Jihadis are generally interested in dreams, and jihadi leaders sometimes use alleged dreams to legitimize decisions or claims to authority. Here’s a reading list for those interested in knowing more. As with the list on poetry, I welcome feedback about items I have missed.
Kelly
Bulkeley, Kate Adams, and Patricia Davis (eds.), Dreaming in Christianity and
Islam
Iain Edgar,
The Dream in Islam
Iain Edgar,
“The ‘true dream’ in contemporary Islamic/Jihadist dreamwork: a case study of
the dreams of Mullah Omar”
Iain Edgar,
“The inspirational night dream in the motivation and justification of Jihad”
Iain Edgar
and David Henig, “The Cosmopolitan and the Noumenal: A Case Study of Islamic
Jihadist Night Dreams as Reported Sources of Spiritual and Political
Inspiration”
Iain Edgar,
“Overtures of Paradise: Night Dreams and Islamic Jihadist Militancy”
Özgen Felek
and Alexander Knysh (eds.), Dreams and Visions in Islamic Societies
Nile Green,
“The Religious and Cultural Roles of Dreams and Visions in Islam”
Ignác Goldziher,
“The Appearance of the Prophet in Dreams”
Valerie
Hoffman, The Role of Visions in Contemporary Egyptian Religious Life
Aaron Hughes,
“Imagining the divine: Ghazali on imagination, dreams, and dreaming”
Benjamin J.
Kilbourne, “Moroccan Dream Interpretation and Culturally Constituted Defense
Mechanisms”
John
Lamoreaux, The Early Muslim Tradition of Dream Interpretation
Stephen M.
Lyon, “Motivation and justification from dreams: Muslim decision making
strategies in Punjab, Pakistan”
Jonathan
Katz, Dreams, Sufism and Sainthood: The Visionary Career of Muhammad Al-Zawawi
Meenakshi Khanna, “Dreams
and visions in North Indian sufic traditions ca 1500 1800 AD”
Louise Marlow
(ed.), Dreaming Across Boundaries: The Interpretation of Dreams in Islamic
Lands
Amira
Mittermaier, Dreams That Matter: Egyptian Landscapes of the Imagination
Bill Musk, “Dreams
and the Ordinary Muslim”
Mohamed
Omar Salem, Mohamed Abdel Latif Ragab, and Said Yousif Abdel Razak, “Significance
of Dreams among United Arab Emirates University Students”
Elizabeth
Sirriyeh, Dreams and Visions in the World of Islam
Elizabeth
Sirriyeh, “Dream narratives of Muslims’ martyrdom: Constant and changing roles
past and present.”
Elizabeth
Sirriyeh, “Dreams of the Holy Dead: Traditional Islamic Oneirocriticism versus
Salafi Scepticism”
G. E. Von
Grunebaum and Roger Callois, The Dream and Human Societies
Updates
20 May: Christopher (@ibnsiqilli) Anzalone alerted me to some important works:
Nozhat Ahmadi, The Role of Dreams in the Political Affairs of the Safavid Dynasty
Amira Mittermaier, The politics of divine intervention
Ehsan Pouresmaeil, Seeing Allah While Dreaming: A Comparison between Shi‘a and Sunni Beliefs