Dogs living with Muslims

13-3-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

May I have a reference about dogs being forbidden to live with Muslims and why? Is there any exception for the small clean and hygienic dogs?

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated on the authority of Ibn Umar (Radiya Allahu Anhu) that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Whoever keeps a dog, two Qirat ( a measurement) of the reward of his good deeds are deduced each day unless the dog is used for hunting or guarding cattle".
The wisdom behind this prohibition other than the above mentioned reasons, is that dogs are impure and their saliva makes impure everything it touches. In addition, angels do not enter a house where there is a picture or a dog. [Reported by Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Therefore, the prohibition mentioned in Hadith is general includes all kinds of dogs whether they are small, big or otherwise, with the exception of the reasons mentioned in the Hadith.
Allah knows best.