What does Islam say about Dogs

Islam means submitting ones will to Allah's will, When Allah created His creation, He did not invite anyone to have a say in what He was going to create. Allah does not need to explain what he does to any of His creation. But rather His creation has to explain their actions to Allah. Some things Allah has made pure and some things Allah has made impure.

Allah sent his book and His Messenger peace be upon him to us to explain what is permissible for us and what is impermissible for us. Allah has given His creation different abilities. The angels have only been give an ability to obey Allah. The humans have been given the ability to choose to disobey or obey Allah and bear the consequences of their choice.

 They can raise themselves above the ranks of angels by choosing to obey Allah and they can degrade themselves to the worst of creation by disobeying Allah.

The choice is yours but you have to remember it comes with consequences.

The dog is one of those animals which is not permissible for a Muslim to keep unless a Muslim needs a dog for hunting, guarding livestock or guarding crops. otherwise two qiraats from his good deeds will be deducted each day he keeps a dog.

 
Al-Bukhaari (2145) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: �Whoever keeps a dog, a qiraat from his good deeds will be deducted every day, except a dog for farming or herding livestock. 

Muslim (2978) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Whoever keeps a dog that is not a dog for hunting, herding livestock or farming, two qiraats will be deducted from his reward each day. 

Muslim (2943) narrated from Abd-Allaah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Whoever keeps a dog, except a dog for herding livestock or a dog for hunting, a qiraat will be deducted from his good deeds each day.Abd-Allaah said: Abu Hurayrah said: Or a dog for farming. 

 In addition to this the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or an image.  (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3322; Muslim, 2106.)

Ibn Maajah (3640) narrated from Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: �The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or an image. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah. 


The scholars differed as to how to reconcile between the reports which speak of one qiraat being deducted and those which speak of two qiraats being deducted. 

It was said that two qiraats will be deducted if the dog is more harmful and one qiraat will be deducted if it is less so. 

And it was said that that at first the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said that one qiraat would be deducted, then the punishment was increased after that, so he said that two qiraats would be deducted in order to put people off from keeping dogs even more. 

The qiraat is an amount that is known to Allah, may He be exalted, and what is meant is that some of the reward for a persons good deeds will be deducted. 

There are two points of view. The first is that it is not permissible, because of the apparent meaning of the ahaadeeth, which clearly state that keeping dogs is forbidden except for farming, hunting and herding. The more correct view is that it is permissible, by analogy with those three cases, knowing that the reason that is understood from the ahaadeeth is necessity. End quote. 

The view that was classed as saheeh by al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him), that keeping a dog to guard the house is permissible, was also classed as saheeh by Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) in Sharh Saheeh Muslim. He said: 

The correct view is that it is permissible to keep a dog to guard the house, because if it is permissible to keep a dog in order to benefit from it, as in the case of hunting, it is more appropriate that one be allowed to keep a dog in order to ward off harm and protect oneself. End quote. 

Impurity of Dog Saliva

The dog itself is not impure but its saliva is impure.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: The purification of the vessel of one of you, if a dog licks it, is to wash it seven times, the first time with soil. Narrated by Muslim, 279. 

And according to another report by Muslim (280): If a dog licks the vessel of one of you, let him wash it seven times and rub it with soil the eighth time.� 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: 

With regard to dogs, there are three views among the scholars: 

1  That they are taahir (pure), even their saliva. This is the view of Maalik.

2  That they are naajis (impure), even their hair. This is the view of al-Shaafai and is one of the two views narrated from Ahmad.

3  Their hair is taahir but their saliva is naajis. This is the view of Abu Haneefah and of Ahmad in the other report narrated from him. 

This is the most correct view. So if the wetness of the dog�s hair gets onto one�s garment or body, that does not make it naajis. End quote. 

Majmoo al-Fataawa, 21/530. 

A dogs Saliva touching a person or a persons cloths does not invalidate his wudhu as it is not one of those things that break the wudhu/

Selling Dogs

1 al-Bukhaari (1944) narrated that Abu Juhayfah said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the price of a dog. 

2 al-Bukhaari (2083) and Muslim (2930) narrated from Abu Masood al-Ansaari that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the price of a dog, the wages of a prostitute and the fee of a fortuneteller. 

3 Abu Dawood (3021) narrated that Abd-Allaah ibn �Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah forbade the price of a dog, and if a person comes asking for the price of a dog, then fill his hand with dust.� Al-Haafiz said: Its isnaad is saheeh; it was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 

4  Abu Dawood (3023) narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: The price of a dog, the fee of a fortuneteller and the wages of a prostitute are not permissible. Al-Haafiz said: its isnaad is hasan. Al-Albaani classed it as saheeh in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 

Thus the price of a dog is among the most evil of earnings and is something vile.

  
Those who regard it as permissible to sell hunting dogs quote as evidence the hadeeth narrated by al-Nasaa�i (4589) from Jaabir ibn Abd-Allaah (may Allaah be pleased with him), according to which the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the price of dogs and cats, except for hunting dogs. 

This exception in the hadeeth except for hunting dogs is daeef (weak). 

Al-Nasaa�i said, after quoting the hadeeth: This is munkar (a type of weak hadeeth). 

Al-Sindi said in Haashiyat al-Nasaa�i: It is da�eef according to the consensus of the muhadditheen (scholars of hadeeth). 

Al-Nawawi said in Sharh Muslim: 

With regard to the ahaadeeth that have been narrated about the prohibition on the price of a dog except for hunting dogs, and that Uthmaan gave twenty camels in compensation to a man for a dog that he killed, and the report from Ibn Amr ibn al-Aas about paying compensation for destroying a dog  all of these are daeef according to the consensus of the hadeeth scholars. End quote.

Muslims do not hate dogs we simply cannot keep dogs except for hunting. Our Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him has warned us about being cruel to animals. He told us about a person who was cruel to her cat because her cat scratched her and due to her severe cruelty towards the cat she was place in hell by Allah. Thus warning us and forbidding us from being cruel towards animals.

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “A woman entered Hell because of a cat which she tied up and did not feed, nor did she let it loose to feed upon the vermin of the earth.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3140; Muslim, 2242)

In addition to this the  Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him related to us stories about how a person was kind to an animal and he entered paradise Thus teaching us the value of kindness to even animals,

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "While a man was walking on a road. he became very thirsty. Then he came across a well, got down into it, drank (of its water) and then came out. Meanwhile he saw a dog panting and licking mud because of excessive thirst. The man said to himself "This dog is suffering from the same state of thirst as I did." So he went down the well (again) and filled his shoe (with water) and held it in his mouth and watered the dog. Allah thanked him for that deed and forgave him." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Is there a reward for us in serving the animals?" He said, "(Yes) There is a reward for serving any animate (living being) ."(Bukhari Volume: 8, Book Number: 73, Hadith Number: 38)

Thus Muslims do not hate dogs but we just do not keep them inside our homes nor as pets. So if we were to see a dog hungry or thirsty we should give it food and water. if we see it with an injured leg then we should try to fix its legs and so on.

A dog has its value but its value is not above humans. We Muslims value humans above animals.

Unlike many non Muslims who value sometimes animals sometimes equal to humans and sometimes above Humans.

For instances Hindus worship cows and even other animals such as monkeys, rats etc. They take these animals as Gods. Worshiping things which cannot even protect themselves.

Similarly in the west some people value the life of a dog more than a Child. Many times you will hear women in the west praised for the large number of dogs they rear but they are looked down upon if they have many children. This was especially the case in the 90's and 80's.

We found bizzare incidents were rich non Muslims in the west left whole estates to their dog. What exactly is the dog going to do with millions of pounds?

In the 90's United nations ran by non Muslims was giving lots of meat to its dogs in Iraq whilst it was starving and preventing enough food going to Iraqi children as a result 1 million Muslim Iraqi babies died of Malnutrition. The USA sectary of State was asked why the UN dogs were getting so much meat and the Iraqi children so little meat. She replied that the UN dogs had a difficult job to do.

Allah tells us that everything in this world was created for us. They serve some purpose. For instance we were not created for cows but they were created for us for various purposes. We were not created for bird, fruit, flowers, oxygen, thunder lightening etc etc but they were created for us for their various purposes. Some are their for our entertainment, some are their for our survival, some for as signs of a blessing to come (rain) and as a warning that we are weak and can be harmed and killed. Some are as a test of our obedience to creator..

As I said in the beginning of this article. Allah had chosen to make some things pure and some impure. He did not invite His creation for consultation as to which things should be pure or impure. Or which should be halal or haram. Allah does not need a reason to give us a reason as to why he chose something to be pure and something to be impure.

The whole is of Islam is we submit to the will of our creator. And in return Allah will InshaAllah give us the ultimate present, everlasting true peace and true happiness in the hereafter.

Allah doesn't have to give us a reason for forbidding us from something. Our Father Adam and Mother Hawa (Eve) were forbidden to eat from a tree in heaven they became tempted to eat and sinned and were sent down to earth a place which is full of struggles and pains. But they recognised their mistake of being disobedient to Allah and repented and were forgiven. This elevated them to above even the status of Angels because they were given the choice of doing continuing to sin or be obedient slaves of their creator. They made the right choice by repenting and being obedient slaves of Allah.

We being humans and children of Adam and Hawa (Eve) can also elevate ourselves above the rest of creation by choosing to acknowledge worship Allah (our creator) alone and to obey him by doing what He tells us to do and stay away from that which he tells us to stay away from. 

AbuUbaida

Website Admin

More hadith on this subject
Narrated Abu Mas'ud:

The Prophet forbade the utilization of the price of a dog, the earnings of prostitute and the earnings of a foreteller 44: (Bhukhari Volume: 7, Book Number: 71, Hadith Number: 656)

Narrated Abu Juhaifa:

The Prophet forbade the use of the price of blood and the price of a dog, the one who takes (eats) usury the one who gives usury, the woman who practises tattooing and the woman who gets herself tattooed.(Bhukhari Volume: 7, Book Number: 72, Hadith Number: 829)

Narrated Abu Talha :

The Prophet said, "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or there are pictures."(Bhukhari 7, Book Number: 72, Hadith Number: 833)

Narrated Salim's father:

Once Gabriel promised to visit the Prophet but he delayed and the Prophet got worried about that. At last he came out and found Gabriel and complained to him of his grief (for his delay). Gabriel said to him, "We do not enter a place in which there is a picture or a dog."(Bhukhari Volume: 7, Book Number: 72, Hadith Number: 843)

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle said, "While a man was walking on a road. he became very thirsty. Then he came across a well, got down into it, drank (of its water) and then came out. Meanwhile he saw a dog panting and licking mud because of excessive thirst. The man said to himself "This dog is suffering from the same state of thirst as I did." So he went down the well (again) and filled his shoe (with water) and held it in his mouth and watered the dog. Allah thanked him for that deed and forgave him." The people asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Is there a reward for us in serving the animals?" He said, "(Yes) There is a reward for serving any animate (living being) ."(Bhukhari Volume: 8, Book Number: 73, Hadith Number: 38)

Narrated 'Adi bin Hatim:

I asked Allah's Apostle about Al Mirad (i.e. a sharp-edged piece of wood or a piece of wood provided with a piece of iron used for hunting). He replied, "If the game is hit by its sharp edge, eat it, and if it is hit by its broad side, do not eat it, for it has been beaten to death." I asked, "O Allah's Apostle! I release my dog by the name of Allah and find with it at the game, another dog on which I have not mentioned the name of Allah, and I do not know which one of them caught the game." Allah's Apostle said (to him), 'Don't eat it as you have mentioned the name of Allah on your dog and not on the other dog." (Bukhari Volume: 3, Book Number: 34, Hadith Number: 270)

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