by ThomasCovenant 9 Replies latest jw friends
Hello
As many are aware there is a large Asian 'community' in Great Britain, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi.
In my line of work I have been into the homes of many but only today did it occur to me that I have never and I mean never met an Asian family with pets. Am I just not aware or is it something that isn't done, in particular with the Muslim 'community'.
Thanks
Thomas Covenant
Thomas,
Have any of the British Asians you have met lived in a rural area?
Rachel
I got this info from Islamonline.net:
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states:
“A dog can be owned for purposes such as the following:
1. A trained dog for hunting. Remember in Islam we are only allowed to hunt for food; there is no such thing as hunting for fun, for we are not allowed to kill or torture animals or drive them out of their habitats for the fun of it.
2. A trained dog as a guide. This would be the case if a person is blind and he/she has no choice but to keep a dog for essential services. In this case, it is permissible for him/her to keep a dog inside the house once it has been trained for service, but it is still recommended that the dog have its own sleeping arrangement.
3. A dog trained for police duties.
4. A guard dog to guard houses or property.
5. A dog used by farmers to shepherd cattle and sheep.
We are, however, not allowed to keep a dog as a pet, since it is not a very clean animal. How often have you come across the nasty sight of dogs taken for a walk licking their own excrement? Isn’t it disgusting to see their owners kissing the mouth of such animals after such incidents as if nothing happened? Would you kiss the mouth of your own baby if he were to do the same? Think how many parasites and microbes may be hiding in their mouths.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has spared us from being contaminated by such filth when he ordered us to stay clear of the saliva of dogs. 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 conclusion: Don’t contemplate taking a dog home as a pet. If, however, you do need to keep a dog for any of the reasons given above, then you may do so. But take every precaution not to have contact with its saliva, and also arrange for a separate living space.”
Excerpted, with slight modifications, from: www.muslims.ca
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has spared us from being contaminated by such filth when he ordered us to stay clear of the saliva of dogs. 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.
Well, that explains EVERYTHING! I'm serious, I always wondered at the people in my neighborhood (usually Asian or Pakistani) who seem downright terrified of my fat, cheerful basset hound. In fact, one man (who may have been Muslim, though I'm not sure) got angry with me when we were all standing in line to receive our pool keys, and I had Moose with me for an outing. The man snapped at me to keep my dog away from him, when Moose was a good 2 feet away, sitting down and panting heavily, and wasn't showing the slightest interest in him. I thought he was just rude and phobic.
Nina
Hello
Fe203
Rural? No.
Thomas Covenant
Your observation about British Asians is probably correct.
However, in India families do keep pets though often as a dual purpose, i.e. as guard dogs.
Also, another issue is that many Hindus are vegetarians, so carnivorous dogs can be a problem. Again, in India you can get vegetarian dog food - dogs are happy with this but cats biologically need meat.
In India almost all cats are fairly wild and rarely kept as pets. They survive off their own skills as hunters.
Eyeslice
I believe it was in the book, "Reading Lolita In Tehran," that I read a very strange belief about chickens. In Tehran, the women will get assaulted if they show the slightest amount of skin, because it will cause men to think unclean thoughts...poor little weaklings. Because of the demonizing of women, men have turned to other "animals" for sexual gratification. So one edict addresses chickens. Some men expressed concern as to what to do with a chicken with which they have had sex.
Since it is unclean, they are not supposed to sell it to a neighbor. This raises the age-old question, who is a neighbor. As it turns out, a neighbor is someone within a certain amount of blocks of your house (I don't remember how many exactly). You can not sell the chicken to anyone inside that radius, because he is your neighbor.
But, you can sell the abused chicken to someone who lives outside that radius, because he is not your neighbor.
That's just disgusting!!!
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has spared us from being contaminated by such filth when he ordered us to stay clear of the saliva of dogs. 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
is this one of Judge Rutherford's early works?
I've always noticed that with Asians as well, not just South Asians, but pretty much all of them. When my mom lived in an apartment building and she was taking the dog on the elevator they'd either leave and get the next lift, or wouldn't get on if the dog was there (this is a little ball of fluff).
I walked downtown one evening to go to the bank machine and an Asian man (Japanese) and his daughter came in. I had my two dogs (medium sized dogs) with me, they were sitting right beside me and I had them on the leash. They both had a terrified look on their faces. I made sure they knew they were leashed, but it didn't matter, they would not do their banking until I left the area, even though there was three other ABM's available.
I always thought it was because in their home countries they ate dogs, and are now terrified of revenge!! lol
BB
P.S. As for the chicken thing - that is just something I CANNOT wrap my head around!! A chicken??????????
