What Is the Wisdom of the Prohibition of Keeping a Dog?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

What is the wisdom of the prohibition of keeping a dog? What should one do if they live with someone who has a dog?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.

The underlying wisdom in the prohibition of keeping a dog is something that Allah Most High has not made manifest for us.

Even though many of the rulings of Islam have clearly discernible wisdoms, this is not so for every individual ruling.

Two Types of Rulings

Rulings are of two types:

• Rulings of discernible wisdom (Hukm Ma‘qul al-Ma‘na):
  These are rulings in which the reason for its legislation is readily discernible. In this case, other issues which share the same reason can be given the same ruling. For example, the prohibition of alcohol has a discernible reasoning behind it – which is intoxication – which then can be applied to other intoxicants.
• Rulings that don’t have a clearly discernible wisdom (Hukm Ta‘abbudi or Ghayr Ma‘qul al-Ma‘na):
  These are rulings, the wisdom/reasoning of which is not apparent to us. In these matters, mere submission is required. For this reason, many scholars deemed obeying this type of ruling more rewarding. [Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]

Living With Someone With A Dog

Since you live with someone who has a dog – consider your room or living quarters as your home, and do not allow the dog to enter. By this, you are relieved of any responsibility or sin pertaining to the dog.

Your prayer is valid. Even if you have prayed in the past in a room with a dog or upon dog hair, the prayer is valid. [Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.

Arabic References:

”وَوَقَفْت عَلَى ذَلِكَ فِي فَتَاوَى ابْنِ حَجَرٍ. قَالَ: قَضِيَّةُ كَلَامِ ابْنِ عَبْدِ السَّلَامِ أَنَّ التَّعَبُّدِيَّ أَفْضَلُ لِأَنَّهُ بِمَحْضِ الِانْقِيَادِ، بِخِلَافِ مَا ظَهَرَتْ عِلَّتُهُ فَإِنَّ مُلَابِسَهُ قَدْ يَفْعَلُهُ لِتَحْصِيلِ فَائِدَتِهِ… فَمَا شَرَعَهُ إنْ ظَهَرَتْ حِكْمَتُهُ لَنَا قُلْنَا إنَّهُ مَعْقُولٌ وَإِلَّا قُلْنَا إنَّهُ تَعَبُّدِيٌّ، وَاَللَّهُ سُبْحَانَهُ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ“ {ص447 – كتاب الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين رد المحتار – مطلب قد يطلق الفرض على ما يقابل الركن وعلى ما ليس بركن ولا شرط}