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I do wudoo’ and recite the adhkaar before going to sleep, but I sometimes have wet dreams, as if I am having intercourse with my wife, and when I wake up, I find my clothes dirty with maniy (semen).
Praise be to Allah.
Allah, may He be glorified, has created the desire for intercourse in humans, in order to fulfil a number of worldly interests, including increasing the numbers of humankind, whom Allah may He be glorified, has made successive generations on earth, in order to populate and develop it according to the divine decree. He, may He be glorified, has created different ways to disperse this stored energy (desire), one of which is wet dreams. It is a natural means of dispersing sexual energy in both genders. The individual does not have any control over the emission of maniy through wet dreams; rather it is emitted as a result of human nature, and the individual will not be called to account for that, as we have explained previously in question no. 9208.
Once it is established that wet dreams are part of human nature, is it possible that the Shaytaan may play a role in that?
What appears to be the case is that that is indeed possible, even though none of the hadiths that speak of that are saheeh. In fact there is a da‘eef (weak) hadith with an isnaad that stops at Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him) according to which he said: No Prophet ever had a wet dream; rather wet dreams come from the Shaytaan. Narrated by at-Tabaraani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabeer (11/225), and by Ibn ‘Adiyy in al-Kaamil (3/92-93) via Ibraaheem ibn Ismaa‘eel ibn Abi Habeebah, from Dawood ibn al-Husayn, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbaas.
This is a da‘eef (weak) isnaad, as has been explained previously in question no. 151719.
Based on that, we may say that some wet dreams are a natural occurrence, because of an excess of maniy in the body, so the wet dream occurs as a natural means of getting rid of this excess; and some occur as the result of the Shaytaan toying with the individual when he is asleep.
There are some comments of al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer which support that. He said, in the context of discussing a wet dream of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him):
It seems that this issue should be discussed further. We may note that if what is meant by wet dream is the dispersal [of maniy] due to natural causes, there is nothing wrong with it.
But if what is meant by wet dream is the result of the tampering of the Shaytaan, then the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was protected from that. Therefore it was not possible for the Prophet to experience insanity (junoon – which may be caused by jinn), but it was possible for him to experience unconsciousness. In fact, according to the hadith narrated by ‘Aa’ishah in as-Saheeh, he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did ghusl after falling unconscious on more than one occasion; the hadith concerning that is well known.
End quote from al-Fusool fi Seerat ar-Rasool (p. 302), Mu’sasat ‘Uloom al-Qur’an, Maktabat Daar at-Turaath.
Based on that, there is no need to be anxious about this matter, or to believe that the adhkaar are not protecting you from the Shaytaan toying with you, because these wet dreams may be the result of an excess of maniy in the body, so it is being got rid of through wet dreams. Even if it is caused by the tampering of the Shaytaan, this is not something for which a person is to be blamed or called to account.
However it should be noted that if a person has a wet dream and finds maniy on his clothes after waking up, in that case he must do ghusl to remove janaabah, as we have explained in question no. 96658 . If someone has a wet dream, and checks his clothes after waking up, but does not find any wetness, then he does not have to do ghusl, as we have explained in question no. 114586.
And Allah knows best.