Dogs: Beyond Traditional Islam

Continued from page 3

For a deaf person, a hearing-ear dog allows him or her to live alone without fear. The dog can be taught to alert his owner to the doorbell, telephone, alarm clock and smoke alarm. A deaf couple can respond to their baby crying, for the dog will alert them. The world is not so frightening, and they don't feel so alone, with a dog to hear for them.

For someone in a wheelchair, or someone whose arthritis won’t allow them to bend or lift, a dog can provide so much help and comfort. The simple act of picking up a dropped object is something we take for granted. But to a disabled person, it might mean the humiliation of always having to ask for help. With a service dog by his side, that same person achieves independence and self-esteem. The dog is happy to get the pen or the keys or the pill bottle, even if it rolls under a table.

The positive qualities of the dog—loyalty, dependability, tolerance— have been recognized throughout history. Mark Twain said “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.” And Lord Byron’s epitaph for his dog says “[He] possessed beauty without vanity; strength without insolence; courage without ferocity; and all the virtues of man without his vices.”

And of course the most important trait of all, which Byron missed, is complete and total submission to God for all his life. I think we’d be well served to share our lives more with these wonderful creatures, and learn more from them.

“The heavens and the earth are full of proofs for the believers. Also in your creation, and the creation of all the animals, there are proofs for people who are certain.” (45:3-4)

“Among His proofs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the creatures He spreads in them. He is able to summon them, when He wills.” (42:29)

Lydia Kelley