According to tradition, it’s the saliva. It grew out of some hadiths.
Also, like a lot of things it depends on which Muslims to talk to.
At this point it’s more about the dogs left in most Muslim country.
For example, when my father, who’s hardly religious came over to the US, it took him awhile to not be absolutely terrified by every dog he saw.
Why?
Well, because in Iran the only dogs around are wild, feral dogs which are definitely not dogs you would want as pets. Imagine how anyone from the UK or the US might feel going to a country where wolves were kept as pets and how people would react.
I’ve got no problem with dogs, but they ARE unclean animals. It amazes me when people keep dogs in their home and insist they are clean. No sir/ma’am, your house is not clean. And yes, I can smell it.
Dogs have arguably been treated badly on Antarctic expeditions. I don’t think any of the people who did this faced any kind of social sanction for doing so. Sled dogs were eventually banned from Antarctica, but for environmental reasons, not animal welfare reasons. The ban went into effect in 1992, so you’re not likely to see any videos online of people mistreating sled dogs in Antarctica.
Did your Arab friends say they were terrified of your dogs because of something Mohammed said? There are other reasons why people might be terrified of dogs. Some people are scared of dogs because they have been attacked by dogs. Some people don’t like how dogs smell. Some people have a thing about having dog or cat hair on their clothes (I really don’t understand this, but some people seem to feel strongly about it). Some people don’t like dogs jumping on them or licking them (even though puppy kisses are the BEST!).
My niece, who is 7, is terrified of my cat. She’s Catholic, but I’ve met other Catholics who like cats, so I don’t think this has anything to do with her religion. As far as I know, she hasn’t been attacked by any cats- she’s just anxious around them. Some people just don’t like dogs or cats.
Of course, if you grew up in a culture where dogs were not often kept as pets, you wouldn’t necessarily know how to tell if a dog is friendly. You might hang back from all dogs, just as a precaution.
No offence, but Molly looks [del] like she got hit wid da wrong end of the ugly stick [/del] not quite as attractive as some pups I’ve seen. :eek:
Here, let me whip out my schnoodle for you to gaze longingly upon—my little friend loves to be stroked around the head and caressed. Warning, subject is jail-worthy!
Yep, you could keel over from extreme adoration looking at that cutie-pie!
Not enough to outweigh the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Yep. I am very fond of our dogs. But they are stinky and not allowed in the “house”. Cute, lovable, stinky mischievous little bastards. And stone killers.
Just to be clear, that is not me in the video I just posted. I’d never do that with a dog (or worse, with my ex). I do, however do it with our cat, guinea pig and gerbil (she’s a fox…well, not literally).
