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How do we answer when our children say, why would the Shari'a prohibit owning a cute little puppy?

Okay? So what do we say to our children in this regard?

So no doubt this is a very interesting question. It has been discussed in our book since the beginning of a scholarship.

And it also shows us the differences of cultures because I speak for most of us above the age of I think 3035

where we are accustomed to culturally look down upon dogs. I have never in my life wanted to touch a dog.

I have never wanted to pet a dog. Every time I see a dog I turn around and go the other way.

I have no desire to interact with dogs. And I think most of us from that generation and older are of the same way, even if I was born here,

but still I'm kind of sort of caught the old vibe if you like. But our own children are saying they're the cutest creatures.

I don't think they're cute, but our kids do. Our children are saying, why can't we have puppies? Why can't we have dogs?

It's a cultural difference that we need to take into consideration.

Now, there's no doubt that culture sometimes plays a role. There is one of the maxims of fiqh,

that culture plays a role. But culture only plays a role where the Shari'a is silent.

When the Shari'a has explicit matters, then culture is put aside.

So the Shari'a, obviously the Quran and Sunnah, where it is explicit, then we do not...

Sometimes, culturally speaking, certain cultures might think certain animals to be beautiful, other animals to be ugly.

That's not a problem, no problem. But if the Shari'a comes and says certain animal is haram, certain animal is nudged, that changes the entire paradigm.

So does the Shari'a say explicitly these types of issues? And what is this controversy? What exactly do our Rulama say?

So this will be a fairly, any detail, but still I always have to make the disclaimer, still intermediate level, but it's not advanced level, but it will be a fairly detailed lecture about this issue.

By the way, just out of fiqh, your own curiosity, a number of books were written by our tradition about dogs.

One of them has been translated into English and it is a very interesting book.

It was written by one of the judges of ancient Islam, Abdul Rahman, Ibn Ali, Ibn Maruzuban.

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