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Angels in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
الملائكة في المنام
In Islam, seeing angels in a dream is good news when they are recognisable and joyful. The Ibn Sirin collection then sees honour, strength, victory after injustice, healing after illness and safety after fear. The meaning depends on the angel and what it does: Mikail announces rain for a town, but looking at the angels is a misfortune, and being cursed by them a weakness in religion.
رؤية الملائكة في النوم إذا كانوا معروفين مستبشرين تدل على ظهور شيء لصاحب الرؤيا وعز وقوة وبشارة ونصرة بعد ظلم وشفاء بعد مرض أو أمن بعد خوف أو يسر بعد فقر أو فرح بعد شدةIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “Seeing the angels in a dream, if they are recognisable and joyful, announces to the dreamer something that comes to light, honour, strength, good news, victory after injustice, healing after illness, safety after fear, ease after poverty or joy after hardship.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 3, vol. 1, p. 62
This sentence is by Abu Sa’id, the author of the collection, at the start of chapter 3, which is devoted to the angels. Its condition matters: the angels must be recognisable and joyful. The chapter then deals with Jibril, Mikail, Israfil and the Angel of Death, peace be upon them, and then with what the angels do with the dreamer. The Angel of Death belongs with dreams of death and is not covered on this page.
The angels in the dream of Abdullah ibn Umar
Abdullah ibn Umar, a young man who slept in the mosque, asked Allah to show him a dream that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would interpret for him. He said:
فنمت فرأيت ملكين أتياني فانطلقا بي، فلقيهما ملك آخر فقال لي لن تراع، إنك رجل صالح، فانطلقا بي إلى النار، فإذا هي مطوية كطي البئر، وإذا فيها ناس قد عرفت بعضهم، فأخذا بي ذات اليمين، فلما أصبحت ذكرت ذلك لحفصة. فزعمت حفصة أنها قصتها على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: إن عبد الله رجل صالح لو كان يكثر الصلاة من الليل“So I slept and saw (in a dream) two angels came to me and took me along with them, and they met another angel who said to me, ‘Don’t be afraid, you are a good man.’ They took me towards the Fire, and behold, it was built inside like a well, and therein I saw people some of whom I recognized, and then the angels took me to the right side. In the morning, I mentioned that dream to Hafsa.” Hafsa told me that she had mentioned it to the Prophet ﷺ and he said, “‘Abdullah is a righteous man if he only prays more at night.”
Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 7031, narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar
Az-Zuhri, one of the narrators, added that after this, Abdullah used to pray more at night.
The meaning according to what you saw
The Ibn Sirin collection devotes its chapter 3 to the angels. Here are the cases it describes, in the order of the text.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| You see Jibril, peace be upon him | Receiving food from him: you will be, if Allah wills, among the people of Paradise. Seeing him sad and worried: a trial and a punishment strike you, because the text presents him here as the angel of punishment.vol. 1, p. 62 |
| You see Mikail, peace be upon him | If you are pious, you obtain what you hope for in both worlds. If not, be careful. If he appears in a town or a village, its people receive rain and prices there go down.vol. 1, pp. 62 and 63 |
| You see Israfil, sad, blowing the Trumpet | If you think you are the only one to hear it, you die. If you think the people of the place hear it, a mass death strikes that place. According to another opinion, it is justice after injustice and the ruin of the unjust in that region. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 63 |
| Angels hold trays of fruit | You leave this world as a martyr.vol. 1, p. 63 |
| An angel enters your home | Beware of a thief who might enter your house.vol. 1, p. 63 |
| The angels bow or prostrate before you | You obtain what you wish for, and your reputation and position rise.vol. 1, p. 64 |
| You fly with the angels, or rise with them to the sky without coming back | You gain honour in this world, then you die as a martyr.vol. 1, p. 64 |
| You look at the angels, or they curse you | Looking at them: a misfortune strikes you, according to the verse: “The day they see the angels, no good tidings will there be that day for the criminals.” Being cursed by them: a sign of weakness in your religion.vol. 1, p. 64 |
| You see the noble scribes, the angels who record deeds | Joy and happiness in this world and the next, and a good end, if you are among the people of good. If not, there is reason to fear for you.vol. 1, p. 65 |
| The angel looks like an old man, a young man or a child | According to some interpreters: an old man, time past; a young man, the present time; a child, the time to come. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 65 |
| You yourself take the form of an angel | In hardship, you find relief. A slave is set free. A man of rank obtains a position of leadership. For a sick person, this dream announces his death.vol. 1, p. 65 |
| The angels greet you | Allah gives you insight in your life and a good end.vol. 1, p. 65 |
Before you interpret your dream
Not every dream carries a meaning. The Prophet ﷺ described three kinds: a good dream, which is glad tidings from Allah; a distressing dream, which comes from Satan; and what a person tells himself during the day (Sahih Muslim, no. 2263). Only the first is read with a collection like Ibn Sirin’s. See the three kinds of dreams, and if your dream frightened you, what to do after a bad dream.
Frequently asked questions
Is seeing angels in a dream a good sign in Islam?
Yes, when the angels are recognisable and joyful: honour, victory, healing and safety (vol. 1, p. 62). The collection also mentions unfavourable cases: looking at the angels announces a misfortune, and being cursed by them a weakness in religion (vol. 1, p. 64).
What does an angel in human form mean in a dream in Islam?
According to some interpreters quoted in the collection, an angel that looks like an old man points to the past, one that looks like a young man to the present, and one that looks like a child to the future (vol. 1, p. 65).
What does flying with angels in a dream mean?
Whoever flies with the angels, or rises with them to the sky without coming back, gains honour in this world and then dies as a martyr (vol. 1, p. 64).
Does the collection speak of white angels?
Not under that name. It does say that birds whose species cannot be recognised are angels. Their presence in a place is “a sign of [word damaged in the text] against the unjust and of victory for the oppressed” (vol. 1, p. 65). The damaged word may read “vengeance”.
What does it mean to dream that you are an angel?
The meaning depends on your state: relief if you are in hardship, freedom for a slave, a position of leadership for a man of rank. For a sick person, this dream announces death (vol. 1, p. 65).
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 3, vol. 1, pp. 62 to 65 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of the Interpretation of Dreams, no. 7031 (English translation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan).
- Sahih Muslim, no. 2263, for the three kinds of dreams.
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.