Are Dogs Impure?
Question:
Dear Sir,
Most muslims do not touch dogs and generally avoid them because they consider dogs as 'impure'. In fact, some even go to the extent of throwing stones and being cruel to them. I love animals and I find this rather disturbing. Dogs are after all God's creation too. Is it true that a Muslim is not allowed to touch a wet dog or come in contact with it's saliva? Why is this so?
Thank you
Answer:
I have not seen any references to an animal in the Qur’an to be as special as reference to dog.
In the sura of Kahf we read:
And you might think them awake while they were asleep And We turned them about to the right and to the left While their dog) stretching its paws at the entrance If you looked at them you would certainly turn back from them in flight, and you would certainly be filled with awe because of them. ... Some say they were three, the fourth of them being their dog ... (18:18, 20)
We also know that the Qur’an refers to using dogs for hunting (5:4).
In Bukhari we read:
Narrated from Abu Huraira: The prophet said, "A man saw a Dog eating mud from (the severity of) thirst. So, that man took a shoe (and filled it) with water and kept on pouring the water for the Dog till it quenched its thirst. So God approved of his deed and made him to enter Paradise." And narrated Hamza bin 'Abdullah: My father said. "During the lifetime of God’s Apostle, the Dogs used to urinate, and pass through the mosques (come and go), nevertheless they never used to sprinkle water on it (urine of the Dog.)" (Bukhari, 4:174)
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl writes in his article “Dogs in the Islamic Tradition and Nature”:
“several reports indicated that the Prophet’s young cousins, and some of the companions owned puppies. Other reports indicated that the Prophet prayed while a dog played in the vicinity. In addition, there is considerable historical evidence that dogs roamed freely in Medina and even entered the Prophet’s mosque. … Most jurists rejected the traditions mandating the killing of dogs as fabrications because, they reasoned, such behavior would be wasteful of life. These jurists argued that there is a presumption prohibiting the destruction of nature, and mandating the honoring of all creation. Any part of creation or nature cannot be needlessly destroyed, and no life can be taken without compelling cause.”
There are of course a few hadiths that describe dogs as extremely impure. However these hadiths do not necessarily mean that this was a general religious rule. In fact, evidences show that this was only a local specific rule pertaining to certain dogs in Medina who had infectious illnesses or rabies. While many less educated Muslims seem to be very determined that these hadiths categorically make dogs impure, most knowledgeable jurists of the past did not haste in reaching conclusions.
Ibn Rushd in his almuqadamat al-mumahhidat, volume one, section on 'waters' writes:
“and what I say about the meaning of the instruction of the prophet – pbuh - to wash dishes seven times when they are licked by dog - and God knows and instructs better - is that he gave a recommendation and advice in the fear that the dog may be one that causes physical harm for one who eats from the remaining (of its food) or uses the dish that it has used before cleaning it.”
He then writes:
“So when a domestic dog leaks a utensil in which there is water of food, by the above interpretation, the water and the food does not become impure”.
He then reports a variety of views of jurists about this issue (where one can easily see that not all of them agreed that dog is unconditionally impure). He reports the views of jurists who distinguished between urban dogs (as clean ones) and non-urban dogs (as impure ones), or between domestic dogs (as clean ones) and wild dogs (as impure ones).
The discussion goes as far as reporting dogs urinating in mosques and people not bothering about it, that is the hadith that was quoted at the start of this writing.
For me, as a student of Islam, the issue is very simple to understand. I do not consider hadith to be an independent source of understanding Islam. Therefore to me the source of Haram and Halal is only the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah. All the haram things that are included in the Established Sunnah are also listed in the Qur’an. Not only there are no references in the Qur’an about impurity of dogs or discouraging to keep them, as mentioned at the start of this answer, there are in fact references that are contrary to the above.
Since this is not a matter on which religion has given us any instructions, it will become up to individuals to decide, based on their own standards of cleanness, that whether dog or a specific dog is clean or not.
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February 2014
Farhad Shafti
Dear Sir,
Most muslims do not touch dogs and generally avoid them because they consider dogs as 'impure'. In fact, some even go to the extent of throwing stones and being cruel to them. I love animals and I find this rather disturbing. Dogs are after all God's creation too. Is it true that a Muslim is not allowed to touch a wet dog or come in contact with it's saliva? Why is this so?
Thank you
Answer:
I have not seen any references to an animal in the Qur’an to be as special as reference to dog.
In the sura of Kahf we read:
And you might think them awake while they were asleep And We turned them about to the right and to the left While their dog) stretching its paws at the entrance If you looked at them you would certainly turn back from them in flight, and you would certainly be filled with awe because of them. ... Some say they were three, the fourth of them being their dog ... (18:18, 20)
We also know that the Qur’an refers to using dogs for hunting (5:4).
In Bukhari we read:
Narrated from Abu Huraira: The prophet said, "A man saw a Dog eating mud from (the severity of) thirst. So, that man took a shoe (and filled it) with water and kept on pouring the water for the Dog till it quenched its thirst. So God approved of his deed and made him to enter Paradise." And narrated Hamza bin 'Abdullah: My father said. "During the lifetime of God’s Apostle, the Dogs used to urinate, and pass through the mosques (come and go), nevertheless they never used to sprinkle water on it (urine of the Dog.)" (Bukhari, 4:174)
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl writes in his article “Dogs in the Islamic Tradition and Nature”:
“several reports indicated that the Prophet’s young cousins, and some of the companions owned puppies. Other reports indicated that the Prophet prayed while a dog played in the vicinity. In addition, there is considerable historical evidence that dogs roamed freely in Medina and even entered the Prophet’s mosque. … Most jurists rejected the traditions mandating the killing of dogs as fabrications because, they reasoned, such behavior would be wasteful of life. These jurists argued that there is a presumption prohibiting the destruction of nature, and mandating the honoring of all creation. Any part of creation or nature cannot be needlessly destroyed, and no life can be taken without compelling cause.”
There are of course a few hadiths that describe dogs as extremely impure. However these hadiths do not necessarily mean that this was a general religious rule. In fact, evidences show that this was only a local specific rule pertaining to certain dogs in Medina who had infectious illnesses or rabies. While many less educated Muslims seem to be very determined that these hadiths categorically make dogs impure, most knowledgeable jurists of the past did not haste in reaching conclusions.
Ibn Rushd in his almuqadamat al-mumahhidat, volume one, section on 'waters' writes:
“and what I say about the meaning of the instruction of the prophet – pbuh - to wash dishes seven times when they are licked by dog - and God knows and instructs better - is that he gave a recommendation and advice in the fear that the dog may be one that causes physical harm for one who eats from the remaining (of its food) or uses the dish that it has used before cleaning it.”
He then writes:
“So when a domestic dog leaks a utensil in which there is water of food, by the above interpretation, the water and the food does not become impure”.
He then reports a variety of views of jurists about this issue (where one can easily see that not all of them agreed that dog is unconditionally impure). He reports the views of jurists who distinguished between urban dogs (as clean ones) and non-urban dogs (as impure ones), or between domestic dogs (as clean ones) and wild dogs (as impure ones).
The discussion goes as far as reporting dogs urinating in mosques and people not bothering about it, that is the hadith that was quoted at the start of this writing.
For me, as a student of Islam, the issue is very simple to understand. I do not consider hadith to be an independent source of understanding Islam. Therefore to me the source of Haram and Halal is only the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah. All the haram things that are included in the Established Sunnah are also listed in the Qur’an. Not only there are no references in the Qur’an about impurity of dogs or discouraging to keep them, as mentioned at the start of this answer, there are in fact references that are contrary to the above.
Since this is not a matter on which religion has given us any instructions, it will become up to individuals to decide, based on their own standards of cleanness, that whether dog or a specific dog is clean or not.
----------
February 2014
Farhad Shafti