In my experience, this is true even in non-Muslim Third World countries. I think the lack of Animal Control and the like in these places leads to a large number of feral animals which are, as you say, often dirty and sometimes dangerous. The result is that the locals are less likely to see a random dog as a cute pet, and more likely to see it as a disease carrying and possibly dangerous pest.
I walk my beagles in the park every day. We encounter lots of Arabs since I live in Dearborn Heights, Mich. Often their kids want to come near the cute beagles. But the parents step between the kids and say please keep them apart, my son was bit by a dog. Either a lot of Arabs get bit by dogs or they are lying.
I have had middle eastern people jump back and say dogs are unclean. They are in a nice clean sanitary park eating food. Squirrels and raccoons have been on the seats and the tables they use.
The Iraqi neighbor across the street used to be that way, but now he goes out of his way to pet them because they are so friendly and cute.
As with alot of so called “muslim” tendencies its a cultural thing that has nothing to with Islam. Turks, in my experience, are big dog lovers.
This. My village in Bulgaria had loads of street cats and dogs. I adopted my cat (who had been born a street cat) when he was a tiny kitten and raised him to be a house cat. My neighbors and colleagues were shocked that I let him live in my house and even sleep in my bed because didn’t I know that cats were DIRTY and had FLEAS?
My explanations that my cat was clean and did not have fleas were met with disbelief. Cats were, in their minds, inherently filthy and covered with vermin.
Isn’t dog saliva supposed to be relatively clean, or is that a myth?
Really? I had a friend in college who spent several years in Turkey growing up, and he said all the Turks were afraid of dogs, and there are feral dogs in the city that scare everyone running wild, and his goofy old family dog scared people away from the front porch every time she came to see who it was.
Turkey has their own national breed. It is, however, a mighty fearsome thing ( a source breed for the Anatolian Shepherd ) which I’d be wary of as well ;).
Which also answers MrDibble’s question, as it is indeed an indigenous sheep guardian animal ( long predating Islam in the area ) on the level of a Maremma, Kuvasz or Sharplaninec.
As a total hijack, and and a totally liberal interpretation of Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Washing with water isn’t required in any way. See and reflect on Q&A’s 18, 51, 62, 66, 77, 86. Personally I would refer you to the opening few paragraphs, but I am a bad influence.
I would like to know the answer to the actual question asked by norinew.
Meflin
I worked for an American company in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, with a population of about half a million people. The company was formerly owned by a Chinese-Malay family; the employees were about 50% Chinese-Malay, 25% Malay (Muslims, for the most part) and 25% East Indian-Malay. The ancestors of the Chinese and East Indians were brought to what was then called Malaya to work the tea and rubber plantations.
Security at the plant was provided by the Malays and was a matter of checking farmers’ credentials and produce (it’s a food processing plant) and directing visitors to the parking areas. There was a yellow-ish dog of medium height and indeterminate breed, so thin that his bones stuck through his pelt. He was a mass of open sores and missing hair patches and had a limp that one security guard told me was because of being hit by a car and not taken for treatment. The Muslim security guards provided the dog with food, water and blankets to sleep on. They never touched the dog nor befriended him in any way, but managed to keep him alive and provide the bare necessities. I bought some Milk-Bones at a Chinese market and tossed him a few whenever I saw him. The guards smiled at me and joked about my ‘kindness.’ He became more and more decrepit and obviously needed to be seen by a vet and/or euthanized. I called the Selangor SPCA and was told that they would not euthanize the dog but would care for him and put him up for adoption, although that didn’t seem like a realistic outcome. I would have to transport the dog to their facility; there was no way anyone would pick him up.
I called the local police department to ask if they could provide that service for me (I’d pay for it) and was told that they (Malays) would not transport a dog but would give me a gun to shoot it under their surveillance! I’d have to make arrangements to have the body removed; they would not do it. Yikes! No way I could ever ever do this.
I had befriended one of the former owners, a very wealthy Chinese-Malay woman, and told her of my dilemma. She said she’d ‘take care of it.’ A few days later the dog was missing and I never saw him again. Evidently she called a Chinese-Malay vet who ‘kidnapped’ the dog one night, diagnosed him, and decided that euthanasia was the best thing for the dog.
A few of my cow-orker Malays came to me to express their sorrow over losing the dog and thanking me for my kindness.
There are Muslims and there are Muslims. There are Catholics who don’t believe in birth control and those who do. There are Mormons who shun their gay children and those who accept them and welcome their partners.
There’s no one-size-fits-all in these religious matters (insanities).