The Sunnah is based on hadith - sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Now as a Muslim you are basically taught from day one that Islam is special because we have recordings of what the Prophet said on certain matters and actions he took. We can therefore look to these for inspiration when looking for moral/ethical guidelines.
What is even more special, you are taught, is that these sayings were carefully transmitted from generation to generation before finally being captured in books. These hadith collections have come to become the basis on Sunni Islam anyway.
Now like any Muslim who was thinking about getting a dog, I looked up hadith on dogs to see what was what. I was really confused by what I read. It seemed to contradict reality. This was the start of a very painful journey of realising that Islam is not all it's made up to be.
I will be getting into the nitty gritty of hadith in coming posts - for this one what I wanted to do was illustrate to you how bizarre I found the hadith on dogs to give you some context for my future findings.
There are literally hundreds of hadith about dogs, mainly due to slight variations in wording, but here are some of the main ones.
It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar said:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) commanded that dogs be killed.”
حَدَّثَنَا سُوَيْدُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، أَنْبَأَنَا مَالِكُ بْنُ أَنَسٍ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، قَالَ أَمَرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ بِقَتْلِ الْكِلاَبِ .
Grade : Sahih (Darussalam)
English reference : Vol. 4, Book 28, Hadith 3202
Arabic reference : Book 28, Hadith 3323
Shit! That's pretty strong but then you find a hadith that says..
It was narrated from Salim that his father said:
“I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) raising his voice and commanding that dogs be killed, and dogs were killed, except for hunting dogs or dogs kept for herding livestock.”
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو طَاهِرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ وَهْبٍ، أَخْبَرَنِي يُونُسُ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ سَالِمٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ رَافِعًا صَوْتَهُ يَأْمُرُ بِقَتْلِ الْكِلاَبِ وَكَانَتِ الْكِلاَبُ تُقْتَلُ إِلاَّ كَلْبَ صَيْدٍ أَوْ مَاشِيَةٍ .
Grade : Sahih (Darussalam)
English reference : Vol. 4, Book 28, Hadith 3203
Arabic reference : Book 28, Hadith 3324
So, you don't kill useful dogs. Is that really still ok?
It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoever keeps a dog, one Qirat will be deducted from him (good) deeds every day, except a dog for farming or herding livestock.”
حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ عَمَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الأَوْزَاعِيُّ، حَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى بْنُ أَبِي كَثِيرٍ، عَنْ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " مَنِ اقْتَنَى كَلْبًا فَإِنَّهُ يَنْقُصُ مِنْ عَمَلِهِ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ قِيرَاطٌ إِلاَّ كَلْبَ حَرْثٍ أَوْ مَاشِيَةٍ " .
Grade : Sahih (Darussalam)
English reference : Vol. 4, Book 28, Hadith 3204
Arabic reference : Book 28, Hadith 3325
Basically if I keep a dog for love or to save it from pain on the streets, I will be punished? Seriously Ar-rahman Ar-raheem (The Most Merciful The Most Beneficent)?
It was narrated from ‘Abdullah bin Mughaffal that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“Were it not that dogs form one of the communities (or nations – of creatures), I would have commanded that they be killed. But kill those that are all black. There are no people who keep a dog, except for dogs used for herding livestock, hunting or farming, but two Qirat will be deducted from their reward each day.”
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ أَبِي شِهَابٍ، حَدَّثَنِي يُونُسُ بْنُ عُبَيْدٍ، عَنِ الْحَسَنِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مُغَفَّلٍ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ " لَوْلاَ أَنَّ الْكِلاَبَ أُمَّةٌ مِنَ الأُمَمِ لأَمَرْتُ بِقَتْلِهَا فَاقْتُلُوا مِنْهَا الأَسْوَدَ الْبَهِيمَ وَمَا مِنْ قَوْمٍ اتَّخَذُوا كَلْبًا إِلاَّ كَلْبَ مَاشِيَةٍ أَوْ كَلْبَ صَيْدٍ أَوْ كَلْبَ حَرْثٍ إِلاَّ نَقَصَ مِنْ أُجُورِهِمْ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ قِيرَاطَانِ " .
Grade : Hasan (Darussalam)
English reference : Vol. 4, Book 28, Hadith 3205
Arabic reference : Book 28, Hadith 3326
So now it's because they are a "community" they have the right not to be killed? Wait - black dogs!? WTF? Why black?
It was narrated that Abu Dharr said:
“I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about the all-black dog and he said: ‘(It is) a devil.’”
حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ الْمُغِيرَةِ، عَنْ حُمَيْدِ بْنِ هِلاَلٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الصَّامِتِ، عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ، قَالَ سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ عَنِ الْكَلْبِ الأَسْوَدِ الْبَهِيمِ فَقَالَ " شَيْطَانٌ " .
Grade : Sahih (Darussalam)
English reference : Vol. 4, Book 28, Hadith 3210
Arabic reference : Book 28, Hadith 3331
Ah! OK! That makes....what? That makes no sense - come on? The Devil? My dog is black but he'd sit himself if he whiffed the devil let alone be him! Surely there must be some confused reasoning behind all of this? Otherwise this hadith stuff is looking dodgy.
It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said:
"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'If a dog licks the vessel of any one of you, let him throw (the contents) away and wash it seven times.'"
أَخْبَرَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ حُجْرٍ، قَالَ أَنْبَأَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ مُسْهِرٍ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي رَزِينٍ، وَأَبِي، صَالِحٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " إِذَا وَلَغَ الْكَلْبُ فِي إِنَاءِ أَحَدِكُمْ فَلْيُرِقْهُ ثُمَّ لْيَغْسِلْهُ سَبْعَ مَرَّاتٍ " .
Grade : Sahih (Darussalam)
Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 335
In-book reference : Book 2, Hadith 11
English translation : Vol. 1, Book 2, Hadith 336
Now it's making sense! This is where all the stuff about dogs being dirty comes from. So does this explain why the command was to kill them? Was the Prophet protecting people from the possible contamination of dogs?
And narrated Hamza bin 'Abdullah:
My father said. "During the lifetime of Allah's Apostle, the dogs used to urinate, and pass through the mosques (come and go), nevertheless they never used to sprinkle water on it (urine of the dog.)"
وَقَالَ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ شَبِيبٍ حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، عَنْ يُونُسَ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي حَمْزَةُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ كَانَتِ الْكِلاَبُ تَبُولُ وَتُقْبِلُ وَتُدْبِرُ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ فِي زَمَانِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَلَمْ يَكُونُوا يَرُشُّونَ شَيْئًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ.
Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 174
In-book reference : Book 4, Hadith 40
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 1, Book 4, Hadith 174
Confused again. So a dog licks something, we wash 7 times and rub with dirt but where we pray it can piss and we don't even need to sprinkle some water? What?
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A man saw a dog eating mud from (the severity of) thirst. So, that man took a shoe (and filled it) with water and kept on pouring the water for the dog till it quenched its thirst. So Allah approved of his deed and made him to enter Paradise."
حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ، أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ الصَّمَدِ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ دِينَارٍ، سَمِعْتُ أَبِي، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم " أَنَّ رَجُلاً رَأَى كَلْبًا يَأْكُلُ الثَّرَى مِنَ الْعَطَشِ، فَأَخَذَ الرَّجُلُ خُفَّهُ فَجَعَلَ يَغْرِفُ لَهُ بِهِ حَتَّى أَرْوَاهُ، فَشَكَرَ اللَّهُ لَهُ فَأَدْخَلَهُ الْجَنَّةَ ".
Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 173
In-book reference : Book 4, Hadith 39
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 1, Book 4, Hadith 174
Nice hadith hey? Beautiful. For me the essence of being a human being and "Islam". But looking at all the other hadith I'm starting to ask questions here over what the hell kind of a confused message these hadith are giving me.
Narrated Rafi' ibn Khadij:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "The earnings of a cupper are impure, the price paid for a dog is impure, and the hire paid to a prostitute is impure."
حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبَانُ، عَنْ يَحْيَى، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، - يَعْنِي ابْنَ قَارِظٍ - عَنِ السَّائِبِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ، عَنْ رَافِعِ بْنِ خَدِيجٍ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " كَسْبُ الْحَجَّامِ خَبِيثٌ وَثَمَنُ الْكَلْبِ خَبِيثٌ وَمَهْرُ الْبَغِيِّ خَبِيثٌ " .
Grade : Sahih (Al-Albani) صحيح (الألباني) حكم :
Reference : Sunan Abi Dawud 3421
In-book reference : Book 24, Hadith 6
English translation : Book 23, Hadith 3414
So selling a dog is the same as paying money to a puta? That's just a ethical quagmire. You can understand why at points I had to stop looking at the details on dogs in Islam - the more I looked the more the thread came away and despite not wanting to pull the thread, I had to keep going back and keep pulling. And now comes one of the big hadith on dogs - one that has caused an almost institutionalized hate of domestic dogs in Islam (which is really what this hadith was fabricated for - to stop Zoroastrians from keeping dogs as pets which they loved).
Narrated Abu Talha:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Angels do not enter a house that has either a dog or a picture in it."
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، قَالَ حَفِظْتُهُ مِنَ الزُّهْرِيِّ كَمَا أَنَّكَ هَا هُنَا أَخْبَرَنِي عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ عَنْ أَبِي طَلْحَةَ ـ رضى الله عنهم ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " لاَ تَدْخُلُ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ بَيْتًا فِيهِ كَلْبٌ وَلاَ صُورَةٌ ".
Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 3322
In-book reference : Book 59, Hadith 128
USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 4, Book 54, Hadith 539
Yep, Islam has a thing against pictures too.....
So this is where it all started - in this confusing mess of holy sayings that make no sense to me at all. The next step was about having the courage to really ask some hard questions around assumptions I had made and truths I had taken for granted around hadith.
More to come.
