A Christian woman saw in her dream that she was in the mosque and she saw the Qur'aan lighting the way

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. I decided to write this letter to you in the hope that you can help me to understand this dream I saw. First of all, I want to say that I am a Roman Catholic and I do not know much about Islam. Two months ago I saw in my dream that I was in the mosque, but I was not in the place of prayer or in the place for wudoo'; rather I was in a special place inside the mosque.
Then a man came to me who was aged between 35 and 40. He was wearing black. He was not very tall neither was he short, and his hair was curly. He was wearing distinctive black clothing, and I have never seen anything like this clothing before. He was approximately 185 cm tall and he was an Arab. He was followed by two boys, one of whom was 17 years old and the other was 20 years old. The younger one was wearing a black coat and holding in his hands a book that was shining, and I knew that this book might be the Qur'aan, but he had a black patch over his eye and the book was lighting the way for him and guiding him. Then the man who had entered in the beginning, who was the oldest of them, began to speak about Makkah and Rome and Vienna and about light and darkness, day and night and about the beginning of creation. In an instant everything became clear to me but I cannot define exactly what he was talking about because I forgot some of it but I cannot forget this dream.
What does this dream mean? What do I have to do? I hope that you can help me. Thank you.
I am waiting for your reply.

Praise be to Allaah.

And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. We were filled with joy when you asked us about this amazing dream. We may have taken a little while to reply to you, but we take this dream very seriously and we waited until we could ask more than one person who knows about dream interpretation. Not one of them differed concerning the importance of this dream for you, which may be a turning point in your life.

It should be noted first of all that a good dream is a kind of glad tidings that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, may send to whomever He will among His slaves. Our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told us: “There is nothing left of Prophethood except glad tidings.” They [his Companions] said: What are glad tidings? He said: “Good dreams.”

Hence we do not doubt that this dream is a good dream, in sha Allah (if Allah wills); indeed it is the greatest glad tidings for you in your life.

We will not hide our joy at your dream and the fact that we regard it as glad tidings, and wish that we could invite you to this religion from the first moment. But you have asked us for an interpretation of this dream, and dream interpretation is a branch of knowledge in which it is not appropriate to be hasty, even if the intention is good and even if the aim is to call you to Islam. We should not interpret your dream in a manner different to what it indicates.

Al-Baaji (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

No one should interpret dreams except one who is good at doing so. If a person has no knowledge of that or does not do it well, then he should refrain from doing that.

Maalik was asked about a man who interpreted dreams for everyone. He said: Is he playing with Prophethood? It was said to him: Should he interpret it in a good way even though he thinks it signifies something bad, because of the saying: The dream is according to how it is interpreted? He said: No; dreams are one of the parts of Prophethood; is he playing with something that is one of the matters of Prophethood? End quote.

Al-Muntaqa Sharh al-Muwatta’, 7/276

Because of that, and because of our belief that this dream is important for you, we told a number of dream interpreters, from a number of different countries, about your dream and they did not differ as to its essential meaning and the glad tidings of good that there is in it for you!

The mosque in this dream is a sign of Islam and an affirmation of the Oneness of the Lord of the World. The mosque is a symbol of Islam, and Allah tells us that the mosque is only established to affirm the Oneness of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. In the Holy Qur'aan it says (interpretation of the meaning): “And the mosques are for Allaah (Alone), so invoke not anyone along with Allaah” [al-Jinn 72:18].

Qataadah (may Allah be pleased with him) – who was one of the scholars of tafseer or Qur’aanic exegesis – said: The Jews and Christians, when they entered their churches and synagogues, associated others with Allah, so Allah commanded our Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to affirm His Oneness. End quote.

Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 8/244

It is quite clear that you entered the mosque (in your dream), which is a sign and symbol of Islam, and you felt an attachment to this religion, but this alone is not sufficient for your salvation. Hence you remained inside the mosque, far away from the place of purification, because you have not as yet given up your previous religion and you have not done the action of purification. This is what Allah tells us in the Holy Qur'aan. He, many He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “O you who believe (in Allaah’s Oneness and in His Messenger Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم)! Verily, the Mushrikoon (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allaah, and in the Message of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) are Najasun (impure). So let them not come near Al‑Masjid Al-Haraam (at Makkah) after this year” [al-Tawbah 9:28]. Once a person enters Islam, he becomes pure for ever, in life and in death, so long as he remains a Muslim. Our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The Muslim does not become impure.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (283) and Muslim (372).

The mere fact that you were inside the mosque is not sufficient on its own, unless you pray, because the mosque is only built for prayer and to establish the remembrance of Allah. Your praying will not benefit you unless your heart is purified of your previous religion and you are physically purified by means of ghusl (major ablution) and wudoo’ (minor ablution).

A situation occurred in real life -- not in the imagination or in a dream -- from which you can learn a great deal, as it was an experience that is close to your experience, but it happened with Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him):

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) sent some cavalry towards Najd, and they brought a man of Banu Haneefah who was called Thumaamah ibn Uthaal, the leader of the people of Yamaamah. They tied him to one of the pillars of the mosque, then the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) came out to him and said: “What do you have to say, O Thumaamah?” He said: O Muhammad, I shall say something good. If you kill me, you will kill one who has shed blood, and if you show me kindness, you will be showing kindness to one who is grateful, and if you want money, then ask, and you will be given whatever you want. The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) left him alone until the next day, then he said: “What do you have to say, O Thumaamah?” He said: What I said to you: If you show me kindness, you will be showing kindness to one who is grateful, and if you kill me, you will kill one who has shed blood, and if you want money, then ask, and you will be given whatever you want. The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) left him alone until the next day, then he said: “What do you have to say, O Thumaamah?” He said: I say what I already said to you: If you show me kindness, you will be showing kindness to one who is grateful, and if you kill me, you will kill one who has shed blood, and if you want money, then ask, and you will be given whatever you want. The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Let Thumaamah go.” So he went to some date palms that were near the mosque, and washed himself (ghusl), then he entered the mosque and said: I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. O Muhammad, by Allaah, there was no face on earth that was more hateful to me than your face, but now your face has become the dearest of all faces to me. By Allaah, there was no religion on earth that was more hateful to me than your religion, but now your religion has become the dearest of all religions to me. By Allaah, there was no city on earth that was more hateful to me than your city, but now your city has become the dearest of all cities to me. Your cavalry seized me when I was intending to do ‘Umrah. What do you think? The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gave him glad tidings and told him to do ‘Umrah.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (4372) and Muslim (1764).

Do you see? This man stayed in the mosque for three days but he -- like you -- did not do wudoo’ or pray there, until the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) let him go and pardoned him, then he did what you have to do now. He went and did ghusl (full ablution), then he came back to the mosque, but this time he came as a Muslim and a believer in the Oneness of Allah, bearing witness that there is no god except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

Your notion that the book which appeared in the dream was the Qur'aan is appropriate. This is in fact a description of the Qur'aan and this is how Allah describes it in many verses. It is because of that that Allah called everyone who believes in Judaism or Christianity or any other religion and called them to follow the light of this Qur'aan. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! Now has come to you Our Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) explaining to you much of that which you used to hide from the Scripture and pass over (i.e. leaving out without explaining) much. Indeed, there has come to you from Allaah a light (Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم ) and a plain Book (this Qur’aan).

16. Wherewith Allaah guides all those who seek His Good Pleasure to ways of peace, and He brings them out of darkness by His Will unto light and guides them to the Straight Way (Islamic Monotheism)”

[al-Maa’idah 5:15-16].

With regard to the words about light and darkness, day and night, Makkah and Rome, this is the story of the conflict between truth and falsehood from the beginning of creation, and the story of the conflict that has begun in your heart: between light and day and Makkah which is the land of Islam and the symbol of Tawheed (the Oneness of Allah) from which the light of Islam began and filled the world with light on the one hand, and (on the other hand) Rome and Vienna, and the night and darkness which filled your heart, before the light of the new faith entered upon you.

Allah says in the Holy Qur'aan (interpretation of the meaning): “Is he who was dead (without Faith by ignorance and disbelief) and We gave him life (by knowledge and Faith) and set for him a light (of Belief) whereby he can walk amongst men — like him who is in the darkness (of disbelief, polytheism and hypocrisy) from which he can never come out? Thus it is made fair‑seeming to the disbelievers that which they used to do” [al-An’am 6:122].

Perhaps there were other details in the dream which we cannot state definitively. The young Arab man may have been a sign of the Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) whose mission began when he was in his 40s according to the Hijri calendar. At the beginning of his mission, as it says in some saheeh (sound) hadeeths, there were two men with him, as ‘Amr ibn ‘Absah (may Allah be pleased with him) mentioned in the story of how he became Muslim:

During the Jaahiliyyah [time of ignorance before Islam], I used to think that the people were misguided and not following anything real when they worshipped idols. I heard of a man in Makkah who was telling stories, so I sat on my mount and went to find him. The Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was in hiding and his people were persecuting him. I kept a low profile until I managed to enter upon him in Makkah. I said to him: Who are you? He said: “I am a Prophet.” I said: What is a Prophet? He said: “I have been sent by Allaah.” I said: With what has He sent you? He said: “He has sent me to uphold the ties of kinship, to break the idols and to proclaim the Oneness of Allaah and not associate anything with Him.” I said to him: Who do you have with you? He said: “A free man and a slave” – at that time he had Abu Bakr and Bilaal with him among those who believed in him

Narrated by Muslim (832).

Or this may have been have been a sign of this Arabic website to which you sent your letter, or it may indicate a real Arab man whom you will meet or marry some day, but these other details do not affect the essential meaning of the dream or change its general significance.

Do you know what you have to do now?

Have you seen what that man in the story that we told you in our answer did, after he had stayed in the mosque for three days, without doing wudoo’(minor ablution) or praying?

He went and did ghusl (major ablution), then he entered Islam so that he could pray in the mosque after that as the Muslims pray.

Your Lord has called you in this blessed dream, so come to pray in the mosque that you have seen, and to come to prosperity. Beware of closing your eyes to this light that has come to you from the Lord of the Worlds.

We ask Allah to help you, open your heart to Islam and guide your heart.

We will be happy to hear this good news of your entering into Islam and we will also be happy to answer any questions that may help you to learn more about your new religion.

And Allah knows best.