Question:
Can a dream establish facts about the unseen world?
Answer:
The story (from the questioner’s video) describes two companions who made an agreement to care for each other’s families if one of them died first. After one of them died, the other supposedly saw him in a dream. In the dream the deceased man said he had borrowed ten dinars from a Jew and had not repaid it, and that the money was hidden in his house. The dreamer later searched the house, found the money, repaid the debt, and several other details from the dream supposedly came true.
This story appears in a book called “Manamat” by Ibn Abi al-Dunya. But we must examine it carefully.
First, the entire story is based on a dream. Can a dream establish facts about the unseen world?
In Islamic belief, when a righteous believer dies and is buried, after the questioning in the grave he is placed in a peaceful state like a newly married bridegroom sleeping peacefully until the Day of Resurrection.
If a deceased person is resting like that, how can information about every event in the world reach him? How could he know that a cat in his house died? How could he know that his daughter would die in six days?
The Qur’an clearly states that knowledge of the unseen belongs only to Allahﷻ. No one knows what will happen tomorrow or where a person will die. If someone claims that a deceased person knew exactly when another person would die, that contradicts the Qur’anic teaching about the unseen.
Moreover, consider the logic of dreams, if someone appears in your dream, does that mean that person truly came to you? Suppose you dream about someone. The next day you go and tell him: “You came in my dream last night.” He will likely say, “I never came to your dream. I was asleep in my own house.” He himself would not know anything about it.
If he had actually visited your dream, he should be aware of it. But usually, he has no knowledge at all. Therefore, dreams cannot be treated as real communication from that person.
Sometimes a dream might show a familiar face, but that does not mean the actual person came. A knowledgeable scholar should immediately recognize that such a dream is either imagination or deception.
Even worse, the story claims that the dream predicted a future death in six days. That would mean knowledge of the unseen was transferred through a dream. This contradicts the fundamental Islamic belief that knowledge of future events belongs only to Allahﷻ.
If such stories are accepted, people could start claiming: “The Prophetﷺ came to me in a dream and taught me a new prayer.” If someone said that, would we accept it? Obviously not.
Religious laws cannot be established through dreams. Therefore, this story is nothing but a fabricated tale that contradicts the teachings of the Qur’an. Anyone who believes such claims is indirectly denying the Qur’anic principle that knowledge of the unseen belongs only to Allahﷻ.
So, this story must be rejected completely. It is a false narrative that undermines Islamic belief.
