Seeing the prophet in visions, dreams

[greenpeace]

Salam

A sister who recently went to Hajj was narrating her experiences. She stated, that unlike others whom she interacted with, she saw the prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam in a vision [during the hajj] in which he appeared as an old man, or I think she meant in his fifties (- she also mentioned that he, sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam looked the same as when he performed the hijrah..I don't know ok, somehow she just knew)

I wanted to know if there is any significance attached to seeing the prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wa Sallam as an old person or seeing as youthful etc.

[Alhumdulillah]

This article is written by another brother, based on a talk by Shaykh Yaqoobi of Syria.
I hope you find it beneficial.

May Allah Ta'ala increase us all in love for Him and His Nabi SallAllahu Alayhe Wa Sallam.
May He bless us with visiting and talking to the Prophet SallAllahu Alayhe Wa Sallam in our dreams time and time again, Ameen.
May He ease our difficulties and take care of our problems, Ameen.


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A Forgotten Supplication

"The believer is a mirror for (another) believer" – hadîth of the Prophet

When one stands or sits in front of a mirror, one becomes aware of
one's defects and can take appropriate steps to fix them before going
out into the real world. When we spend time in the company of
believers, we become aware of our internal deficiencies (by seeing
their goodness) and thus are reminded to fix them. However, if that
mirror is dusty, it cannot show any defects, and the mirror itself
will look displeasing, causing one to devise methods to clean the
mirror.

This was a segment of a talk given by Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya`qoubi (may
Allah protect him) at the Seerah Conference on Saturday, July 3, 2004
that preluded one of the greatest displays of scholarship that I have
ever witnessed. He continued by saying that we must therefore make the
Prophet (salallahu `alayhi wa sallam) our mirror (since he is a
believer) as he is the shiniest of all possible mirrors; if one wants
to know one's deficiencies, then one should look in the mirror of the
Prophet.

Unfortunately for us, we have not been blessed to have the physical
vision of the Prophet in our lifetimes. However, the door of seeing
him in our dreams has not been closed, and seeing him in a dream is
one of the greatest rewards one can receive in this world. Moreover, a
vision of the Prophet is true, since Shaytan cannot impersonate the
Prophet. Shaytan did come to Shaykh Abdul-Qadir Jilani in the form of
Allah and told him to stop praying—which of course, caused Shaykh
Abdul-Qadir to curse Shaytan off, since he know that drawing nearer to
Allah actually means to increase one's worship.

Shaykh Muhammad then continued by talking about the amazing Shama'il
Tirmidhi, which starts with the physical description of the Prophet,
and the final section is on seeing him in a dream. He said that if one
truly grasps the meaning of the Shama'il, one will see the Prophet in
a dream, and hence he includes the physical characteristics such that
the dreamer can recognize the Prophet. The Prophet also said, on the
authority of `Abdullah b. Mas`ûd, that "One who sees me in a dream has
really seen me, for Shaytan cannot impersonate me." He then said that
he was thinking about this hadith in the plane from England to the
United States, and he realized that there were many dreams of the
Prophet that people had in the past that the scholars had wrote down
in various places, but that there wasn't a single work where all of
these had been compiled. So he said that since he had nothing else to
do on the plane, he took out a sheet of paper, and went through his
memory of various books, and started to write down all the confirmed
interpretations of people seeing the Prophet in various states in
their dreams, and what the scholars (especially Ibn Sireen)
interpreted them to represent. He said that we may see the Prophet in
many forms, but we should note his physical description because even
that will tell us something about our behavior.

Then, like a normal person reciting their multiplication tables,
Shaykh Muhammad then listed out, with no notes, all the ways a person
can see the Prophet in a dream, and what each means, as explained by
our great classical scholars. I feverishly copied them down and have
reproduced them here. My commentary on certain points is in italics:

• If one sees the Prophet taller than he was, then it means that a
fitnah will come
• If you see him shorter than he was, then it means you are a person
of treachery
• If you see him without a beard, then it means you lack righteousness
• If you see him without hair/shaved head, then it means you haven't
done Hajj and you ought to (i.e., you are financially able and
responsible)
• If you see him with too much hair, then it means you are too
extravagant in spending
• If you see him leaning on something, then it means your problems
will be removed
• If you see him as a younger person, then there is a fitnah coming
and you should get away from that locality.
• If you see him as an elder person, then the political affairs of the
state will improve
• If you see him in a darker shade of skin, it means your tawbah
(repentance) has been accepted
• If you see him in a whiter shade of skin, it means you will have
istiqâmah (constancy) in matters of religion
• If you see him with longer legs, it means the current ruler will
rule for a long time.
• If you see him with bigger thighs, it means you will have lots of
wealth and children.
• If you see him with his hands open, it means you will go on Hajj
soon and be prosperous (financially)
• If you see him with his hands closed, it means you have stinginess within you
• If you see him with a bigger neck, it means a righteous ruler will
soon come to the land
• If you shake hands with him in the dream, it means you will enter
Paradise (according to the hadith: "Whosoever shakes my hand will
enter Paradise")
• If you walk with him, then it means you will follow his sunnah
• If you sit with him, then it means you will enjoin good and give
good counsel to others
• If you sleep next to him, it means your body won't get eaten in the grave
• If you take knowledge from him, it means you will marry from ahl
al-bayt (the family of Prophet)
• If (as a woman, obviously =)…) you see yourself pregnant in the
dream and meet him, and then give birth later to a boy, you should
name him Muhammad and he will be a righteous believer
• If you hear him give a speech in your dream, it means that Islam
will be triumphant
• If you see him wearing armor, then it means the Muslims will be victorious
• If you see him making wudu, it means you need to make tawbah
• If you see him making ghusl, it means you like women too much
(Shaykh Muhammad Ya`qoubi's words… not mine…)
• If you see him making adhân, then you will have victory over your enemies
• If you see yourself answering this adhân that he is making, you will
go to Hajj soon.
• If you see him giving iqâmah, then there will be unity amongst the
Muslims (dang, we need someone to have this dream soon)
• If you see him barefoot, it means you are not praying enough of your
prayers in congregation and you need to increase praying in
congregation.
• If you see him wearing leather socks, then your du'a will be
accepted (I think, I don't know if I wrote this down accurately… take
it for what it's worth)
• If you see him walking with guards, there is a plot against you
• If you see him combing his hair, then your worries will be removed
• If you see him applying kohl (dye) on his eyes, you will study hadîth
• If you see him putting a turban on you, you will be a leader
• If you see him put a cap (topi) on you, you will be a walî (saint) of Allah.
• If you see him put a cloak (burdah) on you, you will have political authority.
• If you see him give you an izar (waist wrapper, i.e. in Urdu,
lungi), you will get married soon
• If you see him give you a shirt (khamîs), you will be a successful businessman
• If you see him give you a coat, then you will be a minister
• If you see him give you armor, then you will be a mujahid (warrior
for the sake of God) and you will die the death of a martyr (shahîd)
• If you kiss his right hand, then you will soon propose to and marry
a woman (or man, I guess, if you're willing to go propose…) of ahl
al-bayt (family of the Prophet)
• If you kiss his left hand, you will be wealthy
• If you kiss his head, you will be more successful than others
• If you kiss his feet, you will live in Madinah for a while
• If you kiss his belly, you will die as a martyr
• If you kiss his shoes, you will have honor and glory in both worlds.
• If you kiss his turban, you will have the company of awliya (people of God)
• If you kiss his shoulder, you will marry from the Banî Hâshim (the
familial tribe of the Prophet, branch of the Quraysh)
• If you see him at the beginning of the night, you will have a good
ending to your life
• If you see him in the middle of the night, you will become a wali at age 40.
• If you see him at the end of the night, your worries will be removed.
• If you see him in your sleep after Fajr, it means you are not making
enough dhikr (remembrance of God)
• If you see him in your sleep after the sun has risen after Fajr, it
means you are lazy and need to stop sleeping so much (dang, that's
referring to me for sure… how cool is that though, our scholars
interpreted seeing the Prophet after Fajr as one meaning, and then
seeing him after the sun has risen after Fajr as another meaning)
• If you see him in your sleep after Zuhr, it means you need to be
less engaged in worldly matters (dunya)
• If you see him in your sleep after `Asr, it means you are not loyal
to the present ruler
• If you see him in your sleep after Maghrib, it means you are lazy
and need to stop sleeping so much
• If you see him when you have debt, it means Allah will provide a
means for your debt to be paid off
• If you see him when you are traveling, it means you will have a safe return
• If you see him while you are a student, it means you will be
successful in attaining knowledge (Shaykh Muhammad commented here that
it also means one will be successful in an exam… man, I wish I can see
the Prophet the night before I take my Step 1 Board exams, Inshallah)
• If you see him and you are an honest businessman, you will be given
more profit and wealth in your business
• If you see him and you are a mujahid, you will be given victory
• If you see him and you drink blood from him, you will be the bravest
of the brave
• If you see him and you drink from his saliva, you will be eloquent in speech
• If you see him and you drink from his urine, you will have freedom
from the Hellfire
• If you drink from the water of his wudu, your face will shine with
brightness on the Day of Judgment
• If you drink from the same drink/vessel that he is drinking from,
you will given much wisdom
• If he offers you water to drink and you drink it, it means you will
be live a life of zuhd (asceticism)
• If you eat bread from him, you will be given lots of wealth
• If you eat dates from him, you will be given a large inheritance
• If you eat grapes from him, you will be able to memorize many texts
• If you eat bananas from him, you will be given a long life
• If you drink milk given by him, you will be given ma`rifah
(knowledge) of Allah
• If he gives you gold/silver, you will soon get married
• If he gives you honey to drink, you will memorize the Qur'an
(interesting personal story on this… perhaps in a later post)
• If he gives you a mushaf (copy) of the Qur'an, you will have the
correct verdict to solve the conflict (I'm assuming that this refers
to a person who is in a position to give a verdict, such as a judge or
arbitrator between two people?)
• If he gives you a text other than the Qur'an, you will be a teacher
of sacred knowledge
• If he gives you a pen, you will be a writer for the sake of God
• If he gives you a sword, you will be a ruler
• If he gives you a miswâk (tooth-stick), you will live long and enjoy
a healthy life.

Here ends the 79 ways that Shaykh Muhammad al-Ya`qoubi mentioned that
one can see the Prophet in a dream.

[greenpeace]

Thank you for sharing that. JazaakAllah.

May Allah Ta'ala increase us all in love for Him and His Nabi SallAllahu Alayhe Wa Sallam.
May He bless us with visiting and talking to the Prophet SallAllahu Alayhe Wa Sallam in our dreams time and time again, Ameen.
May He ease our difficulties and take care of our problems, Ameen.

Ameen.