Darul Uloom Trinidad & Tobago

Question: asalaam alaikam respected mufti saheb

in Islam keeping a dog as a pet is haraam as we know it says in hadith one or two qiraat is deducted from the reward does this literally mean your good deeds get taken or the reward decreases does it mean all good deeds go away and the person on judgment day will not have hasanat?

Also what is the ruling as follows in this situation

1) a person lives in a area in England its a small town but not a city and there is some increase of crime not extremely dangerous but he thinks its best to keep a dog for protection or to keep watch as one cant be sure nowadays

2) in the area it is illegal to keep a dog outside on the front garden even in a doghouse it seen as intimidating to people so the person feels the dog can stay out the back garden this is more likely where a burglar can come in however this involves moving the dog from the back garden door to the front garden door to take it for a walk in other words the dog has to pass through the house if he has to be taken for a walk

3) someone said you lose good deeds if you stroke a dog is this true? is it haraam to pet a dog like touch it

4) hanafi madhaab says dog saliva is najis but the dog itself isn’t what hadith do other madhaahib use to say dog is najis? and what is the madhaabs proof the dog isn’t najis

jazak allah khair

Answer:

Wa alaikum As Salaam,

It means that literally your good deeds get taken away and this occurs every day. In the narration of Abdullah Bin Umar (R.A), it states that the Prophet (s.a.w) said, ‘whoever keeps a dog except for watching over the livestock or hunting, then everyday two qiraat (of blessings) are decreased from his good deeds.’ (Bukhari, Muslim). Another tradition of Abu Hurairah (R.A) shows that keeping a watchdog over one’s farms is also allowed.

Answers to the other questions: –

1. It will be allowed to keep only a watchdog for the purpose of protecting the property. This should be the only reason for keeping a dog. It must not be a pet dog.

2. If your purpose is to keep a dog for protection and you have to keep it at the back garden, then do so. You should not take it inside the house or allow it to pass through the house. You can walk it around in the back garden. The saliva and the mouth are impure. Having it ‘passed’ through the house means that it can touch its impurity to the wall, carpet or any other area. Along with this, the Prophet (s.a.w) is reported to have said, ‘The angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or there are pictures. (Bukhari, Muslim).

3. I have not read anything to this effect; however, you should not be placing your hands on it except when there is a dire need to do so. Stroking the dog to pet it is not a valid or dire need and you should not do it. Remember that the allowance is only given to have a dog for security purposes and not as a pet dog. You can look after it without having the need to touch it with your hands. If there is a necessity to do so, then it should be limited only to that need.

4. The correct opinion of the Hanafi Madhab is that while the dog’s saliva is Najis (impure), the dog itself is not entirely najis (impure). This however, does not mean that the dog is clean/pure. It is still impure to a certain extent but not in its entirety. Unlike the swine which is Najis (impure in its entirety). It is for this reason, in the books of fiqh, the ruling of the swine is given as ‘Najis Al Ain’ (impure in its entirety) while the dog is not described with such a ruling (with the phrase ‘Najis Al Ain’). With respect to the dog, its mouth, saliva, mucus, the dribble from the mouth, urine, excrement are all impure.
According to Imaam Malik (A.R), the dog is pure. However, when it licks in water the utensil will be washed seven times as mentioned in the Ahadith.
Imam Shafi and Ahmad Bin Hambal state that the dog is impure. They state that since it is evident from the hadith that the mouth of the dog is impure, this means that the remaining of the dog will be impure also.
The Hanafi Madhab states that the dog is not ‘Najis Al Ain’ (impure in its entirety) because it is an animal from which benefits can be sought, as in the case of protecting livestock farms and also being used to hunt. The Shariah clearly shows that when the trained dog catches an animal of hunt and kills it, then the animal becomes halaal for consumption. (This occurs when the Tasmiya has been said while sending the dog and it is a trained dog). It therefore means that benefits are gained from the dog. With respect to the Ahadeeth, it is established that the mouth of the dog, its saliva, excrement etc. are impure. However, analogy cannot be made on this to determine the ruling on the remaining parts of the dog.
It is to be noted that the Ahadeeth that mention about the dog and the ruling of washing the utensil when it licks into it, have been accepted and applied by all the Imaams of Fiqh in their respective Madhahib.
With respect to the dog itself, whether it is impure in its entirety or not, the Imaams have applied their reasoning and understanding and have thus given their judgment based on the fact that the Prophet (s.a.w) have allowed using the dog for different reasons, and has also given rulings regarding the impurity of its mouth and saliva. (Al Fiqh Al Islami Wa Adilatihi vol.1 pg. 305;Al Bahr Ar Ra’iq vol. 1 pg. 129; Qamoos Al Fiqh vol. 4 pg. 567)

And Allah Knows best.
Mufti Waseem Khan.

3/1/2014.