Ta'wil al-Ahadith
Definition
Ta'wil al-ahadith — interpretation of dreams — is the divinely granted knowledge that Allah gave to Yusuf and that became the mechanism of his entire rise from prison to power. He interpreted the dreams of two fellow prisoners correctly; one of them, restored to service in the royal court, mentioned Yusuf years later when the Pharaoh had a dream that none of his advisors could interpret. Ibn Kathir notes the theological point: ta'wil al-ahadith is presented in the Quran as a gift from Allah ('He will teach you the interpretation of events'), not a human skill or learned technique. The knowledge came from God, was used in God's service, and produced an outcome that only God could have foreseen.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Ta'wil al-Ahadith.
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"These are but confused dreams, meaning mixed dreams of the night, perhaps with no true interpretation. They admitted their lack of experience in such matters, saying, And we are not knowledgeable in the interpretation of dreams. At that point, the one who had been saved from prison remembered Yusuf, whom he had forgotten to mention to his lord until that moment, by Allah's decree, Almighty in his wisdom. When the king's dream puzzled everyone, one of the two men who had been in prison with Yusuf remembered him. This is why the Most High said, The one who was saved of the two said, and remembered after a time, meaning after some years had passed."
— Ibn Kathir, The Story of Ishaq & Yaqub
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"as what is decreed will happen, and precautionary measures cannot prevent it. This is unlike medicine, which is a necessary science with mostly observable evidence, and unlike the interpretation of dreams, even if it involves conjecture, as it is one part of forty-six parts of Prophethood and bears no danger. The third reason concerns engaging in knowledge where the seeker gains no beneficial knowledge; such engagement is blameworthy, like learning the finer sciences before the greater ones, the obscure before the clear, or investigating divine secrets as philosophers and theologians did when they could not grasp them fully."
— Imam al-Ghazali, Book 1: The Book of Knowledge
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"shown you this great vision, if you keep it to yourself, your Lord will choose you, meaning he will favor you with gentleness and mercy and teach you the interpretation of dreams, giving you understanding that others do not have. He will complete his blessing upon you through revelation and upon the family of Jacob, meaning they will receive goodness because of you, as he completed it upon your fathers, Abraham and Isaac, meaning he will bestow prophethood upon you, just as he granted it to your father Jacob, your grandfather Isaac, and the father of your grandfather Abraham, the friend of Allah. Indeed, your Lord is"
— Ibn Kathir, The Story of Ishaq & Yaqub
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