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Do Muslims Hate Dogs?

Muslims do not hate dogs. In Islam, a dog is just like any other living animal that Muslims would have to treat with respect. It is just that in Islam, a dog’s saliva is impure and if it gets on ones clothes or skin, one would have to wash it in a certain way before praying the next prayer. But dogs are just like any other creation of Allah. In fact, there is a story of a prostitute who Allah forgave just because she helped out a dog once. It was narrated that there was a dog moving around a well whom thirst would have killed. Suddenly a prostitute from the prostitutes of Bani Isra’il happened to see it and she drew water in her shoe and made it drink, and she was pardoned because of this (Sahih Muslim 2245b). Fornication is a major sin in Islam, and this was this woman’s job. Yet Allah still forgave all her sins and gave her Paradise just because she gave a thirsty dog water to drink. This shows Islam has nothing prejudice against dogs, rather, it is only the impurity of the dog’s saliva that Muslims stay away from.

What is the ruling on Muslims owning pet dogs? Well, Muslims generally can’t own a pet dog, but there are many exceptions in our Religion where one can have a pet dog, such as for herding, hunting, guarding, or farming reasons. But if one wanted a dog just for fun, then that is not permissible in Islam and I would recommend getting a cat.

And Allah Knows best.