The friendship between canines and humans is a long and enduring one. A 2015 scientific study showed that dogs descended from wolves between 27,000 and 40,000 years ago. Domestication of wolves through selective breeding for obedience, faithfulness and other desirable traits turned them into the dogs we know and love now. We have been friends for a very long time.
It is easy to see how the dog was awarded the moniker of “Man’s Best Friend.” Dogs naturally guarded property and the family. They could be trained to help with hunting or herding. They were the first animal ever domesticated by human beings and they are still the most popular pets in the world today. Nowadays, many dog owners do not simply view them as pets; they are considered valued family members.
In Nepal, the yearly Kukur Tihar festival celebrates and honours dogs for their protectiveness and devotion. They are decked with flower garlands, anointed with red tika, and fed delicious treats such as meat, milk and eggs. Even strays are included in the celebration. We humans love our dogs!
Dogs were also an integral part of life in ancient Arabia. A 2021 archaeological survey in Saudi Arabia found 6,000-year-old dog bones in a grave alongside the bones of 11 humans. 8000-year-old rock art also found in Arabia in 2017 depicts people using leashes with hunting dogs. Despite the faithfulness and utility Arabian dogs offered their masters, they began to fall out of favour during Mohammed’s lifetime. Why? Consider the following hadiths:
“Abdullah (b. Umar) (Allah be pleased with them) reported:
Allah’s Messenger ordered the killing of dogs and we would send (men) in Medina and its corners and we did not spare any dog that we did not kill, so much so that we killed the dog that accompanied the wet she-camel belonging to the people of the desert.” Sahih Muslim 1570c
“Abu Zubair narrated that he heard Jabir bin Abdullah said, Allah’s Apostle ordered us to kill dogs, and we carried out this order so much so that we would also kill the dog coming with a woman from the desert. Then Allah’s Apostle forbade their killing. The Prophet said, you should kill the dark black (dog) with two (white) spots (above its eyes), for it is a devil.” Sahih Muslim 1572
“Maimuna reported that one morning Allah’s Messenger was silent with grief.
Maimuna said:
Allah’s Messenger, I find a change in your mood today. Allah’s Messenger said: Gabriel had promised me that he would meet me tonight, but he did not meet me. By Allah, he never broke his promises, and Allah’s Messenger spent the day in this sad (mood). Then it occurred to him that there had been a puppy under their cot. He commanded and it was turned out. He then took some water in his hand and sprinkled it at that place. When it was evening Gabriel met him and he said to him: you promised me that you would meet me the previous night. He said: Yes, but we do not enter a house in which there is a dog or a picture. Then on that very morning he commanded the killing of the dogs until he announced that the dog kept for the orchards should also be killed, but he spared the dog meant for the protection of extensive fields (or big gardens).” Sahih Muslim 2105
In addition to keeping angels away, the hadiths also tell us that dogs are unclean both physically and spiritually. Mohammed taught that a dog nullifies prayers if it passes by a praying person and declared that keeping a dog for anything other than hunting animals or guarding livestock results in a daily deduction from the good deeds one needs in order to enter heaven when one dies:
“Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger as saying:
Angels do not accompany the travellers who have with them a dog and a bell.” Sahih Muslim 2113a
“Abu Huraira reported:
The Messenger of Allah said: When a dog drinks out of a vessel belonging to any one of you, he must wash it seven times.” Sahih Muslim 279c
“Narrated `Aisha:
The things which annul the prayers were mentioned before me. They said, ‘Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman (if they pass in front of the praying people).’ I said, ‘You have made us (i.e. women) dogs. I saw the Prophet praying while I used to lie in my bed between him and the Qibla. Whenever I was in need of something, I would slip away. for I disliked to face him.’” Sahih al-Bukhari 511
Narrated `Abdullah bin `Umar:
Allah’s Messenger said, “If someone keeps a dog neither for guarding livestock, nor for hunting, his good deeds will decrease (in reward) by two Qirats a day.’ Sahih al-Bukhari 5482
The Hadiths tell us that Mohammed ordered the indiscriminate slaughter of dogs because Gabriel told him angels don’t enter a house with a dog in it. Why would an angel fear a dog? They also tell us he backtracked on that command (but did not specify why) and allowed dogs to be kept for utility only. This flip-flop has been a source of some confusion for the Islamic world; however, the general scholarly opinion is that keeping dogs as pets is forbidden; dogs should be kept for utility only.
But even in the Islamic world, as demonstrated by this article from the Halal Times, there are Muslim dog lovers who keep them as pets and not for utilitarian purposes. In Islamic countries with more secular governments and/or populations, dogs are increasing in popularity as companion animals, especially among young people. That being said, there is still significant objection to the presence of canines in general in the Islamic world.
Oftentimes this objection manifests itself in cruel and violent ways. In Morocco, the government has ordered massive culls of stray dogs in preparation for the 2030 FIFA World Cup. The Moroccan government is concerned that the number of stray dogs roaming the streets will make the country look bad, seemingly unaware that the wholesale killing of dogs might make them look even worse in many people’s eyes. There are reports of extreme cruelty during these culls but they continue.
Since the end of 2024, Turkish law has allowed the killing of stray dogs. Turkey’s government says that this measure is meant for vicious and sick animals only, but abuse by enforcers is rampant.
Historically, the Turkish people are animal lovers who care for strays, so until 2024 the law focused on a “catch-neuter-vaccinate-release” program, but it was not adequately funded nor equally applied in all parts of the country. The end result was a failure to reduce the number of strays. Frequency of dog attacks increased along with the homeless canine population, and the people demanded something be done.
“Ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with them) reported Allah’s Messenger as saying:
Five are the beasts for killing which there is no sin for the Muhrim: crows, kites, scorpions, rats and wild dogs.” Sahih Muslim 1199b
Islamic scholars agree that the term, “wild dogs” specifically refers to dogs that are rabid and/or bite or threaten people. Turkey has four million stray dogs and only 110,000 shelter spaces to house them. Because of this, many dogs are being killed not because they are “wild,” but simply because they are homeless. Since there is a doctrinal justification to kill vicious dogs, all the government has to do is claim the dogs they kill are dangerous.
In Iran, it’s not just about the maltreatment of strays. Dogs and their owners, as well as animal rescue workers are the targets of government harassment. Most clerics are of the opinion that keeping pets is an un-Islamic custom that Iranians picked up from the West and they mean to purge it from the country. But this point of view is a blatant rewrite of Iranian history. Perhaps the pet dog is un-Islamic, but it is very Persian.
In Zoroastrian Persia, animals were revered, especially dogs. Not only were dogs valued for their protectiveness and loyalty, they were also regarded as having spiritual gifts. Sag-did, or “gaze of the dog” was a Zoroastrian funerary rite that involved having a dog gaze upon the deceased. While it is mainly thought this was done to ensure the deceased was actually dead (dogs can sense and smell things humans can’t), the Persians believed that a dog’s gaze was purifying and could drive away demonic forces and protect the soul.
For the Zoroastrian, killing a dog is considered just as serious as killing another human being. For Mohammed, the killing of all dogs was a logical and just response to the news that angels won’t enter a house with a dog in it—at least for a while, until he decided to let a few working dogs live. For the ayatollahs, it is the Islamic thing to do.
Many Muslims claim that Mohammed did not sanction the killing or mistreatment of dogs; rather, they insist that Mohammed taught that kindness should be shown to all living creatures. They point to specific hadiths, including one about a man whose sins are forgiven for giving water to a thirsty dog:
Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger as saying:
A person suffered from intense thirst while on a journey, when he found a well. He climbed down into it and drank (water) and then came out and saw a dog lolling its tongue on account of thirst and eating the moistened earth. The person said: This dog has suffered from thirst as I had suffered from it. He climbed down into the well, filled his shoe with water, then caught it in his mouth until he climbed up and made the dog drink it. So Allah appreciated this act of his and pardoned him. Then (the Companions around him) said: Allah’s Messenger, is there for us a reward even for (serving) such animals? He said: Yes, there is a reward for service to every living animal. Sahih Muslim 2244
It’s a nice story, but it doesn’t make the rest of the doctrine go away. It doesn’t bring the dogs Mohammed had slaughtered back to life. It doesn’t change the way Islamic doctrine encourages Muslims to view dogs. And it doesn’t change the fact that when dogs are mistreated in an Islamic society, Mohammed’s example is the justification for doing so.