What Islam says about Human dreams

Based on divine revelation, dreams have been classified into 3 types by Prophet who said: “Dreams are of three types: 

1. a good dream which is glad tidings from Allah, 
2. a dream from the Shaytaan which causes distress, and 
3. a dream that comes from what a man is thinking of to himself...” 

(Muslim)

Dreams from Allah (good one): 

The story of Ibrahim in Surah As-Saffat ayah 102-105:

“and when he was old enough to go about and work with him, (one day) Abraham said to him: “My son, I see in my dream that I am slaughtering you. So consider (and tell me) what you think.” He said: “Do as you are bidden. You will find me, if Allah so wills, among the steadfast.” When both surrendered (to Allah's command) and Abraham flung the son down on his forehead, We cried out: “O Abraham, you have indeed fulfilled your dream. Thus do We reward the good-doers.”

The words clearly tell that the son had not taken the dream of his Prophet father to be a mere dream but a command from Allah. Had it not been a command actually, it was necessary that Allah should have explicitly or implicitly stated that the son of Abraham (peace be upon him) had mistaken it for a command. But the whole context is without any such allusion. On this very basis, there is the Islamic belief that the dream of the Prophets is never a mere dream, it is also a kind of revelation.

Aisha (ra) said: Divine revelation began to come to Allah's Messenger  صلى الله عليه وسلم in the form of good righteous (true) dreams in his sleep. He never had a dream but that it came true like bright day light...” (Bukhari)

Principles regarding good dreams:

1. They are a gift from Allah. This gift is not restricted to the prophets and the believers, as there are many recorded cases of disbelievers experiencing true dreams.” For instance, the dreams of Prophet Yusuf’s prison inmates. “True dreams are from Allah and bad dreams from Satan”. Dr Philips highlight that such “dreams are among the signs which Allah creates within human beings pointing to his existence.”  Allah says: “We will show them Our signs in the universe and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that that this (the Quran) is the truth.” (Fussilat 53)
2. Only Prophet could state with surety that his dreams are true, not ordinary humans.
3. They are further separated into 2 categories: 1) obvious ones requiring no interpretation. 2) those require interpretation “due to the obscurity of their symbolism or the ignorance of the dreamer.”
4. The veracity or truthfulness of dreams is correlated to the character of the dreamer, “the more righteous a person is, the truer his or her dreams will be.”“Those of you with the truest dreams will be those who are most truthful in character.” (Muslim)
5. True dreams they may be shared by several individuals. An example is that of Ibn Umar regarding laylatul Qadr.



Good/Pleasant Dreams: 

These kind of dreams are from Allah. In Bukhari ,it is mentioned: “"If anyone of you sees a dream that he likes, then it is from Allah, and he should thank Allah for it and narrate it to others.” 

Dr Philips comments regarding such dreams:

“Of course, this prophetic statement refers only to dreams about halal actions or objects. For one may see corruption and sin in one’s dreams, and be pleased with it. However, evil dreams are not from Allah. They are by the permission of Allah in the same way that evil in the waking world is by Allah’s permission, but not from Him.”

Good dreams, a part of Prophethood: 

“When the end of time approaches, the dream of a believer can hardly be false. The dream of a believer is one of forty-six parts of prophecy, and whatever is from prophecy does not lie.” (Bukhari)

Good dreams being one forty-six of prophecy could mean one of three things:

1. The obvious meaning is that prophecy is composed of forty- six things/characteristics, and the good dream of a righteous Muslim is one of them.
2. The second explanation is that good dream are a part of the knowledge contained in prophethood.” Although prophethood ended with the death of the final prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), part of this knowledge of prophecy survives in the form of good dreams. 
3. The third explanation is that for six months prior to the commencement of his mission, the prophet experienced dreams that came true. Since he received revelation for twenty three years, the period of true dreams is equivalent to a forty-sixth part of prophethood.

Al-Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi al-Maliki said: No one knows what the parts of prophethood really are except an angel or prophet. Rather all that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) wanted to do was highlight that dreams are one of the parts of prophethood in general, because in the dream one may learn about some matters of the unseen in some respect. As for the details of the other parts, knowledge of that is something that is for the prophets alone.

Lying about Dreams: 

As good dreams are from Allah and are related to prophethood, it is prohibited to lie about them: “Indeed the worst lie is that of a person who falsely claims to have a dream.” (Bukhari)