Caring Muslim Couple Proves That Dog Deserve Love In This World Too
We are all aware that some people may use religion as an excuse to get anywhere near you or even touch you when it comes to dog-related issues. This is due to the misconstrued teaching in many Muslims in Malaysia where they believe it is forbidden to even touch dogs because of their perceived impurity.
According to the shafie school of thought (which the majority of Muslims in Southeast Asia follow), a Muslim has to clean themselves in a specific ritual to rid their body and skin of the apparent impurities of dog saliva and excrement, should they ever come in contact with it.
However, a couple runs S.I. Home Shelter, which houses and rehabilitates animals in need, with a lot of them requiring urgent medical attention. This couple aims to fight social stigma and cultural taboo associated with touching dogs and caring for them as they would for other animals.
While many Muslims in Malaysia do own dogs, they’re used to aide in household security or hunting. Treating one as a pet? A big no-no for many, as Nurul Ain and Muhammad Razeef, caring for and rehabilitating dogs doesn’t make them any less Muslim than others.
Despite getting frequent threats from critics (other Malaysian Muslims), Nurul Ain and Muhammad Razeef are unfazed.
“It’s a weird mentality. They would accuse us of no longer being Muslims, and some of them who are naïve would say that dogs are haram to be near to,” said Nurul Ain.
And according to Nurul Ain, it’s this mentality that causes a lot of unwarranted harm for dogs in Malaysia, with some people even kicking any dog they see, throwing rocks at them, and even poisoning them.
They take in cats too, which make up the majority of their animal residents. Since the shelter’s founding in 2012, they’ve nursed and re-homed more than 1,000 of them.
Monthly maintenance of the shelter costs US$3,572 (RM15,000) when you add up the money needed to pay for the shelter workers’ salaries, veterinary costs, food supplies, and utility bills.
Donations to the shelter are highly encouraged. Here are the details if you’d like to help out:
Bank: Maybank
Account Number: 562272615543
Account Holder: Muhamad Razeef Che Shamah
Bank: CIMB
Account Number: 7011298684
Account Holder: Muhamad Razeef Che Shamah
PayPal: muhamad.razeef@ymail.com
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