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Islam and dogs
The majority of both Sunni and Shi'a Muslim jurists consider dogs (WP) to be ritually unclean (Najis).[1] Most practicing Muslims do not have dogs as pets,[2] though dogs are allowed to be kept for guarding the house or farm, or when used for hunting purposes. Outside their ritual uncleanness, individual Islamic (WP) fatawa, or rulings, have expressed that dogs be treated kindly or else be freed.[3] Muhammad is variously portrayed as either, going far out of his way to treat well, dogs and those who favor them, or conversely, disliking them and considering them unclean.
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Religious impurity[edit]
Muslims generally cast dogs in a negative light because of their perceived ritual impurity. The Islamic view of angels holds that they do not enter a house which contains a dog. Though dogs are not allowed for pets, they are allowed to be kept if used for work, such as guarding the house or farm, or when used for hunting purposes.
Jurists from the Sunni Wikipedia:Maliki school disagree that dogs are impure.[1] The story of the Seven Sleepers of Wikipedia:Ephesus in the Qur'an[4] (and also the role of the dog in early Christianity (WP)) is one of the striking exceptions.[5]
Dogs, outside the ritual legal discourse, were often portrayed in the literature as a symbol of highly esteemed virtues such as self-sacrifice and loyalty or on the other hand as an oppressive instrument in the hands of despotic and unjust rulers.[1]
Muhammad and dogs[edit]
According to one story, Muhammad is said to have informed a prostitute, who had seen a thirsty dog hanging about a well and given it water to drink, that God forgave her because of that good deed.[2][6]
The historian Wikipedia:William Montgomery Watt states that Muhammad's kindness to animals was remarkable for the social context of his upbringing. He cites an instance of Muhammad posting sentries to ensure that a female dog with newborn puppies was not disturbed by his army traveling to Mecca in the year 630.[7]
Muhammad didn't like dogs according to Sunni tradition.[2] (However, this may simply reflect general cultural views of the time, rather than a personal animosity.[7]) Another Sunni tradition attributed to Muhammad commands Muslims not trade or deal in dogs.[8] According to El Fadl, this shows the cultural biases (WP) against dogs as a source of moral danger.[1] However, the Wikipedia:Hanafi scholars, the largest school of ritual law in Sunni Islam, allow all trading in dogs.
In a tradition found in the Sunni hadith book, al-Muwatta, Muhammad states that the company of dogs voids a portion of a Muslim's good deeds.[9]
According to one Sunni tradition, black dogs are evil, or even devils, in animal form. Although this tradition has been attributed to Muhammad, the vast majority of Ulema (Muslim jurists) view the attribution to be false; rather, it apparently reflects pre-Islamic Arab mythology.[1]
Legal provisions and cases[edit]
Sniffer dogs[edit]
In Britain, police sniffer dogs trained to spot terrorists at train stations may no longer come into contact with Muslim passengers, following complaints that it was offensive to their religion.[10] Sniffer dogs used by police to search mosques and Muslim homes are fitted with leather bootees to cover their paws so that they don't offend Muslims.[11] Muslim prisoners in Britain are given fresh clothes and bedding after sniffer dogs search their cells, because Muslim inmates claim that according to Islamic law they are now unclean. Wardens must hand out replacement sets after random drug searches to avoid religious discrimination claims. The dogs have also been banned from touching copies of the Koran and other religious items.[12]
Dogs in public[edit]
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In July 2008, the Tayside Police Department apologized for featuring a German shepherd puppy as part of a campaign to publicize its new non-emergency telephone number, because the picture offended the local Muslim community.[13]
In July 2011, two Islamic groups based in Lérida (a city in the northeastern region of Catalonia (WP), Spain (WP)) asked city officials to regulate the presence of dogs in public spaces so they didn't "offend Muslims." [14]
In January 2012, Hasan Küçük, a Muslim politician in the Netherlands, said that keeping dogs as pets is animal abuse and called for the possession of dogs in Wikipedia:The Hague to be criminalized.[15]
Speech on the issue[edit]
In June 2005, a letter from a Muslim woman, Zuraimah Mohammed, was published by Singapore's Straits Times, complaining about seeing a dog in a taxi and suggesting taxi companies should ban them. In response, two men posted negative remarks about this on the Internet and were sentenced to jail. Animal shelter assistant Benjamin Koh Song Huat, 27, was convicted of two charges under the Sedition Act and jailed for one month. Nicholas Lim Yew, 25, an assistant marketing manager, was convicted of one charge under the Act and given a 'nominal' jail term of one day and fined the maximum of $5,000.[16]
In December 2011, French actress Marie Laforêt appeared in a Paris courtroom to defend herself against charges that a job advertisement she placed discriminated against Muslims. 72-year-old Laforêt had placed an ad on an Internet website looking for someone to do some work on her terrace in 2009. She specified in the ad that "people with allergies or orthodox Muslims" should not apply "due to a small Chihuahua." Laforêt claimed that she made the stipulation because she believed the Muslim faith saw dogs as unclean. The anti-discrimination group Movement against Racism and for Friendship between Peoples (MRAP), lodged a complaint against Laforêt. Laforêt's lawyer said his client "knew that the presence of a dog could conflict with the religious convictions of orthodox Muslims. It was a sign of respect." [17]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, s.v. "Dogs in the Islamic Tradition and Nature." New York: Continuum International, forthcoming 2004. By: Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Susan J. Armstrong, Richard G. Botzler, The Animal Ethics Reader, p.237, Routledge (UK) Press
- ↑ [http://www.al-islam.org/organizations/aalimnetwork/msg00694.html ['Aalim Network QR] Dogs / Pets
- ↑ Template:Cite quran
- ↑ David Gordon White, Encyclopedia of Religion, Dog, p.2393
- ↑ Template:Hadith-usc
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Wikipedia:William Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, Oxford University Press, 1961, [1]
- ↑ Ahmad Ibn Shu‘ayb al-Nisa’i, Sunan al-Nisa’i (Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi, n.d.), 7: 309 (The commentaries by al-Suyuti and al-Sanadi are in the margins). Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, 4:426. All reported in El Fadl.
- ↑ Wikipedia:Malik ibn Anas, al-Muwatta (Egypt: al-Babi al-Halabi, n.d.), 2:969. Reported in El Fadl
- ↑ http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/50071
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1032449/Police-sniffer-dogs-wear-bootees-house-searches-avoid-offending-Muslims.html
- ↑ http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/65223
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1030798/Muslim-outrage-police-advert-featuring-cute-puppy-sitting-policemans-hat.html
- ↑ http://translate.google.com/#auto%7Cen%7Chttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.alertadigital.com%2F2011%2F01%2F13%2Fel-ayuntamiento-socialista-de-lerida-podria-prohibir-los-perros-en-los-autobuses-para-no-ofender-a-los-musulmanes%2F
- ↑ Error on call to template:cite web: Parameters url and title must be specified Telegraaf.
- ↑ http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=31206
- ↑ http://www.leparisien.fr/faits-divers/proces-de-marie-laforet-la-chanteuse-le-chihuahua-et-l-islam-01-12-2011-1747431.php
