Muslims traditionally consider dogs impure animals to be avoided, creating an aversion that becomes problematic when Muslim store-owners or taxi drivers deny service to blind Westerners relying on service dogs. I have collected fifteen such cases on my weblog, at "Muslim Taxi Drivers vs. Seeing-Eye Dogs": five from the United States (New Orleans, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Brooksville, Fl.; Everett, Wash.); four from Canada (Vancouver, twice in Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Alberta); three from the United Kingdom (Cambridge, twice in London); two from Australia (Melbourne, Sydney); and one from Norway (Oslo). News accounts quote Muslim cabbies rudely rejecting blind would-be passengers, yelling at them, "No dog, No dog, Get out, get out"; "Get that dog out of here"; and "No dogs, no dogs." The blind find themselves rejected, humiliated, abandoned, insulted, or even injured, left in the rain, dropped in the middle of nowhere, made late for an appointment, or caused to miss a flight. Islamist organizations initially responded to this problem by supporting anti-canine cabbies. The Muslim Association of Canada pointed out how Muslims generally regard dog saliva as unclean. CAIR on one occasion echoed this assertion, claiming that "the saliva of dogs invalidates the ritual purity needed for prayer." On another, the head of CAIR, Nihad Awad, declared that "People from the Middle East especially ... have been indoctrinated with a kind of fear of dogs" and justified a driver rejecting a guide dog on the grounds that he "has a genuine fear and he acted in good faith. He acted in accordance with his religious beliefs." However, when the police and the courts are called in, the legal rights of the blind to their basic needs and their dignity almost always trump the Muslim dislike for dogs. The Muslim proprietor or driver invariably finds himself admonished, fined, re-educated, warned, or even jailed. The judge who found a cabby's behavior to be "a total disgrace" spoke for many. CAIR, realizing that its approach had failed in the courts of both law and of public opinion, suddenly and nimbly switched sides. In a cynical maneuver, for example, it organized 300 cabbies in Minneapolis to provide free rides for participants at a National Federation of the Blind conference. (Unconvinced by this obvious ploy, a federation official responded: "We really are uncomfortable ... with the offer of getting free rides. We don't think that solves anything. We believe the cabdrivers need to realize that the law says they will not turn down a blind person.") And, finally, last week, the Canadian office of CAIR issued a statement urging Muslims to accommodate blind taxi passengers, quoting a board member that "Islam allows for dogs to be used by the visually impaired." CAIR's capitulation contains an important lesson: When Westerners broadly agree on rejecting a specific Islamic law or tradition and unite against it, Western Islamists must adjust to the majority's will. [emphasis added]. Guide dogs for the blind represent just one of many such consensus issues; others tend to involve women, such as husbands beating wives, the burqa head coverings, female genital mutilation, and "honor" killings. Western unity can also compel Islamists to denounce their preferred positions in areas such as slavery and Shar'i-compliant finances. I'M MYSELF WAS REJECTED BY BOTH A CAB AND A MOTOECYLCLE TAXI FOR CARRYING DOG-FOOD, NOT EVEN DOG(S) IN AN NON-ISLAMIC STATE YET.
Just curious, mine telling me which country? Carrying dog food isn't against Islamic laws in anyway. If they consider dogs impure, thats one thing, dog food seemed to be a totally different category IMHO.
Maybe, because of the pork meat inside the dog food, or the picture of dogs on the bag. Everybody knows about the islamic hypocracy. It was in an Asian capital city. The driver/rider were obviously Muslims.
That's a bit extreme, I would say, more to show the ignorance of the taxi driver more than anything else.
Well, I'm an infidel, and I like the kisses my dogs give me. In fact, they practically try to bathe my face every day just because. So far I haven't gotten sick from a dog, just filthy people - and I have been sick less often now that the dog is allowed at the end of my bed (in which during the night it'll sneak up next to me so its head can get to the pillow). I <3 Dogs.
I think according to the definition of the taxi driver, I am also an infidel, I love dogs and love them licking me.
Damn it... Here I go again... Those cabbies are all wrong. Thats because, well, they're cabbies. I don't hate dogs. I had a pet dog since 2000, for 3 years. But I didn't allow it to enter the house. And if he did lick me, I had to bath quickly. There are people, I agree, who "may" dislike dogs because of religious edicts. This decision can be traced back to the times in the desert, when little water was available. Prayers are offered in Islam 5 times a day, and keeping oneself clean is the most basic requirement. So, the Prophet advised it was better to have some other pet, rather than a dog, coz its saliva is considered unclean. Some people follow this advice very seriously. And yes, cabbies should be re-educated.
They can only see the dog and not the man and his suffering ! It's these cabbies who are really blind.
This is 2008, if they have such thinking, it is really something wrong with how they were taught. Islam should be progressive and not backward looking. I am thinking what is more important to them, to be physically clean or to have a clean soul, rejecting to drive a blind man, even if he is 100% dust free and clean physically, his soul is more dirty than the dog's saliva.
Yeah, i have to agree, many of them are still living in the middle ages mentality. I don't like it, but you cannot change it overnight. These societies had been cut off, closed societies, where change was discouraged, and thats what we can see in their thinking. But I assure you, everything will change soon. It is a dumb thing, that these people don't understand the true spirit of Islam, and stress more on useless rituals and dogmas. We need more western scientific education, more interaction with different societies. Give it 20 more years, and everything will be alright.
Next time my dog gets too wound up from chasing squirrels and runs up behind me knocking my legs out from under me, I'm gonna tell him about this and how lucky he is that I'm not muslim.
Sadly, people don't understand that a dog's saliva is much cleaner than a humans. Granted, I still hate it when dog's lick me on my face knowing that they just ate their own crap 5 minutes ago, but I think this is kind of silly.
Those cabbies are really afraid of Rabies.(lol). All of us know about the religious sentiment of Islam. Dog is considered as a dirty animal by them as it is consuming all type of foods including pork.
After reading up on it a bit, some argue that there could be more bacteria in a dogs mouth depending on what it has eaten lately. But a dog's bite in comparison to a human's bite is typically less damaging because of diseases and types of bacteria a human regularly holds. So it is arguable either way. Also, mythbusters did testing on this very issue and there was more bacterial growth from Adam than the Dog. They considered it to be plausible. Either way, I think we can both agree that the whole situation with dogs and muslims is just quite silly.
Well, I mock everyone's beliefs, even my own, and mine get mocked by about everyone, so don't take it personal and try to see the humor in it. That's the key, IMO.
This makes sense as well: And yes, I think we can all agree that the dog phobia thing is extremely ridiculous.
Dogs have a more alkaline based saliva and PH levels in their mouth which contribute to their lack of tooth rot - whereas humans tend to have more acidic mouth levels, and in so doing have more bacterial growth... and more decay in the mouth.