She said, “The first form of revelation granted to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was the truthful dream during sleep. Whenever he saw a vision, it came as clear as the break of dawn. Then solitude was made beloved to him, so he would withdraw to the cave of Hirāʾ, devoting himself there to taḥannuth (acts of worship) for a number of consecutive nights.”

Allah the Exalted says:
“Allah knows best where to place His message.”

There is, then, no doubt that whatever Allah instills in souls or elsewhere He does so only after preparing and fashioning them for what is to be bestowed upon them. This and similar principles are affirmed by the early scholars and the vast majority of Muslims; it is denied only by those theologians who reject divine wisdom and causality.

The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—was thus first initiated with the true dream, for the dreams of the prophets are protected revelation. Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, and others said, “The visions of the prophets are revelation,” and they cited the words of Abraham, peace be upon him: “I have seen in a dream that I am sacrificing you” (Q 37:102).

After that, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was raised from one rank to another. The angel then came and addressed him: at times inwardly, speaking directly to his heart, and at other times appearing in the form of a man and conversing with him. Eventually, he was taken up to his Lord on the Night Journey (Isrāʾ).

Therefore, the claim that dreams can yield knowledge of unseen matters is correct, and this serves as evidence against those who categorically deny such a possibility. Yet one must not reduce prophethood in its entirety to this single mode. False are the assertions of those who say that no living angel brings revelation from Allah, that Allah does not speak words heard by the angel who then descends with them, or that Allah is unaware of particular events until they are recorded with Him or until the angel informs Him, whether the angel then relays them to the Prophet or the Prophet learns them directly.

They further allege that Allah has nothing by which He governs the affairs of the heavens and the earth save the mere motion of the celestial spheres. They ascribe to the prophets a state of prophethood inferior to what many average Muslims actually possess, for numerous ordinary Muslims have greater knowledge and deeds than what these people concede to the prophets. Indeed, they restrict the distinctive qualities of prophethood to two matters: first, an intellectual faculty by which knowledge is gained, either through logical syllogism or through…