In Islam, why dogs are considered impure animal? (1 Viewer)

[Thorin]

OMG

 

[DMaestro]

So by your logic, if a pig had a better personality it would cease to be a filthy animal?

Well that would have to be one charming muh-******* pig!

 

[champ76]

Dog saliva is especially unclean and there's a whole cleansing ritual involved before a devout Muslim can pray again, once he's been contaminated by dog spit.

Any Muslim going around my son's Boxer would have to cleanse himself for two months before praying from all the spittle that dog puts out. Really, though, this stuff would be funny if it weren't so serious.

 

[saintcool13]

Do they fetch?

I have a pug that doesn't fetch.

 

[DadsDream]

I think I'm more at a loss by the fact that they are now using unwilling mentally challenged people as suicide bombers than targeting a pet market.

Me too, but Wifey has an Animal Science degree and a background as a vet tech, so she's always going to view things from the animal lover's perspective.

 

[St. Widge]

Pigs actually aren't filthy animals. We throw them in that slop to keep them cool. When treated like most people treat dogs, they are neater and smarter than most dogs. My dad had one in college and said it was the best pet he ever had, and we've had dogs my whole life.

Yeah, I know that. I was quoting Pulp Fiction with Thorin.

 

[tenordas]

Well, the website Ask The Imam has the answer!

The keeping of dogs as pets is a Western cultural idea which is not in keeping with Islamic law. The idea that "the dog is man's best friend" is an unnatural behavior which is part of Western culture.

I have to wonder how Egyptian Muslims feel about this since hieroglyphic records clearly tell us dogs were a part of ancient Egyptian culture. Pretty amusing that they try to sell it off onto "Western culture".

Animals don't have a soul anyway, right?

To answer the question seriously, dogs (all animals) do have souls according to the Bible. I believe there is some Catholic papal ruling at some point that declared only men have souls and a lot of Christians espouse that idea, but it is without biblical backing.
Give me a minute and I find the relevant verses.

EDIT: Here are the relevant verses. It seems to me there is something said in passing in one of Paul's letters about it, but I can't seem to find that. Ecclesiastes is the most obvious and leaves no doubt on the issue, but the others speak to the matter as well.

Ecclesiastes 3: 19. For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts; for all is vanity.
20. All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth?

Psalm 36: 6. Thy righteousness is like the mountains of G-d, thy judgments are like the great deep; man and beast thou savest, O L-rd.

Job 12: 7. "But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
8. or the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the L-rd has done this?
10. In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.

 

[NCSaint]

Those people ...yes "those" people are just nuts. Dogs are not a western ideal but more of a western dog society. I swear my neighborhood is a literal barking dog society.

 

[tenordas]

We have a friend whose Muslim father-in-law had a screaming fit after he stepped in the dog's poop, claiming they had sentenced him to hell because of the incident. I couldn't help but wonder if the Qur'an actually says such a thing or not, but it wouldn't surprise me overly much.
Of course, we all think he's more than a little insane in the first place, but there you go.

 

[jpcdolphan]

We have a friend whose Muslim father-in-law had a screaming fit after he stepped in the dog's poop, claiming they had sentenced him to hell because of the incident....

That's got to make future annual family holiday dinners a little awkward...

 

[kcirdor]

Animals don't have a soul anyway, right?

Im an animal, soooo I don't have a soul? Your kidding....

whats really interesting is the fact that Judism and Islam practice strict adherence to their beliefs while Christianity is flexible and things become "ok" over time.

Did anyone know there are like 613 commandments? or close to it. Not me, I learned that last night on House.

 

[geauxboy]

Im an animal, soooo I don't have a soul? Your kidding....

whats really interesting is the fact that Judism and Islam practice strict adherence to their beliefs while Christianity is flexible and things become "ok" over time.

Did anyone know there are like 613 commandments? or close to it. Not me, I learned that last night on House.

This is actually one of my biggest arguments against the whole animals (excluding humans) don't have souls bit. We are animal just as much as the rest of the animal kingdom, yet we have souls??????????????:dunno:

Why the separation?

BTW, thanks for the info tenordas. But, why do many of the faith believe otherwise?

 

[UncleTrvlingJim]

I have to wonder how Egyptian Muslims feel about this since hieroglyphic records clearly tell us dogs were a part of ancient Egyptian culture. Pretty amusing that they try to sell it off onto "Western culture".

My boab in Egypt had a dog, so did my landlady....

And no, it isn't in the Koran. there are a few mentions of dogs in the Koran, IIRC they are never called filthy or anything negative. That connotation comes from a haditha - stories written after the Koran.

 

[RSF]

My boab in Egypt

What the hell is a boab?

 

[DadsDream]

Yes, of course there are lots of flavors of Islam. I've known quite a few Syrians, Lebanese and Iranians.

Only one of them followed a strict interpretation variation of Islam...the kind that locks women away during that time of the month and condemns the US as hoplessly contaminated and therefore needing a complete cleansing by destruction.

Sure, strict followers of the Old Testament have similar extremely strict rules about all kinds of things. Most are tied to what we would deem as basic sanitation. But, their gospel ties these prohibitions to purity of the soul as well as cleanliness.

What I found intriguing was the fatwah, a religious ruling, allowing the Iranian president to have guard dogs without them being "unclean."

Yes, it reminded me very much of the Mideval royalty in Europe being given dispensation by the Roman Catholic Church for everything from gluttony to mistresses to illigitimate children.