Islamic marriage advice and family advice

Are thoughts of death and death dreams a sign from Allah?

lonely man, losing her,Hello,

I’ve been recently reading about dream interpretations online and some of the dreams, especially the ones interpreted as "nearing death" signs in Islam have been stuck in my head. For example, teeth growing on one's heart and seeing your mom give birth to you.

I can’t seem to stop thinking about them and now I’m scared that because I keep thinking about them, I’ll actually end up dreaming them, as dreams are sometimes linked to your constant thoughts.

What do I do about this problem? How do I know that if I dream them, if it’s a "sign" or merely from my thoughts?

Before anyone misjudges and says that I am overreacting and need to get a hold of myself, I would like to say that I have been diagnosed with anxiety, specifically death anxiety and showing symptoms of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).

Please try to understand me and send me helpful tips. Thank you in advance yet again.

-Tala


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10 Responses »

  1. Hi Tala

    I would like to suggest being a Psychotherapist that these are not signs from Allah, it is what you have been diagnosed with. This can be treated and is completely manageable if you see a therapist. Its very important that you see a therapist and cure it without taking medicines. Everything shall be fine Inshallah, once you begin to see a specialist who can treat OCD but not a Psychiatrist. Go for therapists who specialize in OCD . Goodluck!

    • Thank you for your suggestion. Hopefully I’ll get better.

      I wanted to tell you about a dream that I got which is bothering me. I want an interpretation to it, if it had one. I couldn’t find one online on my own.

      In the dream my dad told me that I was to get married to my cousin- I wasn’t told which one- and I wasn’t happy about it, so I went to my room, got ready for the wedding, but before we left to the ceremony/wedding, I escaped alongside my mom and brothers to my grandmothers house.

      What’s been bothering me is that I read somewhere that if a girl sees herself on her way to her groom and doesn’t make it, her death is near, but in my dream, it’s not that I was unable to reach him. I purposely avoided going there. I was never on my way to him or my wedding. I know going to him and being unable to reach him and avoiding him are 2 different things, but my thoughts keep telling me, “ what if your dream means you didn’t reach him?” It bothering me a lot.

      My dream is different than the interpretation I read online, right? It’s just my thoughts and anxiety trying to convince me otherwise, right?

      Does my dream have any meaning?

  2. First, stop reading these dream interpretation websites. They have no actual knowledge, and just speculate. Some of them try to make money from it. Most if it is pure nonsense.

    Just take your dreams as they come. Don't get uptight about them. I am a dreamer, I have all kinds of strange and fascinating dreams. On a few occasions my dreams have come true. But more often not. I just take them as interesting stories. If there is a lesson I can derive from a dream, then I do. But no one can say definitively, the dream means this or that.

    Please try not to get hung up on it or let it worry you.

    Wael
    IslamicAnswers.com Editor

    • Thank you for your reply. I will stop using online resources and take your advice.

      I have something I want to ask you. I have this feeling that something bad will happen on September 2nd or that I will die on it. I don’t know why, but thinking about that day make me anxious and worried. It was worse a few hours ago and now the anxiety and worry subsided, but I can’t brush the feeling that it will be a bad day off. Is it shaytan? A result of my constant thoughts about death? Or from Allah?

      I can’t relax and keep thing about that day.
      It started because I was talking to a friend about my plans on that day and then thought “I’m might day on that day” and since then I can’t stop thinking about it. My cheeks flushed, I couldn’t relax, I clenched my jaw. It was horrible and now since I relaxed a little I can talk about it.

      Does it hold a meaning? Or from my thoughts?

      • Tala, it sounds like a fear that you created from your own thoughts. Whatever will happen to you on that day (which is probably nothing unusual) is from your Qadar, and you cannot change it. But if you are very worried, then maybe just plan to spend the day at home. Read, watch a movie, eat some ice cream, do your prayers and relax.

        Or if you think it will relieve your stress, then go out with some friends on that day to the park or something.

        But I really think it is nothing. Only Allah can see the future.

        Wael
        IslamicAnswers.com Editor

        • Thank you for your thoughtful answer, I will try my best to relax and forget the thought and push it to the back of my mind. Insha’Allah nothing bad will happen and it will pass without any problems.

  3. Hi everyone.

    6 months ago, I lost a close friend. She was 28. I’m 34. She didn’t die in an accident, she died in her own home. Did an autopsy and it was a stroke. A week after her passing, I lay in bed and a thought came “She died at 28. What if your time is soon?” I was trembling, my chest tightened, I couldn’t breathe, my stomach was in knots and I was covered in sweat. For 6 months, I couldn’t do anything without thinking “am I going to die after doing this?” I spend time with my family and friends thinking “is this the last time they are going to see me?” Sometimes I spend hours crying because I am afraid of what the future holds. I am afraid of sicknesses and sudden death. I often imagine myself being dead and buried. It’s a terrifying imagination. I’ve become so afraid of Covid, that I’m staying in more. I’m afraid of having a terminal illness, or a heart attack or a stroke. My best friend witness my breakdowns and episodes on most days.

    Me and my late friend, we have so many things in common. It’s really difficult for me to not relate everything to her. I remember her asking me “are you afraid to die?” and a year later she’s gone. She even told me, one of her friend dreamt that me and her got hit by a car. And now she’s gone. I’m paranoid about that particular dream always thinking I’m going to be next. I live my life in fear every day. I’m really praying and hoping that it’s not true. My hands are shaking as I’m typing this.

  4. Hello Waseem, I hope you come across this!

    To start, I want you to know that what you are going through is not grounded in Islam. No one knows their death time or day, these online dream interpretations are baseless, and now 4 years later, I sometimes still struggle but way way way better alhamdulilallah than in 2020.

    Now on how I got over it; the single most important thing is an environment change. You will start to notice a pattern in which these thoughts or dreams appear. For me, it was when I was mostly in my home and alone. As such, I started to spend more time outside, with family, and/or engaged in activities.

    Make sure to keep track of when, where, and why, etc these thoughts appear as there must be a trigger. After finding the pattern, find ways to avoid these triggers.

    Also, make sure you are always engaged in something whether it is school, friends, films, TV shows, Quran, lectures, do not let yourself be free enough for your mind to roam over to these dark thoughts and let shaytan come over and whisper them into your mind. If you do not have time to think and are always with a task at hand, you won't think and even your dreams will reflect your day-to-day life rather than your negative thoughts.

    Lastly, create a safe move,a habit that can stop these thoughts. For me, it was a subtle head shake. Whenever I feel myself going towards these thoughts I shake my head. At first, I had to do it manually, but after a week or so, it started to happen automatically and it would break the thoughts before they even start. Why this works? Because 1. The habit move distracts your mind from the thoughts; it is a quick action and disrupts the train of negative thoughts, and 2. because it becomes your signal to have a change of scenery/environment and avoid these thoughts. It would even be better if you let someone know of this safe move so if you do it in front of them, they can help you by spending time, watching films, starting a conversation, etc.

    Feel free to read through my other threads, posts, and comments and ask me if you have any other specific questions!

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