What did the Prophet Mohammed really say about dogs?

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2008:

 

 

 

What did the Prophet Mohammed really say about dogs?

 

Commentary by Merritt Clifton

 

 

CAIRO--Will the status of dogs rise in the Islamic world as

improved sanitation eliminates street dog habitat, the threat of

rabies recedes, and rising affluence enables more people to keep

pets?

Or, is prejudice against dogs so thoroughly built into

Muslim culture that the Middle East will remain the part of the

inhabited world with the fewest pet dogs per capita, despite having

the longest recorded history of keeping dogs?

Cairo, Damascus, Istanbul, Karachi, Tehran, Kuwait, and

Dubai all appear to have reached approximately the socio-demographic

transition point at which dog-keeping began exponential growth in the

U.S. and more recently China, and began more restrained growth in

western Europe.

Features of the transition point include rising percentages

of the population who have contact with animals chiefly as pets,

rather than through agrarian occupations; smaller family sizes;

fewer multi-generational households; and more women in the work

force.

The factors most directly associated with surges in

dog-keeping, worldwide, center on increases in the ability of

people who like dogs to keep dogs as pets without starting conflict

with others who share the same living space.

Taboos on dog-keeping in other cultures have not held back

dog acquisition, once keeping a dog became easy for urban residents.

As recently as 10 years ago, for instance, observers of

dog-keeping in China typically opined that keeping pet dogs would

never become as popular there as in the west, not only for economic

reasons but also because of the lingering effects of decades of

official propagandizing against dogs. Instead, almost as soon as

governmental restrictions on dog-keeping were eased somewhat, the

popularity of dog-keeping exploded. China now has more pet dogs than

any other nation, and trails only the U.S. and Costa Rica in ratio

of pet dogs to humans.

A parallel effect occurred with keeping cats in the U.S.

Research by John Marbanks, done in 1947-1950, found that there were

then far fewer pet cats than dogs--and only 26% of the fed cats,

compared to 47% of the fed dogs, had house privileges. Prevailing

public opinion held that keeping cats indoors was unclean and

potentially dangerous to children.

In 1947, however, a man named Ed Lowe invented and began to

market clay cat litter. Bagged dry cat kibble began to reach stores

about 15 years later.

Today about 90 million cats inhabit U.S. homes, outnumbering

pet dogs by 20 million. About 60 million U.S. cats live primarily

indoors.

Differing status of cats & dogs

A belief is widespread in the Islamic world that Mohammed

favored cats, of whom he was openly fond, but forbade keeping dogs.

This idea comes primarily from Hadiths 3:515, 4:541, and

4:4542, which state that " If somebody keeps a dog who is neither

used for farm work nor for guarding livestock, he will lose one Qirat

(a unit of value) of the reward for his good deeds every day. "

But the original meaning of the word " keep, " and of the

Arabic word translated as " keep " in these verses, is " to confine, "

as is affirmed by the evolution of translations of less

controversial Hadiths narrated by both Saheeh Muslim and Saheeh

Al-Bukhari about improperly " keeping " a cat. The story in older

translation is that, " A woman entered the Fire because of a cat

which she kept and did not give it food or water, nor did she set it

free to eat of the vermin of the earth. " Two later translations have

it that the woman " was punished because she imprisoned a cat until it

died, " or " entered Hell because of a cat she tied up and did not

feed. "

To confine was still the primary meaning of " keeping " an

animal in formal English as recently as the 1930s, when the most

commonly cited versions of the Hadiths were translated--and in the

case of the verses about the cat, translators appear to be unanimous

that the Arabic word originally rendered as " kept " referred

specifically to cruel confinement.

What the Hadiths about keeping a dog therefore appear to be

stating, if read into historical context, is that people should not

confine a dog unnecessarily, recognizing the nature of a dog as a

social animal.

Supporting this view is Mohammed's often expressed opposition

to confining other animals unnecessarily or in a cruel manner--not

only cats, but also birds, livestock, and wildlife. Mohammed

accepted confinement, but only if the needs of the animal were met,

and was attentive to their emotional needs, as illustrated in his

rebuke of a man who sharpened a knife in front of a sheep who was to

be sacrificed.

Also often cited in support of claims that Mohammed forbade

keeping dogs are Hadith 4:539, usually translated as " The Prophet

said, 'Angels do not enter a house which has either a dog or a

picture in it,' " and Hadith 4:540, " Allah's Apostle ordered that the

dogs should be killed. "

These two Hadiths, however, come directly after one of

Mohammed's strongest pro-dog pronouncements.

Hadith 4:539 has also been translated as using the vigilance

of dogs as a metaphor to explain how strongly an icon or idol would

repel angels. Speaking against icons and idols was among Mohammed's

most frequent themes, but speaking ill of animals was not his habit.

Hadith 4:540 is believed by medical historians to refer to an

incident in which Mohammed responded to a rabies outbreak in Medina

by closing the walled part of the city where it occurred, to prevent

the outbreak from spreading, and then exterminated the host animals.

Before the invention of prophylactic anti-rabies vaccines, this

procedure of isolation and " stamping out " was the only known way to

stop a rabies epidemic. Isolation followed by " stamping out " is

still the procedure recommended by the World Health Organization for

coping with zoonotic disease outbreaks, if vaccines are unavailable

or of unknown efficacy.

In that context, Hadith 4:540 has been recently cited in

support of the " stamping out " response to outbreaks of the avian

influenza H5N1 in Egypt, Indonesia, and several other Islamic

nations.

Mohammed spoke of dogs in five other well-remembered Hadiths.

In three Hadiths--3:439, 3:440, and 3:482-- Mohammed forbade

selling a dog. Each Hadith lists several other seemingly unrelated

forbidden practices, including pimping. These practices have in

common that they involve a betrayal of trust. Selling a dog

therefore appears to be forbidden because it betrays the dog's trust.

Hadith 3:484 adds that " The Prophet forbade taking a price

for animal copulation, " which, in proximity to the other three,

appears to prohibit renting stud dogs. This verse has also been

interpreted as a brief reiteration of the Islamic prohibition of

bestiality.

Mohammed's most significant statements about dogs were

narrated by his disciple Abu Huraira, who was well-known for his own

love of animals.

According to Hadith 3:551, " Allah's Apostle said, 'While a

man was walking he felt thirsty and went down a well and drank water

from it. On coming out of it, he saw a dog panting and eating mud

because of excessive thirst. The man said, 'This (dog) is suffering

from the same problem as that of mine. So he went down again into

the well, filled his shoe with water, caught hold of it with his

teeth, and climbed up and watered the dog. Allah thanked him for

his good deed and forgave him.' The people asked, 'O Allah's

Apostle! Is there a reward for us in serving (the) animals?' He

replied, " Yes, there is a reward for serving any animal. "

Hadith 3:551 is perhaps the most emphatic mandate for humane

work in any of the primary religious texts of any of the Abrahamic

religions.

Hadith 4:538 expands the message.

Again according to Abu Huraira, " Allah's Apostle said, 'A

prostitute was forgiven by Allah, because, passing by a panting dog

near a well and seeing that the dog was about to die of thirst, she

took off her shoe, and tying it with her head-cover she drew out some

water for it. So, Allah forgave her because of that. "

Hadith 4:538 goes beyond just promising a reward for helping

animals. This Hadith promises specific forgiveness of sin to those

who help animals, even if the sin is as grave as prostitution and is

compounded by the prostitute having removed her head covering. These

are offenses which in parts of the Islamic world are still punished

by stoning or flogging.

In essence, Hadith 4:538 states that practicing compassion

for animals is more important than obedience to even some of the

most basic social norms. Hadith 4:538 indicates as a cultural goal

the education of a society in which everyone is compassionate toward

animals, and therefore no one is stoned or flogged.

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

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Fax: 360-579-2575

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