[aka.alias] Funny - If It Weren't So Pathetic

[aka.alias]

Some of the bright lights in Iranian politics are proposing a law that would criminalize the ownership of dogs. If the bill passes, keeping such "impure and dangerous animals" would result in the animal's being confiscated and the owner being fined up to £300. One need not be told that cruel fates would await the confiscated animals, even though Islam adjures its adherents to treat animals with kindness. Too often it seems, those in power in Iran find it convenient to ignore much of their own religion even while claiming it as justification for their cruelty.
In June 2010, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, a senior Iranian cleric, declared, "friendship with dogs is a blind imitation of the West". A working dog such as a guard dog or a sheep dog is considered acceptable under Islamic law, but not a pet dog. How is it that the keeping of dogs can be declared haram (unclean) when Surat 5:4 of the Qu'ran quotes the prophet as saying that the eating of prey animals caught by dogs is permissible? Since dogs are not given to washing their mouths out first before they catch animals in their jaws, one would think this would necessarily make the food unclean. If it is permitted to ingest food held in the jaws of a dog, does it not constitute a twisted duality of attitude toward canines to declare the ownership of them to be against Islamic law? Even more, does it not constitute a dark ages preoccupation with a supposed problem that is no more relevant to the quality of everyday life than is the question of exactly what colour triceratops' skins really were? For someone secure in the righteousness of their action, it should be of no significance at all what "the West" does.
I have met visually impaired Muslims who labour under the burden of this medieval myth that dogs are unclean, and therefore deny themselves the invaluable aid of a guide dog. Worse still are the Muslim parents who deny their children such aid and canine companionship because of this backward belief. The use of a white cane simply is not a mobility aid equal to that provided by a guide dog.
Wasting time on the question of whether or not a dog is unclean would almost be funny, if only it weren't so pathetic.

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Posted By aka.alias to aka.alias at 4/30/2011 02:36:00 PM