Why Does Islam Have a Problem With Dogs?

Let’s stop pretending this is cultural. The hostility toward dogs comes directly from Islamic texts.

Muhammad is portrayed as disliking dogs while showing affection toward cats. The result? A body of hadith literature that repeatedly demeans dogs and treats them as spiritually problematic creatures.

Here are the texts:

1.Angels refuse to enter a house with a dog

“Angels do not enter a house that has either a dog or a picture in it.”
— Sahih al-Bukhari

So if you own a dog, divine beings stay away.

2.Dogs “cut off” your prayer

“A woman, a donkey, and a dog cut off the prayer.”
— Sahih Muslim

Notice the grouping: women, donkeys, and dogs — all placed in the same category as obstacles to worship.

3.Muhammad ordered dogs to be killed
Ibn ‘Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah commanded the killing of dogs.
— Sahih Muslim

This was not metaphorical. It was an order.

4. Black dogs specifically targeted

“Were dogs not a species among creatures, I would command that they all be killed; but kill every pure black one.”
— Sunan Abu Dawud

Why the black ones? Because—

5. Black dogs are called devils

“The black dog is a devil.”
— Sahih Muslim

Not symbolic. Not poetic. A devil.

6.Only “useful” dogs allowed
The Prophet ordered dogs to be killed except hunting dogs, sheepdogs, and guard dogs.
— Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

In other words: dogs are tolerated only if theyserve a function. As companions? No.

Dogs are widely considered ritually impure in Islamic law. Their saliva is treated as contaminating. Entire purification rules revolve around contact with them.

So when someone says, “Islam doesn’t hate dogs,” the texts say otherwise.

Muslims who keep dogs today either:
•Ignore these narrations
•Reinterpret them beyond recognition
•Or simply do not know what their own sources say

The issue isn’t culture. It’s scripture.

Brother Rachid الأخ رشيد

@BrotherRasheed

Terrorism expert, Advocate for freedom of speech, human rights, and religious freedom. Former Muslim, now Christian voice in the Arab world. TV Host & Author