Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.
If a person is righteous and truthful in his speech, then his dreams will usually be true, giving him glad tidings or a warning, as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The most truthful of you in dreams is the most truthful of you in speech.” Narrated by Muslim (6042).
However, the righteous may see bad dreams, because there is no one whose dreams are all true except the Prophets, for their dreams are revelation. Al-Bukhaari narrated in a mu‘allaq report from ‘Ubayd ibn ‘Umayr that he said: The dreams of the Prophets are revelation, then he recited the words (of Ibraaheem to Ismaa‘eel – interpretation of the meaning): “ ‘I have seen in a dream that I am slaughtering you (offering you in sacrifice to Allah)’” [as-Saaffaat 37:102].
Al-Muhallab said: In this regard, people are of three levels:
The Prophets, all of whose dreams are true, but some of them may require interpretation;
The righteous, most of whose dreams are true, but some of them may not require interpretation;
Others, whose dreams may be true or may be confused, jumbled dreams.
End quote from Fath al-Baari (12/362).
Az-Zarqaani said in Sharh al-Muwatta’ (4/562)
Some of them said: … The dreams of the righteous are usually true, but there may occasionally be some confused, jumbled dreams, or dreams that result from one’s thoughts and ideas that cross the mind.
End quote.
Hence if the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them) saw a bad dream, it would upset them and they would fall ill and feel intense grief because of it, but when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) taught them to spit drily to their left, and seek refuge with Allah from its evil and from the evil of the Shaytaan, and he assured them that it would not harm them, they were reassured by that and calmed down.
It was narrated that Abu Salamah said: I used to see dreams that would make me ill, until I heard Abu Qataadah say: I also used to see dreams that would make me ill, until I heard the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “Good dreams are from Allah, so if one of you sees a dream that he likes, let him not speak of it except to those whom he loves, and if he sees a dream that he dislikes, let him seek refuge with Allah from its evil and from the evil of the Shaytaan, let him spit drily to his left three times, and let him not speak of it to anyone, for it will never harm him.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (7044) and Muslim (6040).
According to a report narrated by Muslim (6037), Abu Salamah said: I used to see a dream that would weigh heavily on me, like a mountain, but once I heard this hadith, I no longer cared about such dreams.
Al-Qurtubi said: What we learn from this is that the one who sees a dream should not be bothered by what he dislikes in his dream, and he should ignore it and not pay any attention to it, because it has no basis. This is the apparent meaning of the hadiths.
End quote from al-Mufhim.
Once it becomes clear that the Shaytaan plays a role in what a person sees in his dreams, and that one’s own thoughts also play a role, then it is not wise and it is not part of Islamic teachings at all for a Muslim woman to destroy her life and strive to wreck her home because of what she sees in her dreams.
Moreover, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) recommended concealing the faults of sinners; in fact he even recommended that the one who sees an adulterer committing adultery should conceal it and not speak of it to anyone, and he forbade spying, seeking out faults and disclosing concealed matters in people’s affairs, and it is he who enjoined caution in that regard, and perhaps one may be certain and have seen things with one’s own eyes in some cases, but he recommended concealing it and not disclosing it or spreading it, and not to base anything on it, so how about if it is the matter of a dream, the reality of which Allah knows best.
How many people have seen one particular dream time and time again, and the same dream was seen repeatedly by other people, then after that it turned out to be nothing but confused dreams and a case of the Shaytaan toying with people.
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) warned us about the eagerness of the Shaytaan to cause division among the Muslims in general, and between spouses in particular. The Shaytaan will never refrain from using any method to cause division between spouses, either when they are awake or when they are asleep; rather he will hasten to use it, because this is one of his foremost priorities.
It was narrated that Jaabir said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Iblees places his throne over the water, then he sends out his troops, and the one who is closest in status to him is the one who causes the greatest amount of fitnah (tribulation or temptation). One of them comes and says, I have done such and such, and he says: You have not done anything. Then one of them comes and says: I did not leave him until I separated him and his wife. Then he draws him close to him and says: How good you are.” Al-A‘mash said: I think he said: “and he embraces him.”
Narrated by Muslim (2813)
The woman does not have the right to enquire into her husband’s past, just as the woman should not tell her husband frankly about what may have happened in the past that she has repented from. They should both seek the concealment of Allah.
Conclusion:
What we advise you to do is to ignore such dreams and not pay attention to them. Do not try to find out what is concealed of your husband’s affairs. Be a good wife to him and ask Allah to set things straight between you and your husband, and to divert from you and from him all that is bad and shameful, for He is All-Hearing, Ever Responsive.
And Allah knows best.
