RIYADH: Dreaming of an advanced degree? Try a doctorate in dreams, something which could soon become a reality in a new Saudi academy offering undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Yusuf Al-Harthy, a well-known Saudi dream interpreter, plans to start up an institute offering bachelors and Masters degrees as well as even a PhD in explaining dreams and visions, Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Sunday.
"Dream interpretation is by nature a way of counseling a person," said Harthy, who already runs an instructional website on deciphering the meaning of dreams.
His academy will be linked to an unnamed Arab university, he said.
Islam has a long history of dream interpretation, with the seventh century-born scholar Muhammad Ibn Sirin, a native of Basra in present-day Iraq, credited with authoring a classic Islamic catalogue on dream interpretation.
Harthy, who discusses dreams on radio and television shows, disagrees with the Saudi Islamic Affair’s Ministry view that dream interpretation is not a teachable science but something born of inspiration, Al-Hayat reported.
