Islam and The Rights of The Disabled | Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians
I wish to thank The Minaret for giving me the opportunity to inform its readers about a problem which, while it pales in significance when compared to the crises faced by our brothers and sisters in Kosovo and elsewhere, is nonetheless worthy of our attention. This issue concerns us because it is happening right here in cities across the United States, and because it involves a violation of the civil rights of disabled persons in the name of Islam. I am referring to the refusal by some of our Muslim brothers who own businesses or drive taxis to serve blind and other disabled people who are accompanied by guide and service dogs on the grounds that their religion prohibits them from allowing these persons into their businesses, taxis, etc. I do not wish to imply that some Muslims are the only ones discriminating against the disabled who use service dogs. This is certainly not the case. However, as a Muslim who is also blind and who has used guide dogs for many years, I have a particular interest in this issue, especially when my fellow Muslims are involved. While I am aware of some hadiths concerning dogs, such as the one which states that a utensil from which a dog has eaten must be washed 7 times before a human can eat from it, I have never heard anyone suggest that these hadiths prohibit the ownership and use of working dogs.
Islam On Dogs: Can You Be A Good Muslim And Still Have A Dog?
Yet many Muslims all over the world have dogs, and dogs figure prominently is some Islamic countries, such as Turkey, famous for its Kangal and Akbash breeds.
"This has always been a touchy issue for me, trying to balance my needs for a guide dog and the concerns within the Muslim community," said Mazen Basrawi, a blind Muslim-American lawyer in Washington D.C., who has had two seeing eye-dogs since he was 18.
Islamic scripture and tradition does not provide a definitive guide to all matters canine.
The Quran mentions dogs twice, including the permission to eat meat that has been carried by hunting dogs. In another verse, a group of "believers" and their dog escape their persecutors by hiding in a cave, where they fall asleep. "And their dog stretched his forelegs across the threshold," the verse finishes.
