Dogs and the Arabs

Submitted by Ianus (Poland), Feb 24, 2008 at 12:49

Hi, dhimmi no more !

How has this queer attitude in Islam developed historically? Isn't keeping dogs nowadays in dar-al-Islam just something alien, imported there in the wake of Europe's modernizing efforts in the Near East? Did Arabs keep dogs before the Europeans came , i.e. before the 19the c. ?

I can understand that herd-keepers like the Turks needed dogs so badly that their ancient myths simply tell that the first Turks were sons of a bitch (no insult intended) which they later under the influence of dog-hating Islam changed into a grey she-wolf. I also remember that al-Hakim (the god of the Druz) in one of his fits of Islamic zeal had all dogs (and swine) in Egypt killed. So how do you see dog's status in Islam in a historical perspective?

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