Can I Keep a Pet Dog?

01 April, 2017
Q Can I keep a dog that guards my house?

Answer

Asalamu Alaikum,

Thank you for contacting About Islam with your question.

Dr. Shabir Ally addresses this question in the video below:

Transcript:

Aisha Khaja: So, Dr. Shabir, the question today is about, a viewer asking if they can keep a dog because they love this pet, but also for guarding purposes and does this reduce their daily good deeds in reference to a hadith?

Dr. Shabir Ally: Mm-hmm, so very quickly, assuming that the hadith which prohibits keeping dogs is authentic—even the hadith itself says that if you’re keeping a guard dog—and this is exempt. So, it doesn’t say you can’t love the guard dog.

I mean it doesn’t matter. So, as to assuage the viewer, no, you will not be losing your reward. But you may also want to stay tuned for a wider discussion on hadith, the series which we are discussing on this show.

Because our insights on hadiths may actually help us to put this whole thing into perspective.


I hope this helps answer your question. Please keep in touch.

Walaikum Asalam.

Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:

http://aboutislam.net/reading-islam/about-muhammad/learning-prophets-kindness-compassion/

Can We Keep Dogs As Pets?

About Dr. Shabir Ally
Dr. Shabir Ally holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, with a specialization in Biblical Literature. He also holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto with a specialization in Quranic Exegesis. He is the president of the Islamic Information and Dawah Centre International in Toronto where he functions as Imam. He travels internationally to represent Islam in public lectures and interfaith dialogues. He explains Islam on a weekly television program called "Let the Quran Speak". Past episodes of this show can be seen online at: www.quranspeaks.com.