Title: Another Question on Dogs as Pets... Question/Comments: What is the place of dog in Islam? I understand there is a hadith which says that if a dog licks any thing, we should wash seven times with water and one time with mud but I believe this hadith is talking about time of prophet. Now we have more sophisticated cleaning stuff and they are working really good. I also know seven sleepers has dog with them and angels still able to get in to cave. But I believe there is a hadith say angel does not get in to room if dog is there. Could you please tell me what is the position of dog in Islam? I don't want to make it long, I hope Allah be with us always and thank for the very nice web page. selamun aleykum Answer: Once we have drawn the conclusion - on the basis of the Qur'an - that Islam does not prohibit keeping dogs, we may then try to explain the narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), which give the impression that the Prophet (pbuh) expressed his dislike toward dogs. Nevertheless, before attempting to explain these narratives, it should be remembered that sometimes, there are certain inherent weaknesses in narratives ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh), which may reduce all attempt to explain these narratives to conjecture and presumptions. There can be a number of such weaknesses in the text of a narrative. For instance, most of the times, the narrator does not describe the proper background, context and any necessary preceding incidents, which may be necessary to fully understand the particular saying or action of the Prophet (pbuh) that is being narrated in a particular narrative. Sometimes, the narrators (or any one of them) may miss out on reporting an important part of the saying being reported, which renders the saying difficult to understand and sometimes even contradictory to the Qur'an. Sometimes, the stresses in a particular statement of the Prophet (pbuh) are so altered during the transmission of a statement, which makes the statement difficult to comprehend. And sometimes, there is a complete misrepresentation - intentional or unintentional - of the statement of the Prophet (pbuh). In view of these problems and difficulties that may exist in the text being narrated in a particular Hadith , it is important to remember that a particular Hadith can only be accepted as a true representation of the words spoken by the Prophet (pbuh) if nothing contained in it is contrary to the Qur'an, the Sunnah or the universally accepted facts of logic and nature. Keeping the foregoing explanation in perspective, one may simply reject these narratives considering them to be wrongly ascribed to the Prophet (pbuh) or being fabricated or misreported. On the contrary, one may try to explain these narratives by presuming the circumstances that may, in his opinion, have been existent and been the cause of the particular saying of the Prophet (pbuh). For instance, we may explain the narratives in which the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have ordered the general killing of dogs as well as those in which the Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have directed Muslims to wash their utensils thoroughly after a dog had licked such utensils, by simply presuming that there may have been an outbreak of a rabies like disease in dogs in the area. The Prophet (pbuh) may have directed the killing and the extra care of utensils, as a safeguard against such an epidemic. As far as the narrative, which reports the dislike for dogs of angels, in general, and Gabriel, in particular, is concerned, it seems that it has either been grossly misreported or it relates to something which only the angels can understand. I, being a human being, do not have adequate information about angels (or for that matter, even about dogs) to fully appreciate why would God's angels avoid coming close to one of God's creatures. In any case, to be acceptable, this narrative needs to be thoroughly explained. 17 th April 2000