How should Christians view the idea of Muslims having dreams/visions about Jesus?

There are many reports of Muslims converting to Christianity due to having a dream or experiencing a vision in which Jesus appeared to them. The accounts vary, but most of them have some details in common: 1) Jesus appears to them. 2) Jesus tells them to find and speak to a person at a certain place at a certain time. 3) When the Muslim follows Jesus’ instructions, he or she finds the person at exactly the right time and place, and the person explains who Jesus truly is and presents the gospel. 4) The Muslim believes that Jesus is the Savior and places his or her faith in Him, renouncing Islam.

Darren Carlson, writing for the Gospel Coalition, has documented some of the accounts of Muslims having dreams or visions here. What are Christians to make of such claims? Given Jesus’ appearance to the apostle Paul in Acts 9, we should at least consider that such accounts are genuine. As Paul (then Saul) was going to Damascus to arrest Christians, Jesus appeared to him in a vision, blinded him, and told him to wait in Damascus for further guidance. Jesus (via a vision) then sent a man named Ananias to Paul. Ananias explained the gospel, and Paul became a Christian. Paul’s life was immediately transformed. He was changed from a persecutor of Christians to a follower of Jesus who powerfully declared the gospel through much of the Roman world.

The saving of Cornelius in Acts 10 is another biblical example of God using dreams and visions to communicate. Cornelius, a Roman centurion, had a vision of an angel of God telling him to call for a man named Peter in Joppa. Cornelius summoned Peter, who had been alerted (via a vision) that men were coming to see him. Peter traveled with the messengers back to Cornelius and preached the gospel to him. Cornelius was saved and baptized that day.

Notice that, in both the case of Paul and Cornelius, the vision led to the preaching of the gospel. The vision was not the only witness; there was also a gospel preacher involved. We believe this is a key point, because “how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14). Our trust is not in dreams and visions but in the authority of God’s Word and the power of the gospel (Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:16–17).

God is a God of miracles. It should not surprise us if God chooses a miraculous means of getting a person’s attention and directing him or her to the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. Christians need to pray for Muslims, especially for those in lands where there is little gospel witness. At the same time, they should seek ways to provide Muslims with access to the gospel and the solid teaching of God’s Word. And they should rejoice in the miraculous ways God may be drawing Muslims to faith in Jesus Christ.