (LAHORE)

The Meaning of the Glorious Quran

Translated by Abdullah Yusuf Au, 1975

Sahih Muslim

Translated by Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, Vol. IV, 1975

HILAL YAYINLARI (ANKARA)

Sahih Al-Bukhari

Translated by Dr. Muhammed Muhsin Khan, Vol. IX, 1978

DIWAN PRESS (NORWICH)

Islamic Book of the Dead:

A Collection of Had iths on the Fire and the Garden

Imam �Abd Ar-Rahim Ibn Ahmad al-Qadi, 1977

S.P.C.K. (LONDON)

Muslim Devotions

Constance E. Padwick, 1961

CURZON PRESS (LONDON)

The Religion of Islam

Rev. Klein, 1985

CAMBRIDGE UNiVERSITY PRESS

Rabia the Mystic and her Fellow Saints in Islam

Margaret Smith, 1928

DAR UL-EHSAN/DR. MUHAMMED IQBAL

(HUDDERSFIELD)

Words of Wisdom

Barkat Ali, 1983

DINI BOOK DEPOT (DELHI)

Key to the Garden of Bliss

Ahmed Saeed Dehiwi, 1982

IDARA ISHAAT-E-DUN1YAT (NEW DELHI)

The Teachings of Islam

Maulana Muhammed Zakariya Khandlawi, 1983

****

I would like to express my gratitude to my parents, Mohammed Azam and Rashida Begum Azam for the role of their most precious encouragement in my educational success.

The staff at Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc. deserve special mention for their dedication to publishing my book quickly and efficiently.

Finally, I cannot thank enough all the interviewees who have contributed to the information in this book. Without their patient responses and great efforts at recalling certain precise details of their dreams surely this book would not exist.

ABSTRACT

Many books have been written on the psychological state of "dreaming," and many studies have concentrated their attentions on this subject, especially since the pioneering works of Freud and Jung.� However, the vast majority of such literature has focused on the "technical"2 aspects of dreams, and has sought to account for this phenomenon by the use of "scientific"3 explanations. Very few studies have sought to ask certain questions of a religious nature. What is the relationship of dreams to the spiritual world?4 Is the fact that dreams can foretell the future a sign of the omniscience5 of God Almighty? Why are some dreams "good"6 in essence, and others "evil"? This essay concentrates on "good" dreams� those from God Almighty. It seeks to argue that such dreams are part of the unseen World,7 and that they are indicators, from God Almighty, of glad tidings�reward in the Hereafter. Such dreams must be aspired to, not only for their innate, sweet satisfaction, but also because they are assurances from the very Authority of the Omnipotent Sovereign.

 

 

1 "The Interpretation of Dreams" by Sigmund Freud. Translated by James Stacey, Allen & Unwin, 1954.

2 For example, that sleep is necessary for rest, and that dreams occur when sleeping activity is at its most intense.

3 For example, that dreams are "confused" versions of everyday events.

4 Ar. "(BIL)-GHAYBE" Quran (II 1,2), "This is a Book whereof there is no doubt, A guide to those who fear Allah and believe in the Unseen..."

5 Defined as "All-knowing (nature)."

6 "Good" dreams can be defined as "Happy dreams, which relate to the righteousness stipulated in Islam."

7 Quran (II 1,2).

Next | Home