The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Nothing of prophethood remains after me except glad tidings” and he explained it as, “The righteous dream.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (no. 6990).
FROM THE CREED of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʾah is having belief in the righteous dreams, that they from Allāh, are a part from the parts of prophethood, that they are a source of revelation for the prophets, and for the believers they are glad tidings.
Ahl al-Sunnah are opposed by numerous factions in this respect:
The Ṣūfīs, who are people of exaggeration and excess, they make dreams a basis for matters of creed, worship and legislation, and use them to spread falsehood and misguidance.
The Materialists, who deny the affairs of the unseen, and hence deny that righteous dreams are from Allāh.
A faction of the Muʿtazilah, who claim they are false imaginations and have no connection to reality, whereas the righteous dream has a connection to reality, as it is a glad tiding.
The Philosophers, who claim that dreams emanate from the humours and temperament of each person (denying that good dreams are from Allāh and bad dreams are from the devils).
And there are those among them who say that dreams come from dormant knowledge that is latent in every person, and that when his physical senses are diverted from occupation with the physical world (as occurs in sleep) that dormant knowledge gives rise to dreams, according to the capacity of each person.
And from them is what comes from the modern field of psychology and the psychologists who affirm the dreams that are a result of inner thoughts and self-conversation. However, they deny the righteous dream that is from Allāh and the confusing, saddening, disturbing bad dreams that are from Shayṭān and his trickery.
The truthful dream is an indication, though not all the time, of the rectitude of a person, it is a way of Allāh strengthening the believer, and it can also indicate his goodness from another angle in that in his inner thoughts, he is concerned with good, which gives rise to a good dream, in addition to the righteous dream Allāh shows him. Aside from this, the righteous dream of the believer is not a source of revelation, nor of knowledge of the ḥalāl and ḥarām, or legislation in matters of worship, morals and law.
A believer should only tell his good dreams to those close to him, whom he trusts, and as for the bad dream, then it should not be divulged, and this is the guidance of Allāh’s Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم).