his waking life and is familiar with his features ﷺ, for Satan cannot imitate his attributes or his noble person. Whoever truly knows him and can unmistakably distinguish him from others may see him in a dream.

By contrast, one who does not know the Prophet’s ﷺ features and cannot discern his honored person may have Satan come to him, claim to be the Messenger ﷺ, and mislead him in his religion. The matter, therefore, is not unconditional: a vision of the Prophet ﷺ is accepted as genuine only when the dreamer knows the Prophet and can tell him apart from everyone else. A person ignorant of the Prophet ﷺ, his attributes, and his person may be deceived by Satan, who can appear and allege that he is the Messenger ﷺ.

As for the second claim—that the Messenger ﷺ taught him a wird (a fixed litany) in the dream—this, as the questioner observed, is false. Legislation ended with the death of the Prophet ﷺ. Allah, the Exalted, says: “Today I have perfected your religion for you and completed My favor upon you” (Al-Māʾidah 5:3). After the Messenger ﷺ, no new ruling or addition—whether a wird or anything else—can be introduced. Let this be clearly understood.

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The difference between a prophet and a messenger

Question: Is there any difference between a messenger (rasūl) and a prophet (nabī), and what is it?

Answer: Allah, Exalted is He, says: “We did not send before you any messenger or prophet without Satan casting into his recitation” (Al-Ḥajj 22:52). He mentions the messenger and the prophet separately, and the conjunction indicates that they are two distinct categories. Scholars have defined a messenger as one to whom revelation was sent