JEDDAH: Wrong or inaccurate interpretation of dreams has grown into a source of conflict and concern for many married couples, often ending in divorce.

While dream interpreters often seek money, power and control, many women have been driven by dream interpretations to keep their spouses under surveillance and become wary of their fidelity.

Hanadi, a housewife, eventually divorced her husband after constant dreams that her husband was cheating on her, despite his repeated attempts to convince her otherwise.

Fatima, a doctor, says she refuses to let her children out of the house after terrifying dreams. Kholoud Kurdi, a government employee, says she becomes “uncomfortable with people who dream about her and try to interpret these dreams based on their opinion.”

Other women have gone as far as resorting to experts for dream interpretations in order to advance their own interests, such as one woman who attempted to fabricate a dream interpretation against her sister-in-law.

Academic Ghazi Al-Mutairi said dreams are one of the mysterious and deep aspects that can address or be understood with complete certainty.

He said Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) categorized dreams into two types, those which serve as positive visions from Allah as a means of sending a message to Muslims, and those that are called nightmares, which are from the devil. He said Muslims who see such troubling dreams should blow to the left three times, and refrain from telling anyone about them so they do not cause any harm. Al-Mutairi also stressed the importance of not narrating one’s dreams and to be wary of those who try to interpret such dreams on live television and take advantage of naive callers in order to gain fame and power.

He said more should be done to enact punitive laws that protect people from such manipulation and black magic, which often leads to family problems.