Dogs may be generally considered “man’s best friend,” but that doesn’t hold true for all people. Some people are bigger fans of felines than canines, while others are frightened of dogs and avoid them at all costs. Then, there are those who may have a religious reason not to have dogs around.

In fact, you may have heard that having dogs as pets isn’t allowed in Islam or that followers of Islam can’t even touch dogs. But is that true? Can Muslims touch dogs? It turns out that’s a rather complicated question with no clear answer. Essentially, whether Muslims can touch dogs boils down to the branch or school of the religion they belong to, but it does seem that many Muslims will not touch a canine because they see dogs as being impure.

Here’s what to know about Islam and the religion’s ethics and rules regarding touching canines.

Branches & Schools of Islam

Some people may believe that Islam is a monolith, but there are several branches and schools of the religion. The two biggest denominations are the Sunni, who comprise somewhere between 75–90% of Muslims, and the Shia, who comprise about 10–20% of Muslims. Within those two denominations are an awful lot of schools. Sunni Islam has schools of law that include Shafi’i, Hanafi, Maliki, and Hanbali. Shia Islam schools include Jafri, Ismailism, and Zaidiyyah, with these being further broken down into branches, such as Nizari and Alawi.

There are more denominations, schools, and branches than just those, of course, but the thing about these different schools, etc., is that each one has somewhat differing opinions on certain aspects of Islam. So, the ethics and rules regarding dogs and whether they can be touched can vary slightly.

The Qur’an and the Sunnah

You have likely heard of the Qur’an, so you know it is Islam’s central religious text. The word “dog” seems to show up in the Qur’an only a handful of times, though. One such time is in Qur’an 5:4, which is translated to something along the lines of “Lawful for you are all good things, and [the prey] that trained [hunting] dogs and falcons catch for you.” Then, in Al-Kahf, or the 18th chapter, the story of the Seven Sleepers is told, which involves a group hiding from religious persecution inside a cave while a dog guards them. These verses all seem to portray domesticated dogs in a positive light.

You might be less familiar with the Sunnah. The Sunnah are the traditions and practices of the prophet Muhammad, which are used as a model for those who practice Islam to follow. While the Qur’an is considered to be passed on from God, the Sunnah are things the prophet Muhammad said or did. These things are often shared via hadith, recorded accounts of what was said or done, and here is where more information regarding dogs is found. However, this is also the information where schools of law most often tend to have differences in interpretation.

Can Muslims Touch Dogs?

Okay, but can Muslims touch dogs? Again, that seems to depend on the branch and school of Islam that you follow. We mentioned the Qur’an and Sunnah above. Why? Because both of these say things that can be interpreted in varying ways or appear to contradict one another.

The verse from the Qur’an above that mentions hunting dogs is part of the reason some jurists came to the conclusion that working dogs (those who hunt, herd, or guard the home) were okay to have, but having dogs as pets or companions was not alright. What else led to that conclusion? There are hadith that say if a dog is kept for any reason other than hunting or guarding, the person who owns the dog will “lose out of his good deeds equal to one Qirat” each day (another narration equates the loss of good deeds to two Qirats a day). What is a Qirat? This is equivalent to two giant mountains.

Then, there’s the whole thing about dogs being impure (which, again, has been interpreted differently by various schools and branches). There is a hadith that says that if a vessel (like a bowl) is licked by a dog, it has to be cleaned seven times and rubbed with earth (which would indicate that a human would need to clean themselves similarly if they came into contact with a canine). So, some people believe that dogs as a whole are unclean and shouldn’t be touched, while others think this means just a dog’s saliva is unclean.

However, that verse from the Qur’an above that mentions hunting seems to indicate that it is safe to eat prey brought to you by a hunting dog, which would mean that the saliva of hunting dogs is not impure, so perhaps it is only wild dogs who have saliva that is unclean.

But you can also find several instances of dogs being portrayed positively in the hadith. There are two stories about people giving water to thirsty dogs and being rewarded for it. There’s an anecdote about the prophet Muhammad praying in the presence of canines. And, of course, there is plenty about humans being kind to animals of all sorts.

So, you can see how people could interpret all that differently and come up with varying conclusions. That is why there’s not a clear answer on whether Muslims can touch dogs or not. Some can and will, while others will not. It just depends. However, anecdotal evidence indicates a good portion of Muslims consider canines impure and would not touch them.

Conclusion

There is a lot more to the religion of Islam and dogs than what’s here, but whether a Muslim will touch dogs or not seems to come down to how their particular denomination or school has interpreted the Qur’an and Sunnah. However, many Muslims do seem to still view canines as impure and would likely not consider touching them. If you are considering converting to Islam and have questions about having a dog as a pet, we suggest talking to someone in the know about the subject.

And if you have friends who are Muslim and are a dog parent, ask your friends how they feel about the subject of dogs before bringing your dog around them!

See Also:

• Is a 2-Year-Old Dog Still a Puppy? Vet-Reviewed Maturity Facts
• My Dog Is Waking Up in the Middle of the Night, What’s Wrong? Vet-Reviewed Reasons

Featured Image Credit: Levi Meir Clancy, Unspalsh