“It was so scary— terrible things happened, and it all seemed so real!
”

Good news: You can now gain rewards by dealing with your dreams the sunnah way!

The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said: Dreams are of three types: a dream from Allah (rahmaani), a dream which causes distress and which comes from the Shaytaan (shaytaani), and a dream which comes from what a person thinks about when he is awake, and he sees it when he is asleep (nafsaani). [Al-Bukhaari, 6499; Muslim, 4200]

What should you do when you have a bad dream?

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: If any one of you sees a dream that he likes, this is from Allah, so let him praise Allah for it and talk about it to others. If he sees other than that, a dream that he dislikes, this is from the shaytan, so let him seek refuge with Allah from its evil and not mention it to anyone, for it will not harm him. [Al-Bukhaari, 6584; Muslim, 5862]

And:

If any one of you sees a dream that he dislikes, let him spit to his left three times, and seek refuge with Allah from the shaytan three times, and turn over from the side on which he was sleeping. [Muslim, 5864]

The Next Time You Have a Bad Dream . . .

• Seek refuge with Allah from the evil of the dream and from the evil of the shaytan.
• Spit to your left three times when you wake up (soft, dry spitting without saliva being ejected).
• Pray (. . . whoever sees something he dislikes (in a dream)  . . . should get up and pray. [Al-Bukhaari, Baab al-Qayd fil Manaam])
• Turn to lie on your other side.
• Don’t mention the dream to anyone at all!

When You Have a Good Dream . . .

• Praise Allah and feel happy about it.
• Talk about it, but only with those who are dear to you or with someone who can give helpful advice.

Praying you will benefit,

The Understand Quran Academy team