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Cat in a Dream in Islam: Meaning by Ibn Sirin
السنور في المنام
In Islam, a cat seen in a dream has no single meaning. The Ibn Sirin collection reports several opinions: a servant who guards the house, or a thief from within the household. A she-cat can stand for a deceitful woman. A cat that bites or scratches announces betrayal or illness. For the bite, Ibn Sirin spoke of an illness lasting a year.
وكان ابن سيرين يقول هو مرض سنةIbn Sirin said: “It is an illness lasting a year.” He said this of a cat that bites or scratches the dreamer.
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 34, vol. 1, p. 383
Ibn Sirin was speaking here of a cat that bites or scratches the dreamer. The collection places the cat in the chapter on wild animals and beasts of prey, and admits that interpreters disagree about it. It links the cat to anyone who moves around the dreamer: the one who guards him, the one who steals from him, the one who harms him or is useful to him.
The meaning according to what you saw
The main passage on the cat is short. The collection comes back to this animal in other chapters: milk, animal cries, blood. Here are the cases it describes.
| In your dream | Meaning in the collection |
|---|---|
| You see a cat | Opinions differ: a servant who guards the house, or a thief from within the household.vol. 1, p. 382 |
| A she-cat | A bad woman, deceitful and loud. (another opinion quoted in the collection)vol. 1, p. 382 |
| A cat bites or scratches you | Someone who serves you betrays you, or an illness strikes you. Ibn Sirin saw in it an illness lasting a year.vol. 1, pp. 382 and 383 |
| A wild cat | The meaning is more serious.vol. 1, p. 383 |
| A calm she-cat | A year of rest and joy.vol. 1, p. 383 |
| A wild she-cat that does much harm | A hard year, full of fatigue and toil.vol. 1, p. 383 |
| You drink cat’s milk | A minor illness or a dispute.vol. 1, p. 179 |
| A cat meows | Spiteful talk from a servant who steals.vol. 1, pp. 195 and 196 |
| Your shirt is stained with cat’s blood | An unjust and harsh ruler lies about you.vol. 1, p. 292 |
Ibn Sirin’s story about the cat
السنور لص والبطن الخزانة وأكل السنور منه سرقةA woman came to Ibn Sirin and said: “I saw a cat put its head into my husband’s belly, take something out of it and eat it.” He replied: “If your dream is true, tonight a thief will enter your husband’s shop and steal three hundred and sixteen dirhams from him.” It happened exactly so. The thief was a bathhouse worker from the neighbourhood, and the money was recovered. Ibn Sirin was asked how he knew. He said: “The cat is a thief, the belly is the strongbox, and what the cat eats from it is theft.”
Muntakhab al-kalâm, chapter 34, vol. 1, pp. 383 and 384
For the sum, Ibn Sirin added up the numerical value of the letters of the Arabic word sinnawr, “cat”. The collection keeps this story as an example of his method: each element of the dream receives its own meaning.
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 a cat in a dream good or bad in Islam?
It is not always bad. The Ibn Sirin collection sees the cat as a servant who guards the house, or as a thief. A calm she-cat announces a year of rest and joy, a wild she-cat a hard year.
What does a cat attacking, biting or scratching you in a dream mean in Islam?
According to the collection, someone who serves you betrays you, or an illness strikes you. Ibn Sirin said it is an illness lasting a year (vol. 1, p. 383). If the cat is wild, the meaning is more serious.
What does a black, white or grey cat mean in a dream in Islam?
The Ibn Sirin collection does not speak of the cat’s colour. It only distinguishes the calm cat from the wild one. Be wary, then, of meanings given to colours: they do not come from this text.
What does a kitten or a dead cat mean in a dream in Islam?
The collection speaks of neither kittens nor dead cats. The cases it describes are a cat that bites or scratches, a calm or wild she-cat, cat’s milk, meowing and cat’s blood.
What does a cat meowing in a dream mean?
In the chapter on animal cries, the collection says that a cat’s meowing announces spiteful talk from a servant who steals (vol. 1, pp. 195 and 196).
Sources
- Muntakhab al-kalâm fî tafsîr al-ahlâm, collection attributed to Muhammad ibn Sirin, chapter 34, vol. 1, pp. 382 to 384 (Arabic text, Shamela edition, OpenITI corpus).
- Same collection, chapter 23 (vol. 1, p. 179), chapter 24 (vol. 1, pp. 195 and 196) and chapter 31 (vol. 1, p. 292).
- Sahih Muslim, no. 2263, for the three kinds of dreams.
- English translations of the Ibn Sirin collection: tafsir-a7lem.com.