Puppies and Religion
Dogs are haram?!
Harām (Arabic: حرام Ḥarām) or haraam is an Arabic word, used in Islam to refer to anything that is prohibited by the faith. In Indonesia and Malaysia, haraam is also spelled as haram.
Today, my brother and I took our 6 and 8 month old rottweiler puppies (Jessie and Enzo) to a park nearby for their daily walk. As usual, we let the dogs run around unleashed, as they are quite responsive when called.
As we were walking, we came across 3 men in soccer gear, warming up and getting ready to train. The puppies, still being in that mischievous sniffing-licking-chewing-anything-they-stumbled-upon stage, were quick to see a soccer ball in the hands of the older of the 3 guys - which we assumed was the coach. As the dogs eagerly ran towards the coach, he bounced the ball in front of the dogs, and of course, them being their playful self, excitedly chased the ball around.
Tired of being outsized, Jessie quickly lost interest in the ball, and saw that, instead, she could play with the plastic cones lined up as obstacle course used in agility training. So, she sniffed, licked, pushed around these red and blue cones out of their neatly ordered formation.
Lo and behold, unexpectedly, the coach picked up a large and long bamboo stick and looked menacingly at the dogs - as if he was about to strike them with it. He looked quite angry - at us and at the dogs. I naïvely thought he was either afraid of being bitten (puppies they may be, but these dogs are fierce looking rottweilers, after all) or upset because Jessie messed his obstacle course. One never knows how people would react to dogs in this part of the world.
So, I straightened up the cones and walked over to him to assure him that the dogs were in fact, friendly and wouldn’t bite, thus the bamboo stick was extremely unnecessary.
Then, something I never would have expected, happened.
“Dogs are haram!” the coach yelled at us angrily.
“Our training equipments are completely soiled now. They can no longer be used ever again, because your dogs had touched them, ” he raged on.
“Dogs are haram! Don’t you understand that?! You had no respect for us, you should have kept your dogs on leashes. Are you even muslims?!”
Uhm, excuse my utter ignorance, but why are dogs haram??
What have such lovable creatures done to the muslims in those formative years of the religion to deserve such a low and vile label?
“Now, tell me…” I retorted, “why would God create creatures He would decree as haram? Does it make any sense?” I continued.
He angrily replied, “Isn’t pork haram?! Dogs are the same! Are you even a muslim?!”
I was speechless.
I, then, remembered that haram is pretty much an unequivocal concept in Islam. It is law, don’t even think about questioning it. Breach that haram, prepare to suffer in Hell forever more in your After Life - that is to assume God is in a merciful mood and not so angry to also give you the punishment in this life.
So, how does one logically argue against such a zealous stance?
Disheartened and realizing that further reasonings would never lead to compromise, let alone understanding, I let it go.
More screaming match and many minutes later, my brother decided to stop the tirade by handing them cash in the guise of a payment to replace the soiled equipments. He apparently had had enough of their rants, raves, and curses (he probably wanted to spare the puppies from physical harm, too!).
But not before he questioned their quick willingness to accept the monetary replacement. Isn’t bribery haram as well? 
Hahaha… And no, they didn’t like his wit at all - in fact, they did threaten him with physical harm.
Disgusted by the turn of events, we quickly left the park - vowing never to go back there again.
Epilogue:
Over the years, I have had many thoughts regarding the rules and regulations within the religions - in particular, Islam - as that is the one I grew up with. However, this is neither the media nor the forum for me to air my views. I have decidedly gone back into the closet when it comes to discussing certain topics. This is Indonesia, after all, folks.
So if you’re curious, you just have to send an email, and ask me in person. If you ask very nicely, I may entertain you with my opinions.
