Better for Muslims to learn to care for orphans, says Hadi’s son on dog-touching event

PAS deputy youth chief Muhammad Khalid Abd Hadi says Muslims would be better off campaigning for other things besides "touching a dog".


"Instead of campaigning to touch a dog, it would be better if they campaigned about taking care of an orphan.

"The Prophet Muhammad once said that anyone who strokes the head of an orphan would receive plenty of reward for each strand of hair stroked.

"Instead of learning about how we should stroke a dog's back, why not we learn how to cleanse our feet during wudhu (ablution) without taking off the layer of clothing," Khalil, who is the son of PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Suggesting that the "Touch a Dog" event on Sunday was a way for Malaysians to de-stress from problems such as the fuel hike, Khalil said Muslims should first learn how to hold and kiss the Hajar Aswad stone in Kaabah before they thought about how to stroke a dog.

"There is an incident related in the Holy Quran about pet dogs. The lesson from it is not for us to have dogs as pets, but for us to acknowledge that dogs also played an important role in Islam's struggle."

He added that Muslims' involvement with dogs went as far as feeding it when hungry and not injuring it as it deserved to be treated as any of God's creation.