Does a Wet Dream Invalidate Your Fast?

Wet dream while fasting

Having a wet dream during the day in Ramadan does not invalidate the fast. This is a matter that is beyond a person’s control, and he cannot prevent it. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope”[al-Baqarah 2:286]

“If a man experiences a wet dream this does not invalidate his fast, because it was involuntary on his part; it is similar to the case when something enters his throat whilst he is sleeping.” (See al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah, vol. 3, p. 22) 

The Standing Committee was asked about a man who had a wet dream during the day in Ramadan – what is the ruling on that? They replied: 

“Whoever has a wet dream whilst he is fasting or is in a state of ihram for Hajj or ‘Umrah, there is no sin on him and he does not have to offer expiation (kafarah). It does not affect his fast, but he does have to do ghusl to cleanse himself from janabah (impurity) if maniy (semen) was emitted.” (Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah, vol. 10, p. 274) 

Ihtilam (wet dream) means seeing intercourse in one’s dream. 

This is one of the things that Allah has created in human nature for men and women alike. Hence it was narrated from Umm Salamah, the Mother of the Believers, that she said: “Umm Sulaym, the wife of Abu Talhah, came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, verily Allah is not shy of (telling you) the truth. Is it necessary for a woman to take a bath (ghusl) after she has a wet dream?’ The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, ‘Yes, if she notices a discharge.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, al-Ghusl, 373; Muslim, al-Hayd, 471) 

What is meant by a wet dream is when a person who is sleeping imagines intercourse. 

And al-Bukhari narrated from Abu Salamah that Abu Qutadah al-Ansari said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: ‘Dreams come from Allah and bad dreams come from the Shaytan. So if any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him spit drily to his left side and seek refuge with Allah from it, and it will not harm him.” (al-Ta’bir, 6488; Muslim, al-Ruya, 4196). This does not mean that the Shaytan is the one who causes that. 

Sinning during Ramadan

The fact that the marids (strong jinns) are chained up during Ramadan does not mean that the devils stop whispering into people’s hearts and urging them to do evil; but that happens to a lesser extent in Ramadan than in other months. The effects of this are well known and can be seen. 

Ibn Hajar said: 

“The fact that bad dreams are mentioned in conjunction with the Shaytan means that they share his characteristics of lying and exaggeration, etc., unlike true dreams which are mentioned in conjunction with the name of Allah by way of honour, even though all of them are created and decreed by Allah.” (Fath al-Bari, 12/393)

And Allah knows best.