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The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
Thursday 31 July 2008 (27 Rajab 1429)
Cats, dogs the new threat to morality
Abeer Mishkhas | Arab News
—
Once
again, the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of
Vice misses its goals; it seems to get itself entangled in quixotic
campaigns — all under the umbrella of fighting vice. The latest action
from the commission is to ban the sale of cats and dogs in Riyadh.
According to Al-Hayat newspaper, the reason behind the ban is a fatwa
and the reason behind the fatwa is that some young men take dogs out
into the street and use them to annoy families; the fatwa also points
out that the ban aims to preserve public morals.
Now I have to
ask: How on earth can owning a pet be considered a risk to social codes
and morality? The allegation that some people use animals to annoy
families in public areas is ridiculous and surely unfounded. If someone
were really harassing a family or another person in public, then there
are ways and means and laws to stop such behavior.
A person can
in fact use anything to harass people — mobile phones, the lights of
his car, or loud music coming from his car. So are we going to ban the
use of mobile phones in public? Or will we wake tomorrow to the news
that young men are no longer allowed to drive in public areas? All I am
asking for is some logic and reasonable thinking. And please stop the
automatic reflex of banning things when someone thinks that those
things are causing problems.
But when it comes to the banning
of pets, there is also another way of thinking — one that considers
animals dirty. We are told that the ban was issued in the wake of a
fatwa against owning pets.
But we ask if it is better to keep
pets at home where people can enjoy their companionship and can, at the
same time, take care of them? Or is it better to have the animals
roaming the streets where they may be a hazard to public health, as
they might get sick and spread disease and germs and also be killed by
speeding drivers?
The way we are supposed to deal with animals is
quite disturbing; we are being asked to shun them and let them roam the
streets. It does not matter if such behavior does not make our hearts
kinder or bring us closer to our Islamic ideals. It is shocking how
such a ban contradicts evidence from Islamic teachings and Islamic
history.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself is known to
have given his food to animals and his companions cared for them. What
about the Hadith that urge Muslims to be kind to animals?
There
is one which makes it clear that giving water to a thirsty dog won a
place in heaven for one woman who was living in sin and another which
speaks of condemning a woman for not feeding a cat she kept at home.
Are we simply to forget those Hadiths and just think that animals
should be ignored?
Is it not clear how we turn any problem into
a prelude to a new ban. Some people are using animals to harass
families and women. Does it then logically follow that animals should
be banned? Knives are sometimes used to kill people so should all
knives be banned? Should we not find out why some people use animals to
harass others? No, as far as some are concerned, the easiest solution
is simply to ban something. Banning is surely the most ineffective of
all solutions. Usually a ban backfires and leads people to ignore it
secretly.
Copyright: Arab News © 2003 All rights reserved. Site designed by: arabix
---------------
Jusfiq Hadjar gelar Sutan Maradjo Lelo
Allah yang disembah orang Islam tipikal dan yang digambarkan oleh al-Mushaf itu
dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas, zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif.
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