Studying Islam

Post Reply

Username

Invalid Username or Password

Password

Format

Message Icon

Message

- Forum Code is ON
- HTML is OFF

Smilies

[quote]Here is some more from the author of above quoted QnA. I do hope that it'll clear some points of the matter at least. Lets see what U people say.

&quot; salam to all participants
 
In order to understand an issue mentioned in Hadith narratives, it is imperative that all the variants of that narrative be studied in major Hadith works so that one can get closer to the actual picture portrayed. This comprehensive study is essential because  narrators do not always report an incident in its complete form. At times important bits and pieces are left out in a narrative which are found in others.
 
Now if we compile and collate all the narratives which mention the keeping of dogs, we can draw the conclusion that in Madinah at one time stray dogs were causing a great nuisance. The Prophet (sws) ordered that they be killed. A big campaign was launched by the companions to rid the streets of Madinah from this menace. In the background of this campaign of killing the Prophet (sws) said that dogs which are used for some specific purpose eg  watch-dogs should be spared and he further said that if except for such obvious needs dogs should not be kept otherwise a person would be penalized. Obviously this was because dogs would go out of the places where they would be kept and cause nuisance for others. 
 
It is for this reason that the issue of pet dogs is not even discussed in these narratives. The original Arabic words of these narratives have no such words as &quot;a pet dog&quot;. They only say &quot;dogs are which not kept for this purpose ...&quot;. And this sentence itself needs to be understood in the light of directive of killing of stray dogs in those times, as I have referred to earlier. For details, see for example Muslim, Nos: 1570-1574.

As far as the issue of angels not entering the house where a dog is kept or where there is a picture these narratives also need to be studied with their complete variants. A study of the latter of the two has shown that these pictures were pictures or portraits which were worshipped in those times. Understandably angels show an aversion to entering houses where someone other than God is worshipped. In other words though most narratives mention seem to prohibit every type of picture, if all the narratives are studied we come to know that only certain pictures (ie those which were worshipped) were forbidden.
 
Similar should be the case with dogs. Some evil belief must have been attached to certain dogs which were kept in houses and it was this that made the angels averse to these dogs. In other words, this prohibition too relates to certain types of dogs. This is further evident from the fact that angels apparently are not averse to dogs which are meant for security purposes or for hunting otherwise the Prophet (sws) would never have allowed them.
 
As far as the issue of earning through selling dogs is concerned the narrative is regarded weak by authorities.
 
regards
Shehzad Saleem[/quote]

Mode

Check here to be notified by email whenever someone replies to your topic

Show Preview