Seeing the Prophet (Peace be upon him)

He said: Seeing the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in a dream cannot be true except in the case of two men: either a Companion who saw him or one who knows his description on the basis of Mutawaatir Hadeeths, until he formed an image in his mind, then if he sees him in that image, he has indeed seen his likeness. If this is the case with regard to one who has a parallel or likeness (i.e., a human being), then how about seeing One Who has no parallel or likeness (i.e., Allah)? Shaykh 'Izz al - Deen ibn 'Abd al - Salaam said: Seeing the Prophet (Peace be upon him) , for one who saw him or came to know his descript ion, depends on the situation of the dreamer. If he saw him as an old man, this means that he has respect for him, but if he saw him as a young man, this means that he has no respect for him, and if he saw him as a black man, then he is a disbeliever. But in my view this is problematic. We have seen above that the similarity between the man seen in a dream and the Prophet (Peace be upon him) may be in some aspects but not all. The dreamer may see a righteous man or a knowledgeable man and feel so much awe a nd respect for him that he believes that this is the Prophet (Peace be upon him) , or someone tells him about that so he believes that he has seen his likeness, because we do not think that it is essential for the resemblance to be in all aspects; rather on e aspect is sufficient. Under heading above, we mentioned that some dwarfs saw the Prophet (in a dream) and what he told them came to pass. If the likeness of what they saw was not his likeness, then what they mentioned would not have happened. The same ru ling applies to seeing the angels, Prophets & and the righteous.