Does the dreams have any importance in Islam?

1. Good Dreams are part of Prophetism:

Allah’s Apostle said,

“A good Dream (that comes true) of a righteous man is one of forty-six
parts of prophetism.”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 112)

The Prophet said,

“A true good Dream is from Allah, and a bad Dream is from Satan.”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 113)

I heard Allah’s Apostle saying,

“Nothing is left of the prophetism except Al-Mubashshirat.”
They asked, “What are Al-Mubashshirat?” He replied, “The true good
dreams (that conveys glad tidings).”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 119)

2. Seeing the Prophet (‫ )صلی ہللا علیھ وآلھ وسلم‬in dreams:

The Prophet said,

“Who ever has seen me in a Dream, then no doubt, he has seen me, for
Satan cannot imitate my shape.”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 123)

The Prophet said,

“Who ever sees me (in a Dream) then he indeed has seen the truth.”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 125)
The Prophet said,
“Who ever sees me (in a Dream) then he indeed has seen the truth, as
Satan cannot appear in my shape.”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 126)

Is mentioning dreams a bad thing?

1. Prophet (‫ )صلی ہللا علیھ وآلھ وسلم‬mentioned his dreams:

The Prophet said, “…
while I was sleeping last night, the keys of the treasures of the earth were
brought to me till they were put in my hand.”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 127)
Allah’s Apostle said,
“I saw myself (in a Dream) near the Ka’ba last night, and I saw a man with
whitish red complexion …I asked, ‘Who is this man?’ Somebody replied,
‘(He is) Messiah, son of Mary.’ …”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 128)

Allah’s Apostle … said,

“Some of my followers were presented before me in my Dream as fighters
in Allah’s Cause, sailing in the middle of the seas like kings on the thrones
or like kings sitting on their thrones.”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 130)

Above 3 Ahadith show that Prophet (‫ )صلی ہللا علیھ وآلھ وسلم‬used to describe
his dreams, or in other words, narrating one’s dreams is the Sunnah of the
Prophet (‫)صلی ہللا علیھ وآلھ وسلم‬.
2. Prophet (‫ )صلی ہللا علیھ وآلھ وسلم‬asked Sahaba to mention their dreams:

Allah’s Apostle very often used to ask his companions,

“Did anyone of you see a Dream?” So dreams would be narrated to him by
those whom Allah wished to tell.
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 171)

Above Hadith (alongwith other similar ones) show that the Prophet ( ‫صلی‬
‫ )ہللا علیھ وآلھ وسلم‬used to encourage Sahaba to narrate their dreams.

3. Sahaba used to mention their dreams:

Narated By Ibn ‘Umar:
Men from the companions of Allah’s Apostle used to see dreams during
the lifetime of Allah’s Apostle and they used to narrate those dreams to
Allah’s Apostle. Allah’s Apostle would interpret them as Allah wished.
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 155)

Narated By Ibn ‘Umar:

I was a young unmarried man during the lifetime of the Prophet. I used to
sleep in the mosque. Anyone who had a Dream, would narrate it to the
Prophet.
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 156)

Narated By Abu Salama:

I used to see a Dream which would make me sick till I heard Abu Qatada
saying,
“I too, used to see a Dream which would make me sick …”
(Bukhari Vol. 9, Book 87, No. 168)
First 2 Ahadith show that narrating a Dream to the Prophet ( ‫صلی ہللا علیھ‬
‫ )وآلھ وسلم‬was a common practice of Sahaba.
The third Hadith shows that Sahaba used to narrate their dreams to each
other.

Narrations of Dreams from Various Schools of Thought:

1. Elders through the ages:

Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani (‫ )رحمت ہللا علیھ‬has mentioned his dreams in
“Bahja tul Asrar” which is an account of what ever he used to describe in
his sittings (in front of thousands of people).

Hazrat Ali Hajvari (‫ )رحمت ہللا علیھ‬has mentioned his dreams in his famous
book “Kashaf ul Mahjoob”.

Imam Shairani, in his book “Tabaqat” writes that Imam Jilal ud Din Syuoti
saw the Prophet (70 )‫ صلی ہللا علیھ وآلھ وسلم‬times not in his Dream but while
he was awake. This shows that Imam Jilal ud Din Syuoti mentioned about
his ziyara and hence others recorded this in the books.

Shah Wali Ullah has written a full-fledged book (namely “Ad dur us Samin
Fi Mubasharat un Nabi ul Ameen”) in which he has gathered 40 dreams
seen by him or his teachers.

And there is a long list of elders who not only described their dreams, but
they also recorded them in books.