Is this unclean like Pork? Or something else? The articles didn’t go into much detail.
stories:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/2326357.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/555491.stm
It has to do with some comments attributed to Muhamed in the Hadith ( the collected sayings of Muhammed and his close followers ), rather than the Qur’an per se. So as below:
How should we behave with dogs according to the Islamic law?
*'Aisha (RAA) narrated that Allah’s Apostle (SAAS) said: “Five kinds of animals are harmful and could be killed in the Haram (Sanctuary). These are: the crow, the kite, the scorpion, the mouse and the rabid dog.” (Bukhari)
Abu Huraira (RAA) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (SAAS) said: “Angels do not accompany the travelers who have with them a dog or a bell.” (Muslim)
Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (RAA) narrated that the Prophet (SAAS) said: “When you hear the barking of dogs and the braying of asses at night, seek refuge in Allah, for they see which you do not see.” (Abu Dawud)
Abu Mas’ud al-Ansari (RAA) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (SAAS) forbade taking the price of a dog, money earned by prostitution and the earnings of a soothsayer. (Bukhari)
Since that the mind of a human being is limited and he doesn’t know everything, our Prophet (SAAS) informed us about the things that are harmful to us. That is why he said that it’s not use to keep dogs except if they are used for hunting, to guard farms or cattle or for some other necessary reason. So this command is for the good of the human being, so that he won’t be deprived from the benefaction of his Lord nor the company of the angels, and become surrounded by the satans from all sides!
Abu Huraira (RAA) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (SAAS) said: “Whoever keeps a dog, one Qirat (one great amount of the reward) of his good deeds is deducted daily, unless the dog is used for guarding a farm or cattle.” (Bukhari)
In the version by ibn Sirin and Abu Salih from Abu Huraira (RAA), the words are: “…unless it is used for guarding sheep or farms, or for hunting.”
In a version narrated by Abu Hazim from Abu Huraira (RAA), the words are: “…except a dog for guarding cattle or for hunting.”
There are some Muslims who because of their less knowledge say, that it is use for the human to keep a dog, and they give as a proof for that the story of the people of the cave who stayed there for 300 years in the company of their dog (look Qur‘aan 18:8-26). But unfortunately these people have gone astray in this regard since that Imam At-Tabari (224-310 AH) rahimahullaah, whose explanation of the Qur‘aan consists of 30 volumes, narrated that the dog that was with them was a dog for hunting.*
The above from here: http://members.surfeu.fi/ummuabdullah/pages/dogs.
So dogs are generally considered okay for utilitarian purposes ( guarding, herding, etc. ), but otherwise unclean. I would assume that either the pissy clerics in Iran are upset about keeping dogs as pets or else they are conveniently ignoring conflicting hadith that state that dogs have a valid utilitarian function. At any rate there are multiple versions of hadith, some of which are considered more reliable than others ( and a small minority of Muslims think they are all unreliable ). For a comment on that see the following:
http://www.islamicconcern.com/dogs.html
- Tamerlane
Well, they do eat their own shit.
Dr F: I have never seen a Dog do this (eat its own feces). Mine never has. I would suspect if a Dog does this, it is either very ill physically or abused (chronically underfed) by humans, who as abusers of the innocent I would reckon to be “unclean”.
But, dogs got personality, personality goes a long way.
Doghouse Riley has it right - I think that pigs eat shit, not dogs. Dogs roll in it, do it, sniff it, stare at it, bark at it, maybe even lick it, but I never saw any of my dogs or anyone else’s actually eat it.
Doghouse - What was in that briefcase anyway?
Female dogs will eat the feces of their young, an adaptation that is supposed to keep the den clean and keep predators away. I’ve heard that feral dogs will eat human feces, which is more to the point.
On the other hand, chickens will eat their own feces, too, and IIRC they are not forbidden. As one anthropollogist has noted, if we were forbidden to eat animals that ate feces, we’d all have to become vegetarians. Digestion is by no means 100% efficient, and in some circumstances the remaining nutrition is difficult for animals to pass up. Even people have been known to eat food retrieved from feces (and not as a sexual fetish). See the book End Product. See the Tennessee Williams play The Night of the Iguana, for that matter.
The reasons for “unclean” taboos are many and complex. As I’ve noted before, I prefer Marvin Harris’ “cultural materialism” explanations, but even Harris admits that this doesn’t explain all such taboos.
My boss’s dirty laundry.
You seen my wallet? It ain’t hard to miss . . .
Many dogs love cat turds. It’s like a freaking baby ruth bar to them.