Dogs in Islam – Part 2

I am posting this reply to the comments by Diverdel and Shawn:

There is one thing that i do not believe in: the school of thoughts. While there are some good guidelines that I can use, as Diverdel has pointed out, we take the prescriptions by these schools of thoughts as something that MUST be done, and to go against is sinful.

First and foremost, who rightfully can say whether or not such and such an act is a sin? Who dishes out rewards for good deeds and punishments for bad deeds? Only the Almighty has that power.

Shawn, there is nowhere in the al-Quran that says you cannot touch a dog. There are FIVE prescribed findings by these schools of thoughts: 1) you cannot touch at all; 2) you can touch only when it’s dry; 3) you cannot touch unless its nose and tongue are dry; and some others I cannot remember. Even amongst the scholars they are divided over this. But which NAS or DALIL did they use to come up with these guidelines when the Quran says nothing about it? Even the hadith used are DAIF (weak) and some PALSU (false). The only school of thought that goes back to the Quran on this is Maliki as mentioned above.

Diverdel’s point on having to follow strictly to Imam Shafie’s teachings here in Malaysia is something that is actually a cause for alarm. Muslims in Malaysia cannot understand that it is just an intepretation by Shafie…therefore whether you follow it or not has nothing to do with sins and rewards. Shafie says he’s right; Hanafie says he’s right…but why do we need to do the act of adopting another mazhab as mentioned about the Tawaf above? Back in England, I have seen followers of Shafie and Hanafie and Hanbalie whack each other in a mosque because the imam for the Aidil Fitri prayers is a Hanafie. If there is a Shiah here in Malaysia performing rites according to Shiah’s traditions, he can be jailed! In Iraq, such strict followings are causing thousands of innocent Muslims lives lost annually – and all because of schools of thoughts.

Aren’t we all praying to the same God? If we uphold the Six Pillars of Faith and believe in it without a single shadow of doubt, why are we taking teachings prescribed by scholars as “our way of life and no two ways about it”? We read the books they write and subscribe to it strictly..but when it comes to the Quran that we’re supposed to be guided by and with, we question its contents and ask what the scholars thought about what God has decreed.