My dog sleeps on the floor by my bed. MySO is not to happy about this and wants her out of the room when he comes. I am thinking about starting it now , and having her sleep in the wash room so she dosen't associate the change with him on that fateful day he does arrive. Any ideas or experiences?

my husband was scared to death of dogs when he came. for our second anniversary he let me get a puppy in which he has falllen in love with. his rule tho is no dog in the bedroom cuz he dont want the hair all over his clothes. so what does he do???? sleeps with her on the couch cuz he feels guilty that she is downstairs all alone.

lol that is reassuring

My husband has a German Sheperd and we are making plans for him to travel to the U.S. with him. (K-9 visa )
I also have a 3 pound yorkie that sleeps with me. Medo says that she cant be in bed with us. I think he will loose this baddle. But my husband loves dogs he wants to open a dog kenel when he gets here.

Alot of Arabs/ Muslims don't like dogs because of many hadiths that state
they are unclean and u have to go thru a little cleansing ritual to begin making prayer
after u touch them.

Although I am Muslim, I love dogs, but never had any. My husband had some outdoor dogs back
home. I really would like one..Im tired of cats .

my fiance loves all animals. my kitty and him have already formed a beautiful relationship and he hopes to get a dog someday. we spotted a rat terrier at a pet shop he wanted but thank god it was $1200 (i don't think we're ready for a doggie yet!)

I saw a few dogs in Egypt and although I can't say that's the norm since I don't have much experience over there, the ones I saw were anorexic and ugly and very dirty. That is what my husband thinks of when he thinks of a dog. Plus the hadith thing. He said they are very dirty and he will not be able to pray with a dog in the house. He's not too fond with cats either but he deals with them because there is a story of how the Prophet loved cats.

My husband LOVES dogs but wouldn't want any sleeping in our bed. I'm not a dog person but nothing to do with religion.

my husband loves dogs, so does his brother, before our unfortunate happening last week....Max woudl sleep in all our beds, eat dinner with us, swim in the pool with us..kisses and hugs. the whole bit..

My hubby likes dogs, but feels that they belong outside. Fortunately, I have a mudroom/laundry room that I can let them in for the night and when it's really cold. But when he was here in the States, he would feed them for me if I was working or something and he would actually bring them bones from the halal market.

The two dogs that I have are very big and I don't let them around my son. They are friendly, but they would definitely knock him down, but not mean to.

I think this is an issue that should be discussed prior to getting married. We had some knock down/drag out fights over the dogs before we got married. If your dogs sleeps in the bed with you...this could really be an issue.

My hubby likes dogs, but feels that they belong outside. Fortunately, I have a mudroom/laundry room that I can let them in for the night and when it's really cold. But when he was here in the States, he would feed them for me if I was working or something and he would actually bring them bones from the halal market.

The two dogs that I have are very big and I don't let them around my son. They are friendly, but they would definitely knock him down, but not mean to.

I think this is an issue that should be discussed prior to getting married. We had some knock down/drag out fights over the dogs before we got married. If your dogs sleeps in the bed with you...this could really be an issue.

I've spoken to several Arabs from varying countries who said it's not a dog thing or a cat thing-- but that keeping animals in teh house is not nearly as common as it is here, and not part of the culture really... Although you do see people who keep dogs or cats or birds, etc. I know Arabs who were terrified of animals in general who got over it and who own animals today. So I'm guessing it's sort of a fear of the unknown basically. Also there is the whole dogs are unclean thing with the whole cleaning ritual in Islam. With all the poeple I worked with, there did seem to be an abolute fear of animals and nature ingrained, and they did theiur best to instill it in you also.. but there were mostly small villages and villagers, and it could be specific to where I was in Northern Jordan...

There are also plpenty of people who feel animals are just fine, where they are-- outside. So that is another attitude. That's my husband's. He prefers to look at them outside from safely inside. Since he's been living with the cats, he's learned to tolerate them, although he complains about a lot of imaginary things and I have caught him petting them and talking to them when he thought I was in another room. So I think he secretly likes them now but doesn't want that image out there.

I wouldn't generalize more about it other than to say the pet culture isn't as big of a deal as it is here. i mean here we have giant stores just for pets. You don't tend to see that in the ME really, although I am sure there are some somewhere.

I think you are right on that. My husband really grew to like my dogs...just not inside. We just had to find a happy medium for both of us.

I know the few times that I have been to Morocco, I have only seen two dogs that were actually pets. The one was on a leash and we were downtown Casa. All the others are pitiful strays.

I wanted to feed them all, but my husband said people just didn't do that. He did let me put food out for one stray that was in the neighborhood that was injured pretty badly. I had to put it in the gutter though. As we turned around to go back inside the courtyard, the neighbor (really crabby woman) came out and kicked the food and started yelling at us. I stopped and Hicham made me go back inside. My MIL had been sitting on the porch and started cussing the neighbor.

My FIL does keep scraps and takes them for the cats that live around some of their businesses though, so his dad understood why I felt so sorry for them.

Yeah, and in the end it comes down to personal preference. Some people never like animals, even if they grow up in a pet-friendly environment. I don't like dogs, I think they are too much work, too hyper, and smell. But that's just me. AT the same time I don't give a flip who owns them, and I would NEVER hurt one! I can think puppies are cute, and I do learn to like the dogs of friends. But this is a personal preference issue. I almost got a lab once, it was dumped in my yard but I did find a no-kill to take her in. I would have done everything I needed to do for her, and probably learned to love her a whole lot-- but a dog is not something I'm just going to pick on my own, you know? Cats though, love them! I always get really snuggly kitties, especially boys who love to play tag and chase you around the house, play fetch, and whatnot. And I love that if I need to work a double, I don't have to worry about the animals going to the bathroom.

On Islam and dogs, by a professor at UCLA: http://www.scholarofthehouse.org/tloofesfaond.html. Interesting, nuanced reading.

My (secular) Persian friends don't like dogs much, and it seems to be more a cultural thing, as Americans are dog-crazy and they're still dirty work animals to them. No doubt religion plays a part, but I'm not sure it's only an Islam thing.

It's definately not an Islam-only thing-- I personally think it has a 100% cultural backing. It seems to be a ubiquitous idea in all religious groups of the area.

Same reasons why I don't like dogs.

My husband had a dog in Morocco and he loves our dogs here. The only real changes are that they are not allowed to sleep in the bed or on the sofa anymore. I loved having them there to snuggle w/ when he wasn't around, but I did hate always having dog hair in the bed and on the sofa - so that's nice. I just had a hard time trying to enforce that rule b4 he got here b/c the dogs would "walk all over me". They obey him so much better than they do me! But he does love to take them out and play w/ them, throwing toys in the yard, taking them on walks, giving them treats. He just doesn't like the hair everywhere, but then, neither do I.

You are right...to each his own. I'm exactly the opposite...I don't like cats. I tolerate them and definitely would never hurt them.

But I definitely think this is a topic that needs to be discussed before "cohabitation" occurs.

And I will say that my husband is very appreciative of my dogs seeing as he isn't home with us right now. He feels like the dogs add some protection for me and our son. Even though my pups are older, the female...she'll take you out if you come up in the backyard!

WOW Thanks for the great link Caladan! I read it quickly and will go back to study it more. More than just address the issue of dogs, it is a easy topic to show just how complex the study of Islamic jurisprudence is. I think most of our SOs form Muslim countries havenever studied Islam in such a formal way and yet we tend to think of them as the "experts" on Islam. My husband and i will discuss and debate these kinds of issues. Being fluent in Arabic he is quick with quranic verses, but my background is the socio-historic context tied to both quranic verses and hadiths so it makes for very interesting talks!

While reading one of the "Islam for Western Minds" sites I learned that in Islam they believe dogs keep angels away. When I was in Egypt I asked my Husband about it in front of a group of his friends. They all looked at me and my Husband said, "It's true. Where did you learn that?" He said it as if I was being let in on a secret and then he began to tell me all about it.

I was kind of disheartened because I've always had this reoccuring dream with little white dogs and hope maybe one day we'd get one.

In Egypt we had several discussions about animal treatment because I would see several sad looking cats and dogs completely filthy and I would want to care for them. Several times he and his friends would hoot and hollar at me going near the roaming animals telling me not to touch them. They thought it funny.

I guess it was?

I told him the common pets in the US are cats and dogs and you hardly see them roaming the streets not cared for like this and that strays are captured.

He asked what happened when they are captured.

I told him first they tend to them giving them shots and getting them fixed and trying to get them adopted. After several weeks if they're not adopted they put them to sleep.

He told me they don't have that kind of thing there and they let the animals roam free.

Then he asked me, "Don't you think that is more humane?"

This really had me puzzled because I can see what he means. It's just a different way of life and thinking.

Personally he likes birds and fish.

Not all muslims have the same intepretation of this hadith you mention. Many do, but not all.

I love that link because it seriously reminds me of running a philosophy class. 'Okay, can anyone think why they might have said this about dogs? Does that follow? Let's look at the passage....'

Plus, I love the asides about how he has a crush on the woman in his study group.

I'm a big fan of Dr. Khaled, except that at times he is a wee bit pretentious. In the about section on his website, he describes himself as "the most important and influential Islamic thinker in the modern age." While I certainly do work and approach to traditional scholarship, he may be overstating his influence just a teeny bit.

My favorite work of his (and I can't remember which book it is in) is a commentary on the popular saudi backed translation of the Qur'an by Hill and Khan. Will have to look the books over to see which one it's in.

I find pretentiousness to be a bit sexy when its backed up by really great scholarship and intellect Of course usually real scholarship and intellect abilty usually comes with humility.

Just a note about the site for Dr. Abou El Fadl (in the about the scholar section):

"Dr. Abou El Fadl is neither involved in nor responsible for any of the activities related to this website, including the naming of the site, the conducting of any matters of business, or the making of any decisions regarding its policies. Dr. Abou El Fadl does not gain any profit from the sales generated from the website.

This website is solely owned and operated by Students, Supporters and Friends of Dr. Abou El Fadl, and is committed to the preservation and promotion of his thought."

Those who run the site describe him that way, but he doesn't call himself that.

Unfortunately, it's also in some of his book bios as well (check the black flap). Not only is he one of the most influencial scholars, he's also apparently "the most critical and powerful voice against purtianical and wahhabi islam today."

Do I think he's brilliant? Yup. But all that? Nope. I'm a big fan of haya, and he seems to be lacking that, at least in his bios. Haven't ever met him in person, but it's on my list of things to do someday inshaAllah.

What other scholars are coming out strongly against wahhabism with comparable knowledge and training as him? I'm asking seriously, not snarky, because I haven't come across one.

In terms of influence, I would name Sheikh Nuh Keller as a person with more influence. The salafis on the web seem to think he's a bigger threat to them, considering how much they rail against him. Heck, I'd say quite a few of these people listed here have more influence in the muslim community than Dr. Khaled, and many advocate "traditional" islam and have spoken against wahabbism.

At least from my own personal, limited experience, I haven't seen Dr. Khaled have a wide influence, or any influence at all, in any muslim community I've been a part of.

My wife didn't like my little chihuahua at first, especially cause he's not well house-broken, but she slowly warmed to him. And her mom (staying w/ us for the birth) absolutely loves him, so her attitude is similarly improving.

These people are being attacked for their views not their criticism of wahhabism. None of them have come out to criticize it as Dr. Abou el Fadl as done. Imams and scholarly types don't need to be activist, but I think there is a big difference between them and him.

When my husband was in Jordan, he would always visit with my two min pins online. When he came here, he was ok and then he started not liking their noses to touch him, or their tongue, etc. He also stated he did not like small dogs and wanted me to trade in my two min pins for a large dog. One day I came home with another min pin in which i rescued from previous owners who just wanted to get rid of him so they could get another chihauaha, or however u spell it, lol. I still have my three and he wants me to get rid of at least one. He said the average american family has one to two dogs. Now Im a professional dog walker/pet care, etc. and I sure do see alot of american families with 3 dogs. Anyway, they dont' sleep in the bedroom anymore, that's where my husband prays, so no way can they go in there. I miss them in there. so they now sleep with my daughter and I also board a lot of dogs too. I get good money for it and he doesn't seem to mind that. He doesn't like the small dogs. As long as they don't sleep with him or touch him, he's cool. It's too bad though, I feel like I have angels around me all the time. So I don't believe at all in the Hadith. I believe the Hadith is man written and it contradicts the Quran.

Kelly, you have a special husband. It's great that Soyfan loves the dogs.

Andrea

My husband told me about the hadith re dogs and that angels will not return to house once a dog has been inside. Yesterday he was taking out the trash and the neighbors dog brushed up against his leg. My husband was so aggravated by this and of course he immediately began the cleaning ritual with a long hot shower. I don't like dogs inside and have no pets so we don't have a problem except with the neighbors' dogs.