Title: Seeing the Prophet (pbuh) in a Dream Question: A friend of mine Mr. XYZ [name withheld] is of the view that Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) comes in dreams and guides his followers as to how they should practice Islam. He challenges me that I may visit his spiritual leader ( Sufi Massud Ahmad Siddiqi popularly known as Lasani Sarkar ) in Faisalabad to experience for my self this phenomenon. Please guide us both what is the value of such an experience in the context of the Shari`ah . He quotes a Hadith where by it is said that who has seen the prophet in dream has actually seen him. Please guide us. Answer: This is an absolutely unfounded point of view. As far as the guidance of the Prophet (pbuh) is concerned, it is compiled and made secure from all adulterations for all times to come, in the shape of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh). The question is, what else do we need and why? The Qur'an has clearly stated that God's guidance to mankind has been completed: This day I have perfected your Deen for you and have [thereby] completed my favor upon you and have preferred the way of submission [Islam] for you. ( Al-Maaidah 5: 3) Any further (religious) guidance, in view of the above verse, is neither required nor given. As far as the referred narrative ( Hadith ) ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) is concerned, it is obvious that narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) do not provide adequate basis for forming a religious belief. After all, how can we reject the possibility that the statement being ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) in any given narrative may have been slightly misconstrued by any one of the narrators who heard it or may have been incorrectly narrated by any one of them. Thus, without a clear basis in the Qur'an or the Sunnah , a Hadith has to be considered with extreme care. It should be remembered that Hadith , for all practical purposes is generally not a narration of the words of the Prophet (pbuh) but a narration of some words ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh). There is a considerable chance that such ascription, due to innumerable variables, may not be absolutely accurate. Taking the referred narrative to imply - as your friend has implied - that the Prophet (pbuh) still visits his followers and guides them regarding matters relating to the practice of Islam, is to believe that a person's dreams [in which he sees the Prophet] are a source of religious knowledge. This, as any one can see, is a very grave implication. It would therefore be advisable that your friend be asked what is the basis of holding this point of view in the Qur'an or the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) - the two basic and primary sources of Islamic knowledge. However, in my opinion, a close look at the words of the referred narrative ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) shows that the problem is not so much in the words ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) but with the referred interpretation of this narrative. In Sahih Bukhari , the referred narrative has been recorded as: ... When someone sees me in his dream, he really sees me, for satan cannot appear in my face . The underlined words should be given close thought. The narrative does not say that satan cannot fraudulently act to be the Prophet (pbuh), while appearing with the face of someone else. It only says that satan cannot appear with the face of the Prophet (pbuh). In other words, the narrative does not refute the chance that satan appears in my dream [in the face of someone unknown to me] and says that he is Mohammed. It seems that an important point that your friend has missed in his interpretation of the referred narrative ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) is that the addressee of this statement - if the words are correctly ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) - were the companions of the Prophet (pbuh), who were quite familiar with the face of the Prophet (pbuh). They are the people who were told that if they see the person - whom they know to be the prophet of God - in their dreams, they should know that satan cannot misguide them by appearing in that particular face. We, on the other hand, not having seen the Prophet (pbuh) cannot say whether the face that has appeared in our dream, as the face of the prophet of God is really the face of the Prophet (pbuh) or not. 20 th January 2000