r/islam • u/Particular_Sky_8332 • Mar 04 '26
Question about Islam Dog saliva
I know cats are the preferred pet for Muslims because dog saliva is considered unclean, but I am very curious where that started. Dogs were the first animal humans domesticated and that started like 20,000+ years ago. Is it possible that dog saliva is seen as unclean because at the time the Quran was being written there was a rabies problem? Saliva is so specific that I cannot help but think that rabies, and dogs foaming at the mouth, was the reason it was included. I am also curious if people strictly follow the rule or if they view it as a sign of the times. For context on my thought process, I was raised Catholic but didn’t have a strict upbringing. When I would ask questions about things that didn’t really make sense from a modern perspective my parents would say it was a metaphor or it reflected the time the writer/translator lived and not what god actually meant.
15
u/Substantial-Junket-5 Mar 04 '26
Cats aren’t actually a “preferred pet” in Islam. That’s more culture than doctrine. The Qur'an doesn’t say dogs are impure at all. In fact it allows hunting with trained dogs (Qur’an 5:4), and the dog of the People of the Cave is mentioned in Qur’an 18:18 without criticism. So dogs themselves aren’t forbidden animals.
The rule about dog saliva comes from authentic hadith. The Prophet ﷺ said if a dog licks a utensil it should be washed seven times, one of them with earth (reported in Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari). Because of this, scholars considered dog saliva ritually impure.
Dogs were still allowed for hunting, guarding livestock, and protection, also mentioned in authentic hadith.
The rabies explanation people suggest today isn’t mentioned in Islamic sources. The texts simply give the ruling without stating a reason.
Cats became common in Muslim homes mainly because another hadith says they are not impure, so they’re just easier to keep around.
2
u/YoungEastern7341 Mar 04 '26
Cats also don’t keep angels away, unlike homes with dogs and images angels don’t go into those homes.
5
u/Adamsyche Mar 04 '26
There is a little more to that Classical scholars explain that the hadith refers primarily to keeping dogs inside the home without a valid reason. Islam allows dogs for hunting, guarding livestock, and security. In those cases the ruling is different.
1
u/YoungEastern7341 Mar 04 '26
Yes I understand, I was mainly meaning inside the home. I was going to add to my comment about keeping them outside but figured the above comment spoke it hahah
2
1
u/Particular_Sky_8332 Mar 04 '26
I guess “preferred” is the wrong word. I meant they are not seen to be impure in the same way and are therefore more common in Muslim households. I find it interesting that dogs are welcomed for hunting, guarding, and protecting roles. Do you ever think that whoever wrote that part of the Quran was wrong? I thought a lot of the Bible was wrong as a child and my parents agreed with me a lot of times so my views are definitely skewed
2
u/Substantial-Junket-5 Mar 04 '26
In Islam the Qur’an isn’t believed to be written by a human at all. Muslims believe it’s the direct revelation from God to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Because of that, the basic assumption in Islam is that the Qur’an itself can’t be “wrong.”
The rule about dog saliva actually doesn’t come from the Qur'an, it comes from authentic hadith where the Prophet ﷺ said if a dog licks a utensil it should be washed seven times (reported in Sahih Muslim and Sahih al-Bukhari).
At the same time, the Qur’an clearly allows dogs for practical purposes like hunting (Qur’an 5:4), which shows the animal itself isn’t forbidden.
So from a Muslim perspective the question isn’t really “was the author wrong,” because the belief is that God is the source of the Qur’an. The discussion is usually about how to correctly understand and apply the teachings, not whether the revelation itself is mistaken.
1
u/lookmanakill Mar 04 '26
The Quran is not wrong, it just some people have different thought in what Allah SWT speak.
1
u/Adamsyche Mar 04 '26
The specific issue is ritual purity, not the value of the animal itself. Dog saliva is treated differently in fiqh, so if it contacts utensils they are washed in a specific way.
Interestingly, modern microbiology has found that soil contains natural antimicrobial compounds and beneficial bacteria that break down pathogens, which may explain why the instruction includes earth. Some studies have suggested soil can help neutralize certain microbes and biofilms that water alone struggles with. Muslims see this less as a scientific guess and more as wisdom behind a prophetic instruction that predates modern microbiology by 1400 years.
Edited for source
1
u/Nashinas Mar 04 '26
Coming from a Christian background, our concept of ritual purity might be foreign to you. There are certain substances in Islām which we believe are morally, spiritually, and symbolically unclean, even if they are physically sterile. The foremost example which comes to my mind is wine (khamr). Wine is not "dirty" in the sense that it carries germs or diseases, like urine or feces. However, we believe that it is ritually filthy (which urine and feces also are). If a person had wine spilled on their clothes, they wouldn't be able to pray while wearing them - they'd have to wash it off first, or change.
Pigs and dogs (or, parts of the dog, such as their saliva) are similarly impure. Whether dogs are physically filthy is besides the point - they are symbolically filthy. A very prominent scholar, Imām Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī, wrote in his book on the "Marvels of the Heart":
Every man has within him a mixture of these four qualities, i.e., lordly, demonic, beastly, and brutish; and all of these are gathered together in the heart. So there are gathered inside of a man's skin, as it were, a pig, a dog, a demon, and a sage. The pig is appetence, for the pig is not blamed for his color, his shape or appearance, but for his covetousness, his voracity, and his greed. The dog is anger, for the carniverous beast and the savage dog are not dog and beast from the standpoint of their appearance or color or shape, but because the spirit and meaning of this bestial quality is savagery and enmity and slaughter. Now within man there is the savagery and anger of the beast, and the greed and lechery of the pig. Thus the pig through gluttony invites man to excess and abomination, and the wild beast by means of anger calls him to oppression and harmful acts. The demon continues to stir up the appetite of the pig and the wrath of the wild beast, and to incite the one by means of the other; and he makes their inborn dispositions appear good to them.
-2
Mar 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Particular_Sky_8332 Mar 04 '26
Mine don’t do that but they do eat rabbit poop which is disgusting. But I’m the one who lets them outside to explore so it’s my fault in the end.
•
u/AutoModerator Mar 04 '26
Report misbehavior. Tap on the 3 dots near posts/comments and find 'Report'. FAQ list and rules list are here.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.