Good dreams are one of the parts of prophethood; what are the other parts?

Praise be to Allah.

Al-Bukhari ((6989) narrated from Abu Sa‘id, and Muslim (2263) narrated from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), that he said: “Good dreams are one of the forty-six parts of prophethood.”

The parts of prophethood referred to in the hadith are a matter of the unseen, which cannot be known unless there is a text of the Qur’an or hadith to explain it. Some of the scholars said: That is not known, and the hadith was not said to explain them; rather it was said to explain the importance of good dreams.

Al-Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi al-Maliki said: No one knows what the parts of prophethood really are except an angel or prophet. Rather all that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) wanted to do was highlight that dreams are one of the parts of prophethood in general, because in the dream one may learn about some matters of the unseen in some respect. As for the details of the other parts, knowledge of that is something that is for the prophets alone.

Al-Maziri said: The scholar is not required to know all things in general terms and in detail. Allah has set a limit for the scholar beyond which he cannot go. Therefore he will know some matters in general terms and in detail, and he will know some matters in general terms only, but not in detail, and this is one of those matters."(Fath al-Bari  12/364).

In the Sunnah there is some explanation about some parts of prophethood, such as the report narrated by at-Tirmidhi (2010) from ‘Abdullah ibn Sarjis al-Muzani, according to which the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Carrying oneself in a calm and dignified manner, deliberation and moderation are one of the twenty-four parts of prophethood.” This is a hasan gharib hadith; it was classed as hasan by al-Albani in Sahih at-Tirmidhi. See also: Hashiyat Musnad Ahmad (ar-Risalah edn, 4/432).

This is what we could find about the parts of prophethood.

Whatever the case, what a person needs to know about prophethood and its characteristics, and what it has to do with his religious duties, was conveyed by the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to his ummah, and Allah preserved this knowledge for the ummah, and the leading scholars strove to study it and explain it.

As for prophethood itself and its status, that cannot be attained by seeking it or striving to attain it, or by researching its characteristics and learning about its parts, and that was the case even at the times when the prophets were still coming and messages were still being revealed. So how about now, when prophethood and the sending of the messages ended with Allah’s Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and there is no longer any hope of anyone becoming a prophet, for it is proven that there will be no prophet after him, and nothing remains for the one who cares for himself but to seek and learn the legacy of knowledge brought by the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

And Allah knows best.