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Bad Dreams Are From Satan? Iceyyy (IceTea-Girl) made several videos on youtube claiming Islam is false because the prophet Muhammed (pbuh) was 'superstitious' & she quotes some hadiths. The hadith she quotes is from Sahih Bukhari, Interpretation of Dreams, Volume 9, Book 87, Number 115 Narrated Abu Qatada: "The Prophet said, 'A good dream that comes true is from Allah, and a bad dream is from Satan, so if anyone of you sees a bad dream, he should seek refuge with Allah from Satan and should spit on the left, for the bad dream will not harm him.'
Response
This practice is not superstition, its actually a spit and insult on satan. There is nothing irrational or magical about this hadith. The hadith is only reminding us to constantly distance ourselves from Satan & Remember God, & the hadith is just giving people help on how to overcome fears by using symbolic representations, and the hadith reminds us that ‘the bad dream will not harm him.' So the hadith acts as reassurance.
Superstition is ‘an irrational belief or practice resulting from ignorance or fear of the unknown. The validity of superstitions is based on belief in the power of magic and witchcraft and in such invisible forces as spirits and demons' (http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/supersti)
When we have dreams, they are usually reflecting on things that have happened to a person in the past or presently. If a person has a nightmare about a previous troubling experience they have encountered they often dream about this. If we have a bad dream, we should seek refuge from Allah to help get past any personal experiences that may be troubling such as a car accident or a near death experience. So by spitting on the left or making a symbolic gesture, this may help to comfort a person. Using symbolic representations helps people to visualise, & phycologists say that using visualisation helps people to get over troubling experiences. There is nothing supersticious here, because if you do not do it, Allah will not damn you, the hadith is just giving advice.
In Islam the left represents the worse side, which is why we do not eat with our left hand and shake hands with our right hands and so on. We are also told to make prayers, which is the opposite of superstition. Superstition is related to magical thinking.
SUPERSTICION IN THE BIBLE
Leviticus 14: 52 He shall purify the house with the bird's blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. Luke 11:14 People who cannot speak are possessed with devils |
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