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Clothes in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
الثياب في المنام
In Islam, dreaming of clothes points to the dreamer’s state in his religion and in his life. The Ibn Sirin collection says the best clothes are new, thick and loose. Worn-out and dirty clothes announce poverty, worry and corruption in religion. Colour matters too: white and green are praised, and yellow announces an illness.
وأفضل الثياب ما كان جديدا صفيقا واسعاIn the Ibn Sirin collection: “The best clothes are those that are new, thick and loose.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 29, vol. 1, p. 247
This sentence opens the chapter of the collection on garments, their colours and their fabrics. There, clothing closely follows the condition of the one who wears it: his wealth, his worries, his religion. The Prophet ﷺ himself interpreted as religion the shirts he had seen on people in his dream.
The shirts and religion, from the hadith
Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
بينا أنا نائم رأيت الناس عرضوا علي، وعليهم قمص، فمنها ما يبلغ الثدي، ومنها ما يبلغ دون ذلك، وعرض علي عمر بن الخطاب وعليه قميص يجتره. قالوا: فما أولته يا رسول الله؟ قال: الدين“While I was sleeping, I saw (in a dream) the people being displayed before me, wearing shirts, some of which (were so short that it) reached as far as their breasts and some reached below that. Then ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab was shown to me and he was wearing a shirt which he was dragging (behind him).” They asked, “What have you interpreted (about the dream)? O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)?” He said, “The religion.”
Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 7009, narrated by Abu Sa’id al-Khudri
The Ibn Sirin collection reports this dream in the same chapter, when it comes to the shirt.
The meaning according to what you saw
The collection sorts clothes by fabric, colour and condition. Here are the cases it describes, in the order of the text.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| Clothes of wool or cotton | Wealth. Clothes of hair are a lesser wealth than wool, and clothes of linen a lesser wealth than cotton.vol. 1, p. 247 |
| White clothes | Beauty in this world and in religion. The collection adds further on that this is good for someone who is used to wearing them. For a craftsman who does not work in white, it means a halt in his work.vol. 1, pp. 247 and 255 |
| Red clothes | Good for women. They are disliked for men, because the text calls them “the adornment of Satan”, except on a waist-wrapper, a bed sheet or a blanket that a man does not show in public: then it is joy. According to another opinion, red is worry.vol. 1, p. 247 |
| Yellow clothes | An illness, whatever the garment.vol. 1, p. 247 |
| Green clothes | Good in religion, because it is the clothing of the people of Paradise. For a living person, an inheritance. For a deceased person, the sign that he left this world as a martyr.vol. 1, pp. 247 and 255 |
| Black clothes | Good for someone who wears them when awake and is known for it: prestige, wealth and authority. For others, they are disliked. According to another opinion, for a sick person, they are a sign of death.vol. 1, pp. 247 and 255 |
| Blue clothes | Worry and sadness.vol. 1, p. 255 |
| New clothes | Good for the rich and the poor alike: they announce prosperity and joy.vol. 1, p. 256 |
| New but torn clothes | If the dreamer is able to mend such clothes, he is a victim of sorcery. If the tear cannot be mended, he will have a child.vol. 1, p. 256 |
| Worn-out or torn clothes | Worn-out clothes are grief. Wearing two worn-out, torn garments one over the other announces the dreamer’s death. A garment torn across means the dreamer’s honour is harmed; torn lengthwise, it is relief.vol. 1, p. 258 |
| Dirty clothes, washed or taken off | Dirt without grease shows a corrupted religion and many sins; with grease, a spoiled worldly life. Washing the dirt out of them is repentance. Taking off dirty clothes, or burning them, is the end of worries.vol. 1, p. 258 |
| A wet garment | An obstacle to a journey or to a planned matter, which will not happen until the garment has dried.vol. 1, p. 258 |
Ibn Sirin’s story about the torn cloak
وسئل ابن سيرين عن رجل رأى كأن عليه رداء جديدا من برد يمان قد تخرقت حواشيه فقال هذا رجل قد تعلم شيئا من القرآن ثم نسيهIbn Sirin was asked about a man who saw himself wearing a new cloak, made of a Yemeni fabric, whose edges were torn. He replied: “This is a man who learned part of the Qur’an, then forgot it.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 29, vol. 1, p. 253
Just before this story, the collection says that the cloak stands for the trust (amâna) placed in a man, because it rests on the neck, the seat of the trust.
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 clothes in a dream a good sign in Islam?
It depends on their condition. The Ibn Sirin collection says the best clothes are new, thick and loose, and that new clothes announce prosperity and joy. Worn-out and dirty clothes, on the other hand, announce poverty, worry and a corrupted religion (vol. 1, p. 247).
What does wearing new clothes in a dream mean in Islam?
According to the collection, new clothes are good for the rich and the poor alike and announce prosperity and joy (vol. 1, p. 256). If they are new but torn, the meaning changes: sorcery if the tear can be mended, the birth of a child if it cannot.
What does dirty clothes or washing clothes mean in a dream in Islam?
Dirt on clothes shows, without grease, a corrupted religion and many sins, and with grease, a spoiled worldly life. Washing these clothes is repentance, and taking them off is the end of worries (vol. 1, p. 258).
What do the colours of clothes mean in a dream in Islam?
White is beauty in this world and in religion, and green is good in religion, because it is the clothing of the people of Paradise. Yellow is an illness and blue a worry. Black is prestige for someone who wears it when awake, and red suits women but is disliked for men.
Is seeing torn clothes in a dream bad in Islam?
Often, yes. Worn-out clothes are grief, and wearing two of them, worn-out and torn, one over the other announces the dreamer’s death. The collection makes one exception: a garment torn lengthwise is relief, whereas torn across, it touches on honour (vol. 1, p. 258).
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 29, vol. 1, pp. 247 to 258 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Sahih al-Bukhari, book of dream interpretation, no. 7009.
- Sahih Muslim, no. 2263, for the three kinds of dreams.
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.