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Sharia on Saturday--Dogs

The Sharia law on dogs says that dogs are unclean.  That's what the majority of Saudi trained scholars say.  The fact that cats lick their asses and bring home the heads of dead mice doesn’t bother the scholars a bit.  In fact, according to some scholars, bird poop is clean.  That should have you questioning this Sharia law on dogs.

Dogs have been the loyal friend of humans for over 30 thousand years.  You could say they were the first entrepreneurs.  They exchanged their services for food.  I’m sure their wolf friends thought they were lazy, but these dogs had a job.  They protected the camp from predators and were a great help in hunting game and herding.  And when they had puppies, the children would hug them and cozy up to sleep with them.  And as they grew, they played and formed a strong bond.  And that’s how it’s been for thousands of years.  The song 3 dog night was a reference to being so cold you needed 3 dogs to keep you warm.  Dogs became our companions.

Hieroglyphs on the pyramid show dogs as prized possessions.   In fact, pictures of dogs can be found in the art work of many ancient cultures, including the Romans and Greeks.  Dogs are cool.

Unless you were Moses, he was the first to battle for the ideology of one God.  Egyptians had a few dogs that were worshipped, like Anubis.  He was a dog (or jackal) who was associated with the cult of the dead.   Not many people worship Anubis anymore.  These days most people believe in one God so the dog god lost its bad reputation.  Ever hear of a ‘Bark Mitzvah’?  It’s a Jewish celebration of the spiritual connection between dogs and their owners.

The Bible has some interesting references to dogs.

Today that would be seen as funny unless you lived in Saudi Arabia.  They still take this stuff seriously

Matthew 15:26   And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”
that’s true.


So why do some Muslims have an issue with dogs?  According to the Quran, Allah is cool with dogs.

This is from a story about people who did not believe in one God, even after being given the message; they lied as the story goes….

Some pagans were a real pain back in the day, but even they weren’t to be killed by humans.

7:176 Now had We so willed, We could indeed have exalted him by means of those messages: but he always clung to the earth and followed but his own desires. Thus, his parable is that of an excited dog: if thou approach him threateningly, he will pant with his tongue lolling; and if thou leave him alone, he will pant with his tongue lolling. Such is the parable of those who are bent on giving the lie to Our messages. Tell them, then, this story, so that they might take thought
I have to say, attack my dogs and you’ll be a hurting human.  But the message is;
He whom God guides, he alone is truly guided; whereas those whom He lets go astray-it is they, they who are the losers!

And this is a story about a group of ancient fellas who converted to the belief of one God.  That pissed off the pagans who then wanted to stone them, and God intervened.  They found a cave and…

18:18 And thou wouldst have thought that they were awake, whereas they lay asleep. And We caused them to turn over repeatedly, now to the right, now to the left; and their dog lay on the threshold, its forepaws outstretched. Hadst thou come upon them unprepared, thou wouldst surely have turned away from them in flight, and wouldst surely have been filled with awe of themAnd the dog protected them while they slept.  No one knows how long they slept, but the dog stayed with them.

18:22 And in times to come some will say, They were three, the fourth of them being their dog," while others will say, "Five, with their dog as the sixth of them" -idly guessing at something of which they can have no knowledge -and so on, until some will say, "They were seven, the eighth of them being their dog’ Say: "My Sustainer knows best how many they were. None but a few have any real knowledge of them. Hence, do not argue about them otherwise than by way of an obvious argument, and do not ask any of those story-tellers (as in Hadith) to enlighten thee about them."

The dog is very important to the story, it proves that dogs were an important part of God’s creation.  A guard dog is also companion, if you sleep in a cave, the dog sleeps with you.  The same would be true if you live in a house.  Even a small dog will alert your family against intruders.  And studies have shown that bad guys do not like entering a house with a dog.  I know the Hadith says Angels won’t enter a house with a dog, but I look at that as a message to walk your dog every day.  And Angels won’t hurt you, bad guys will.

Consider this, the dog is mentioned by name 3 times in the Quran.  Muhammad is mentioned 5 times by name.  Jesus is named at least 25 times.  Just putting things into perspective.

So what happened?  How can the Quran be cool with dogs while some Muslims see them as unclean, scary critters?  3 words; The Saudi scholars.  Instead of following the Quran they follow Hadith and they made Abu Bakr, Abu Huraira and the Buky Bukhari, prophets.  Whatever they forbid, the scholars forbid.  If Abu Bakr was afraid of dogs, everyone should be afraid of dogs.  If Abu Huraira preferred cats, everyone should prefer cats.  And if Bukhari had an issue with dogs, everyone should have an issue with dogs.   That’s what happened.  No doubt there were rabid dogs and packs of dogs roaming the Arabian deserts, but there were also dogs kept as pets and used for hunting and as guard dogs.  And out of 500,000 or more Hadith, they’re only mentioned 30 odd times and not always in a bad way.

Narrated 'Aisha:
The things which annual prayer were mentioned before me and those were: a dog, a donkey and a woman. I said, "You have compared us (women) to donkeys and dogs.
That pissed her off. But that’s the kinda guys they were and she corrected them.

Narrated Abu Huraira
Yes, God loves dogs and Israeli prostitutes.  And being kind to dogs is important.

Narrated Ibn Abbas
Abu Talha, a companion and one of those who fought at Badr together with Allah's Apostle told me that Allah's Apostle said. "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture" He meant the images of creatures that have souls.
Oh, is that what he meant?
For the record, only Arab angels who follow Hadith are afraid of dogs.  But even back then most people thought that dogs had a soul.

Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar
Allah's Apostle said, "If someone keeps a dog neither for guarding livestock, nor for hunting, his good deeds will decrease (in reward) by two Qirats a day.'
A qirat is a recitation…or a mountain, depending on who you ask..but don’t ask Umar, he’s getting fed.

This Sharia law is very easy to challenge and it should be challenged. 

6:150 Say: "bring forward your witnesses to prove that God did forbid so and so." If they bring such witnesses, be not thou amongst them: Nor follow thou the vain desires of such as treat our signs as falsehoods, and such as believe not in the Hereafter: for they hold others as equal with their Guardian-Lord
If God didn’t forbid dogs as pets, a bearded man in a dress can’t either.

8:39 And fight against them until there is no more oppression and all worship is devoted to God alone. And if they desist-behold, God sees all that they do.
And that’s the word.

The following are the Sharia laws that I have covered so far

No building can be taller than a  mosque

Honor killing...the facts

Stoning laws

Apostasy law

The ever so popular--Taqiyya and Kitman
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