“good dream” (ruya hasana)—as distinguished
from demonic-inspired “muddled dreams” (adghath
al-ahlam)—has provided a paradigm for the social
acceptance of dreams and visions as authoritative
in Islamicate societies up until the modern period.
The proliferation of dream narratives in Islamic
(auto)biographical writings, historical chronicles,
belles-lettres, and philosophical treatises demon-
strates that they fulfill the social functions of arbi-
ters of contested religious and political aUthority
and sources of communal or individual guidance.
Traditionally, oneiric accounts have predominated
in Sufi (auto)biographies.
Quranic narratives of the dreams and visions
of prophets and kings follow the biblical accounts.
abraham’s vision (manam) ordering him to sacri-
fice his son (Q 12:102), the dreams of Joseph, and
the “muddled, confused dreams” of Pharaoh (Q
12:44), among others, are recorded. The Islamic
inheritance of this oneiric legacy is seen in the
scriptural references to Muhammad’s dreams
and visionary experiences, which prefigure criti-
cal events in his life. Prior to the Battle of Badr,
God granted Muhammad a dream of the victory
(Q 8:43). His triumphal entrance into mecca is
described as the fulfillment of the vision (ruya)
of God’s apostle (Q 48:27). The narrative of
Muhammad’s Night Journey to JerUsalem (isra)
and heavenly ascension (miraj) reads “We [God]
granted the vision [ruya] which we showed thee,
but as a trial for men” (Q 17:60). Despite this
quranic attestation of a vision, most Muslims
believe that the ascension was an actual physical
journey manifesting Muhammad’s charismatic
powers.
The science of oneiromancy flourished under
Islam due to the interest in interpreting Muham-
mad’s dreams and his declaration that in the
absence of further prophecies after him, God
would continue to guide human beings through
“good dreams.” The most renowned system-
atic oneirocritics of the Islamic period include
Ibn Sirin (d. 728), al-Dinawari (alive in 1006),
al-Shahin (15th century), and al-Nabulusi (d.
1731). Treatises on the subject by the latter three
authors still survive and show the influence of
Artemidorus’s Oneirocritica, which was translated
into Arabic by Hunayn ibn Ishaq (d. 873), the
Christian transmitter of Greek philosophy to the
Arabs. Such treatises typically expound defini-
tions and procedures of dream interpretation, the
duties of the oneirocritic, and elaborate systems of
dream classification.
For Islamic philosophers such as ibn sina
(d. 1037) and ibn rUshd (d. 1198), dreams were
manifestations of ultimate reality, instruments
through which God (the divine intellect) trans-
mitted knowledge to mankind. In Sufi narratives,
spiritual progress is often recounted in ascend-
ing stages patterned on Muhammad’s heavenly
ascension. Autobiographical accounts of Sufis’
dreams authenticate the authors’ own piety and
charisma vis-à-vis their peers. Often, as with al-
ghazali (d. 1111), a dream could be a liminal
experience marking a conversion to a new spiri-
tual state. Medieval historical chronicles often
exploited the symbolic nature and authority of
dreams to surreptitiously reveal an ostensibly
neutral author’s true opinion about a communal
dispute.
In the modern period, dreams continue to
function as loci of power for Sufis and as alterna-
tive sources of authority for political or religious
reformers. Thus, Shah Wali Allah of Delhi (d.
1762) became convinced of his mission to reform
the Islamic umma after dreaming of Muhammad
and his grandsons. The Fulani leader Usman dan
Fodio (d. 1817) justified his Jihad against social
corruption in response to a dream of the prophet
Muhammad. Nevertheless, some contemporary
Arabs and Muslims have exhibited skepticism
toward the authority of dreams. This is true of
Salafi reformers seeking to purify Islam from
the “innovations” of popular and Sufi religious
practices, such as mUhammad abdUh (d. 1905)
and mUhammad rashid rida (d. 1935), who
had studied European ideas on skepticism and
rationality.dreams 203 J