What is the Sharee‘ah (Islamic legislation) ruling on interpreting dreams?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.

In principle, the dream interpretation of dreams (meaning visions) is permissible under Sharee‘ah. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to interpret his visions and those of others. It was reported on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas that Abu Bakr interpreted visions in the presence of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who told him that he was correct in some cases and mistaken in others. [Al-Bukhari]

This Hadeeth (narration) is evidence that interpreting dreams is permissible for people other than the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. There are many examples narrated in Saheeh (authentic) books of Hadeeth about interpretations made by the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. ‘Awf ibn Maalik narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that there are three types of visions: a dream which comes from the accursed Satan and causes grief to the son of Aadam; a dream which comes from what a person thinks about when he is awake and he sees it when he is asleep, and a vision which is one of the forty-six parts of Prophethood. [Ibn Maajah and Ibn Abi Shaybah: Saheeh]

The first type which comes from the accursed Satan, should neither be interpreted nor told to others.  It was reported on the authority of Jaabir that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said that if Satan touches the Muslim during his sleep , he should not tell anyone about it. [Muslim]

The second type of dreams have the same rules as the first type because they are not visions but rather they are things that preoccupy a person when he is awake and they linger in his memory so he sees them in his sleep.

The third type are visions which are one of the forty-six parts of prophethood. This is the type that should be interpreted. However, Imaam Maalik stated that not all people are entitled to interpret visions, since it would mean acting playfully with an aspect of prophethood as mentioned in the above Hadeeth (that it is a part of forty-six parts of prophethood). He stated that only a skillful person is permitted to do so. If he sees something good, he should talk about it and if he sees otherwise, he should either say something good or remain silent.

Generally speaking, there is no difference in opinion among scholars regarding the permissibility of interpreting dreams due to the abundance of Hadeeths in this regard. Only atheists and some Mu‘tazilites (a deviant sect) deny visions, as stated by Ibn ‘Abd Al-Barr .

And Allaah Knows best.