It is surprising how many stories, events cited in the Quran and even common words Muslims use such as "jahannam" [Arabic for hell] all have roots in Judaism.
It dawned on me that this might also be the case with dogs!
So naturally I did some digging.
And it's very interesting reading indeed.
For anyone who follows the theory that Muhammad essentially stole a whole load of stories from his trips abroad and passed them off as divine knowledge - you might find this interesting too.
Islam Did Not Exist in a Vacuum
When looking at the birth of Islam Muslims tend to view it in isolation. As if the only thing going on at that time was some people worshiping date statues and rocks.
Not true - Muhammad was living with Jews and Christians and if he was a merchant going to Sham, then he would have met Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and other religions or beliefs along the way. For sure.
Muslims need to start rationally looking at what Muhammad supposedly taught, i.e what "brand Islam" tells us he taught, and start questioning why very similar teachings were around at the same time. Why are so many of his "wisdoms" things you can trace to other religions and cultures?
Dogs are just one of hundreds of things you can use to dissect Islam.
Muhammad did not get some amazing revelation about dogs he left for mankind in Sahih Muslim and Bukhari.
He was basically explaining what was common practice or knowledge at that time about dogs. Or if you, like me, question many of the hadith, then someone else attributed a hadith to Muhammad, based on the perceived custom or wisdom of the time.
The history of filthy dogs goes waaaaay back. The prevalent attitudes in general in the ancient Near East often stressed the impurity of the dog and its contemptible status. This also followed into Judaism and Christianity before the advent of Islam.
Here are a few quotes which stand out for me from some of the online reading I did.
[If you really want to geek out like I did then check out
Dogs in Jewish Society in the Second Temple Period and in the Time of the Mishnah and Talmud which goes into lots of detail about dogs in that part of the world.]
Dogs are for the most part portrayed negatively in the Bible. Deuteronomy appears to equate dogs and prostitution, ruling in Deuteronomy 23:19 that if one of these is used to pay for an animal — say, if one offered a dog or sex in exchange for a goat — that purchased animal cannot be brought to the temple as a sacrifice.
The Book of Kings includes several references to dogs feeding on corpses. And in the Psalms, dogs are described as beasts that maul at human beings.
The negative attitude toward dogs persists in the Talmud , which frequently regards dogs as dangerous animals. Though the Talmud in Baba Kama states that it is permissible to keep certain kinds of dogs that are useful for preventing infestations of vermin, it also states that dogs must be kept chained and that those who “raise” (the Hebrew word used here is the same as the one used for rearing children) dogs are cursed.
In the Jewish mystical tradition, dogs are symbols of the demonic. The Zohar, the core text of Jewish mysticism, says that evil in the world is like a vicious dog on a long leash.
Source
For the most part, and in spite of some recent scholarly attempts at rehabilitation, dogs were held in contempt in Israelite society due to their penchant for dining on blood and carcasses.
They were regarded as urban predators roaming about at night, barking and howling, in search for food (Psalms 59:7, 15), and such dogs could easily attack anybody who got too close (Psalms 22:17, 21) or bite those who foolishly tried to show them affection (Proverbs 26:17). Outside of the city there were wild dogs, busy devouring carrion and licking blood (II Kings 9:35-36; Exodus 22:30). Very few people would have wanted anything to do with them.
Jewish tradition in Second Temple and Mishnah and Talmud period times was well aware of the important functions of the dog as herding and a guard animal, and these were generally described in a positive manner, even though guard dogs by nature were supposed to be aggressive, and herders could be rather “pushy.”
Some rabbinic sages therefore preferred to limit the use of guard dogs to cases of real potential danger such as border towns (Tosefta Bava Kama 8:17). Some sages could not rid themselves of an animus toward canines and could not be convinced that the functions dogs might fulfill were important; they even compared the raising of dogs “to one who raises pigs” (ibid.), anathema in ancient Jewish society.
Source
Now it's clear that a dislike for dogs was pretty common place. Muhammad wasn't saying anything new. He possibly wrapped it up in fancy pants language or added some spice, but his message, or what the hadith say, were nothing divine.
Jewish Inspiration for Hadith about Dogs
See the highlighted words above? Check it.
1/ From Bukhari: "Allah's Apostle regarded illegal the price of a dog, the earnings of a prostitute, and the charges taken by a soothsayer," and then from Muslim: Abu Masud reported that Allah's messenger forbade the charging of price of the dog and earning of a prostitute and sweets offered to a kahin.
2/ "Were dogs not a species of creature I should command that they all be killed; but kill every pure black one. The black dog is a devil."
3/ "Whoever keeps a dog, one Qirat of the reward of his good deeds is deducted daily, unless the dog is used for guarding a farm or cattle." Abu Huraira (in another narration) said "Unless it is used for guarding sheep or farms, or for hunting."
See any similarities between these hadith and the highlighted words? Or a coincidence? Or?
I may be wrong, I may be right - I have no idea, but what I have done is looked beyond what a Sheikh or an Imam has told me and found that actually there is much more to dogs and Islam than meets the eye.
The same with all the other areas of Islam - it's borrowed a lot from the people and religions around it.
