Are Watch Dogs Permissible to Own And Keep Inside The House?

Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel

Question

I’m interested in getting a guard dog for security reasons as I’m worried about my safety. However, getting a personal protection dog, as in one that attacks/bites dangerous people, is very expensive to train, costs thousands of euros, and needs constant training, and could potentially lead to a lawsuit if they attack an innocent person.

So I wanted to get a watchdog instead; a dog who, instead of attacking, will bark very loudly when there’s danger so that I’m alerted if there’s a break-in or something similar, and also looks dangerous, so that it discourages people from trying to break into the house.

Does a watchdog count as a guard dog in Islam and hence, make it permissible to own and keep inside the house?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

I empathize with why you may want to keep a dog due to your family’s safety living may be in an area with issues. However, Islamically, it is prohibitively disliked to keep a dog in the house. You could keep it outside right next to your house where you can watch over living in a comfortable dog kennel.

In the Hanafi school, it is prohibitively disliked (makruh tahriman) to keep a dog as a pet, yet one may keep a hunting dog or a guard dog to protect one’s property, harvest, sheep, or cattle.

[‘Ala al-Din ‘Abidin, Al-Hadiyya al-‘Ala’iyya; Nahlawi, al-Durar al-Mubaha]

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

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Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.