A Sniffer dog on ‘Muslim’ bootees

Yesterday a bartender of a bar we frequently visit, proposed to my daughter. Mika with her blondish hair and very flirty behaviour (she likes to lift up her skirt), gets a lot of attraction from men here. In the taxi she flawlessly switches from Italian/Dutch (her mother tongue) to Arabic, just to get the attention also of cabdrivers. Mika - who is almost two -, didn’t pay much attention to the bartender, as soon a cute 7-month old Dalmatian walked into the bar. ‘I will buy you a dog’, he insisted. Now that was real love, I could tell, because the bartender seemed to be very scared of the dog.

In general most Muslims avoid dogs at all times, because in the Koran it is written that pets, especially dogs are considered unclean or impure. So they can not have them as a pet. Dogs are only allowed in case of special occasions, like protecting the home, hunting or for police investigation. This last one was in the news lately. ‘Sniffer dogs to wear ‘Muslim’ bootees’. I spotted on the Times Online (6th of July 2008). ‘Police sniffer dogs will have to wear boots when searching the homes of Muslims so as not to cause offence'. Guidelines being drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) urge awareness of religious sensitivities when using dogs to search for drugs and explosives. “We are trying to ensure that police forces are aware of sensitivities that Islamic people can have with the dogs to make sure they are not going against any religious or cultural element within people’s homes. (...)”, Acpo said. In that same article Ibrahim Mogra, one of Britain’s leading imams, says: ‘the measures were unnecessary’. And he quotes from Islamic law ‘the dog is not regarded as impure, only its saliva is.’ He also indicates that if security measures require to send a dog into a house, then it has to be done. Mogra concludes with: ‘I think Acpo needs to consult better and more widely’. He also says in the article: “I know in the Muslim community there is a hang-up against dogs, but this is cultural. Also, we know the British like dogs; we Muslims should do our bit to change our attitudes.”

Underneath the article unfortunately I noticed a lot of hostile ‘islamophobic’ comments. I guess that 80% of the commentators didn’t read until the end of the article.
I got curious what happens if Muslims do accidently run into a dog: From ‘islamonline.net’ I quote ‘If we ever come into contact with a dog’s saliva we must wash the spot seven times, the first of which should be with sand or dirt. It is also possible to use a bacterial soap instead of sand or dirt.’
In many forum discussions a lot is said on dogs; 'filthy animals' or just 'great mates for life'. In one of those discussions I read: ‘It is interesting to know that dogs are actually mentioned in the Quran 5 times, not just once, 7:176, 18:18, 18:22 (three times). No where does God call the dogs dirty animals or give any indication that they should be avoided or treated the way many Muslims think they should.’

Many rules in religions are difficult to exactly trace back. But hey, do all the Jewish know why milk and meat can not be eaten at the same time?

Anyway, if you are not fond of dogs, Cairo is the place to be, because you will not see them very often. Which is a great thing if you have ever lived in a city like Amsterdam where a lot of dog owners don’t give a shit and let there dog do their thing on the pavements.