Dreams Science and Religious

BY: TO: AYTEKIN ALIYEVA STANISLAV ZAGORODNYEV

QAFQAZ UNIVERSITY SPRING, 2009

A. Introduction

1. Why do we dream? 2. Sources which can give information

B. Evans' Organization and Islam

1. Dreaming process2. Scientific meaning of dream3. Types of dreams in Islam

4. Religious reason of dream 5. Which dreams are the most truthful?

C. Conclusion

1. Who could dream good things only?

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INTRODUCTION

"Those of you with the truest dreams will be those who are most truthful in speech".

Prophet Muhammad(S)

Questions related to dreams have fascinated philosophers for thousands of

years. Why do we dream? While many theories have been proposed, not single

consensus has emerged. Considering the enormous amount of time we spend in a

dreaming state(during a typical lifespan, a human spends a total of about six years

dreaming which is about two hours each night.), the fact that researchers do not yet

understand the purpose of dreams may seem baffling. However, it is important to

consider that science is still unraveling the exact purpose and function of sleep itself .

We can only get information by means of different theories and "Evans' Organization"

is the most interesting.

Evans' Organization

According to Evans, every time we go to sleep our brain disengages from the

external world and uses this time to sort through and organize all the information that

was taken in during the day.  Sleep, especially during REM sleep, is when the brain

becomes isolated for the sensory and motor neural pathways. During this time our

data banks and program files are opened and begin analyze what happened during

the day. While we dream the brain comes back on-line for a short period of time and

the conscious mind is allowed to observe a small sample of the programs that are

being run.  The brain attempts to interpret this information in the same way it would

during the wakeful state, what is created from these samples of information is a

dream.  In a nutshell, dreams are nothing more than a minute amount of the

information that is being scanned and sorted during REM sleep.

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DREAMS IN ISLAM

There are 3 kind of dreams in Islam :

1.Rahmaani (those that come from Allah) 2.Nafsaani (those that come from what a

person thinks about when he is awake, and he sees it when he is asleep)3. Shaytaani

(a dream which causes distress, those that come from the Shaytaan). For Quran and

Hadith we can have several types of dream.

One is the dream or the vision of the Prophets. These dreams are always true,

as these are revelations from God to His Messengers (may Allah be pleased with

them) the dreams of the Prophets are wahy (revelation) for they are protected from

the Shaytaan.

So far as the dreams of the ordinary persons are concerned, these can be

divided into two kinds.

One is the vision seen by the noble and pious men in a state of mind when even

in sleep the lower elements in the soul are dominated by the noble elements in man.

Thus their dreams represent a truth.

These cannot be called authentic prophecies because no other human being,

besides the Prophets, can have complete control over his lower elements in the state

of sleep and thus remain absolutely free from its effects.

The second type of dream which has been called HULM in the Quran and the

Sunnah is in fact the expression of one’s suppressed carnal desires. This is what has

been termed in the Hadith as a vision emanating from the devil.

The most truthful of dreams are those that are seen at the time of suhoor (just

before dawn), for this is the time when Allah descends and when mercy and

forgiveness are close. It is also the time when the devils are quiet, unlike the time of

darkness just after sunset, when the devils and devilish souls spread out.

Whoever wants to have true dreams should strive to speak honestly, eat halaal

food, adhere to the commandments of shari'ah, avoid that which Allah and His

Messenger have forbidden, sleep in a state of complete purity facing the Qiblah, and

remember Allah until he feels his eyelids drooping. If he does all this, then his dreams

can hardly be untrue.

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REFERENCES

1. http://psychology.about.com/od/statesofconsciousness/p/dream-theories.htm

2. http://www.deenislam.co.uk/dreams/Dreamsinislam.htm

3. SIGMUND FREUD (1994) The interpretations of dreams, ISBN 067960121X

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