Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Islam forbids keeping dogs. The punishment for that is the loss of one or two qirats from oneโs good deeds each day. An exception is made for keeping dogs for hunting or guarding and that does not take away any good deeds.
Responding to your question, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Mukhtar Ash-Shinqiti, Professor of Political Ethics and Religions History at Qatar University, states:
If the dog is taken for Islamically acceptable purposes such as guarding and hunting or protecting oneโs soul and property, there is nothing wrong with doing so and it does not take away any good deeds.
Allah has praised the people of the cave and among what has been mentioned about them is โtheir dog stretching forth his two forelegs on the thresholdโ (Al-Kahf 18:18). The Quran mentions the dog three times in Surat Al-Kahf.
Also, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) allowed keeping dogs for protecting cattle and for hunting.
Prophet Muhammad said, โWhoever keeps a dog, except a dog for herding livestock or a dog that is trained for hunting, will have two qirats (the equivalent of a piece of land) deducted from his reward each day.โ (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editorโs note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholarโs archive and was originally published at an earlier date.