Frequent wet dreams
Question
I have frequent wet dreams. Kindly note that I am single and unable to get married at present. Am I sinful?
Answer
Wet dreams, or nocturnal emissions, are a physiological phenomenon and occur when semen builds up inside the body. Wet dreams is one way this semen is released from the body. Therefore, an unmarried young man will have wet dreams to allow the semen to be discharged, unless he resorts to some other way such as masturbation or unlawful intercourse. Therefore, a wet dream is a perfectly natural function, for which one incurs no sin.
Besides, one is not in control of one’s actions during sleep. God says, “God causes all human beings to die at the time of their death, and causes those who have not yet died [to be as dead] during their sleep. Thus, He withholds from life those upon whom He has decreed death, and lets the others go free for a term set by Him” (Quran 39:42). It is clear from this Quranic verse that sleep is a state akin to death, during which one is not responsible for what is not within one’s control. Thus, if you see in your dream that you are committing a murder, you are not responsible for that. Similarly, you are not responsible for a wet dream, which is a natural physiological function.
And God Almighty knows best.