Forgive me Master for I am unclean

I wrote into one of my previous post that, by in large, Muslims do not like dogs. As a non-Muslim, I find this attitude a little bit hard to understand. Every time, somebody enters our home I have to make sure I restrain Oreo just so he would not touch someone who does not want to be touched by a dog.

People I spoke with gave me different account about Islam and dogs that I had to research further.

Islamic religion has the Quran that can be compared to the Christian Bible. There are also the Hadiths, a supplementation for the Quran. The Quran is the word of Allah, whereas the hadith is the word of Prophet Muhammad. Hadiths started being written hundreds of years after Muhammad's death.

Here are some learning from the hadiths:

1. Allah's Apostle ordered that the dogs should be killed
2. Allah's Apostle forbade taking the price of a dog, money earned by prostitution and the earnings of a soothsayer.

3. If somebody keeps a dog that is neither used for farm work nor for guarding the livestock, he will lose one Qirat (of the reward) of his good deeds everyday.

4. Once Gabriel promised the Prophet (that he would visit him, but Gabriel did not come) and later on he said, "We, angels, do not enter a house which contains a picture or a dog."

5.  Allah's Apostle said, "If a dog drinks from the utensil of anyone of you it is essential to wash it seven times."

6. Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman (if they pass in front of the praying people).
7. It is your duty to kill the jet-black (dog) having two spots (on the eyes) for it is a devil.

I find it interesting that the hadiths with negativity towards dogs, directly contradicts the teachings of the Quran. If a Muslim follows the hadiths he will dislike dogs and in some circumstances may even try to hurt them. As a side note, if you ever take a look at the hadiths many of them are violent in nature, while the Quran seems to discourage violence.

To conclude, on a negative note, I am not sure if our house will ever be visited by angels while here in the Desh. We will also have to accept being unclean. On the positive, we might not have to kill Oreo, since he is only part black. And there is definitely no plan on making any money out of selling our dog or practicing prostitution.