- good dreams which come from Allaah;
- bad dreams which come from the shaytaan;
- what a person is thinking about.
Good dreams are those in which the sleeper sees good things; they come from Allaah. They may be meant as good news, or warning against evil, or helping and guiding. It is Sunnah to praise Allaah for them and to tell one’s loved ones, but not others, about them.
Bad dreams are those in which the sleeper sees bad things; they come from the shaytaan. It is Sunnah to seek refuge with Allaah from them and to spit to the left three times, and not to talk about them, but if a person does that it will not harm him. It is also mustahabb to turn onto one’s other side, and to pray two rak’ahs
It may be that what one sees is not a dream of either of these two types, rather it stems from what one is thinking about. This is called confused dreams and it stems from events and fears stored in the memory and subconscious, which are replayed during sleep.
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Towards the end of time, hardly any dream of a Muslim will be false. The ones who have the truest dreams will be those who are truest in speech. The dream of a Muslim is one of the forty-five parts of Prophethood. Dreams are of three types: a good dream which is glad tidings from Allaah, a dream from the Shaytaan which causes distress, and a dream that comes from what a man is thinking of to himself…”
“Secret counsels (conspiracies) are only from Shaytaan (Satan), in order that he may cause grief to the believers. But he cannot harm them in the least, except as Allaah permits”
[al-Mujaadilah 58:10]
Everything that causes distress to people and upsets them, the shaytaan is eager for it, whether it is when they are awake or asleep, because the shaytaan is an enemy as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Surely, Shaytaan (Satan) is an enemy to you, so take (treat) him as an enemy”
[Faatir 35:6]
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught us what we should do if a person sees something in his dream that he dislikes and wakes up as a result. It is: spitting dryly to the left, seeking refuge with Allaah from the shaytaan, turning over, praying if one wants, and not telling people about it.
And Allaah knows best.