Yallah Middle East 2.0

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

JP, they use the I129F also for married couples who want to use it as the K3, purpose is to get him here while processing the I130 but the way things are going, looks like they are neck to neck. WAs hoping he could get an earlier interview on the K3 and then adjust his status once here, but once again, I'm neck to neck. Now i would like the I130 down there at the time of interview.

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

I have two dogs, minature pinschers. They are very small. Faisal, my husband knows them from online and pictures. I heard stories that Muslims do not believe in having a dog inside the home due to the fact the angels will not visit the homes. I will not give up my babies. He said, don't worry, no problem, he likes animals. I'm afraid he might change his mind once he gets here, oh God, Ihope not. I ran across this article.

What is the ruling of keeping dogs in the Shariah?

Answered by Sidi Fadi Qutub Zada, Amman (Jordan)

What is the ruling of keeping dogs in the Shariah?

In the name of Allah,the most Compassionate and Merciful

Assalamu alaikum,

Having a dog as a pet is prohibitively disliked (makruh tahriman). However, there is no harm in acquiring a hunting dog, or a guard dog to protect one’s sheep or property. [Al-Hadiyyah al-’Alaiyyah 347]

Itis related by Abu Huraira (Allah be well pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Whoever acquires a dog, with the exception of a dog for hunting, or guarding sheep, or protecting the harvest, then a large portion of his reward will be diminished every day.” [Reported by Bukhari and Muslim]

Abu Talha relates (Allah be well pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The angels do not enter a house that has a dog or a picture.” [Reported by Bukhari and Muslim]

It is mentioned in al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, that one should not keep a dog unless they fear a thief or fear anything else. One should know that acquiring a dog for guarding is legally permissible, as is acquiring a dog for hunting or for protecting the harvest and livestock. [5:362]

Fadi Qutub

Amman , Jordan

[honeyblonde 0]

My neighbor has a min pin pup and he is so adorable. He was out of her yard the other day running lose, and she wasn't home, so we brought him inside until she got home. He was such a cuddle bug! He wanted to put his little head on my shoulder and sleep, and when Abdel held him he put his head in the crook of his elbow and slept standing in his lap.

I had the same problem you worry about with Mustapha. I had a beautiful brindle boxer that I had raised from 5 weeks old. He hated her. She stayed inside most of the time and he spit on her and yelled at her a lot. Needless to say, he went, not her. That wasn't the only reason we divorced, but I'm sure it contributed.

If Faisel says it isn't a problem, all you can do is trust him.

Abdel actually wants a dog eventually. He was the one to take in the first cat, then I took in the second.

Don't give yourself extra things to worry about. Just trust your man and wait, that's all you can do.

[myfellah 0]

I had also heard this about Muslims and pets and over our two year internet relationship we talked about this as I had two cats and a dog. Abdou told me not to worry he would love my pets too. When I went to Morocco and saw all the homeless animals my heart broke and I wanted to take them all in. Before my husband arrived, I lost both my cats, they were almost 17 and my Maltese of 9 years passed a year ago because of cancer even though we tried everything. My husband's yahoo name is after my beloved "Cody", he changed it to honor my baby when he passed away. I was heart broken and still am. Anyway, I had no animals when he arrived June of 2005 but we started looking for another dog soon after his arrival. On July 3rd he went with us when my daughter wanted to look at a Lhasa apso. They were so cute and only two left so we took both brothers. I will tell you this, my husband loves these dogs. These two are his first pets and there isn't anything he wouldn't do for them and I hear him tell them he loves them and they just adore him too. Like so many other things I worried about, I shouldn't have worried about this either. Now I don't know what we would do without the two "boys" in the house to add to the loving atmosphere in our home. I'll have to find some pictures to add. I hope you don't have a problem with this but if he tells you not to worry, I'm sure you don't need to. Good Luck and when the time comes, let us know.

Doreen

[MHandMB 0]

My fiance, too, always said he didn't like dogs. He said he would tolerate my dog because he loves me, but it would be my dog and I'd have to take care of her, and there would need to be boundaries about where she slept, etc. When I moved to Paris to be with him and I brought my dog with me, you should have seen the change. He was always walking her, feeding her, and playing with her. He even bathed her and brought her treats! And, of course, she slept where she's always slept- at the foot of the bed. Now he says he loves her, too. A lot of times when we end our phone conversations, he says "tell your parents I said hi- and tell Molly hello, too!"

I think that a lot if it is cultural, and they're just not exposed to treating dogs as pets. But, certainly their ideas on dogs can change over time once they get used to seeing cute little puppy faces every day. As long as you've been up front with him about your animals, and give him time to get used to them, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with some sort of compromise.

[LebaneseMama 1]

Hey guys just me checking in with a question ...

Who do you all reccommend for speedy, trustworthy, and safe delivery of mail to Lebanon ? UPS ? DHL ?

His packet 4 should be arriving anytime (I am thinking Saturday cuz I have always gotten my NVC mail on Saturday) and I need to send it to him ASAP so he can go get his medical done in time for the interview.

I'm also scared that the papers never even get to him ... you know how Middle East mail is. Any reccomendations ? I have sent him mail before and he has sent me mail and it's always arrived ... but when it's packet 4 I'm going to worry alot more.

[Jenn! 918]

We constantly have the same argument over pets. Wadi wants a rottweiler, and won't budge about it. I hate big dogs (especially those with the ability to kill me).

It's not an issue yet, as we're still in a studio apartment, but some day we'll have to come to a compromise.

[Dixie_Peach 1]

Hey guys just me checking in with a question ...

Who do you all reccommend for speedy, trustworthy, and safe delivery of mail to Lebanon ? UPS ? DHL ?

His packet 4 should be arriving anytime (I am thinking Saturday cuz I have always gotten my NVC mail on Saturday) and I need to send it to him ASAP so he can go get his medical done in time for the interview.

I'm also scared that the papers never even get to him ... you know how Middle East mail is. Any reccomendations ? I have sent him mail before and he has sent me mail and it's always arrived ... but when it's packet 4 I'm going to worry alot more.

LB... when sending important packages to Jamal in Morocco... i have used DHL... better service... and not as expensive as UPS... hope that helps!

[Veiled Princess 1]

Meriem, I'm sorry to hear what happened to you while you were away. At least they gave it all back and you didn't have to pay for any of it but I know that doesn't make you feel any less violated. I hope they catch that person and burn 'em.

But I am really confused, how did you file a I130 and an I129 at the same time? Can you please explain this to me because I'm really curious as to what the reasoning is behind this. I thought that once you got married you could not file a fiance visa anymore.?

I have heard this too from an atty. She said you can show proof that you have the I-130 pending and then bring them over on the I-129F faster and they can wait here for the I-130 to be approved.

In response to the posts about muslims and pets...

1. It's not all pets it's just dogs. We can have cats, birds, fish and anything else that you would consider a house hold pet in the house but not dogs.

2. It's NOT cultural it's religious. Our Prophet forbid letting dogs sleep in our homes or keeping them for pets, other than hunting or protection as someone posted. He stated that the angels would not enter the homes in which dogs live or pictures/statues are displayed.

3. It's not that muslims don't like dogs it's just that we don't keep them as pets in our homes. I'm sure there are plenty of people from all faiths that don't like dogs for one reason or another but my point is that we don't all hate them just because we don't keep them as pets. Even before Islam, I did not like dogs in the house just for the sanitary reasons. As for the man who spent so much time hitting and spitting on the dog, that was uncalled for... there is also a hadith of a man who found a dog in the dessert... both the man and the dog were dying of thirst... the man found some water and gave some of it to the dog... it was said that he would be rewarded in the next life for his kindness to this animal.

4. It's not all muslims. I'm sure there are some sects who, since they don't recognize the hadiths of the Prophet, don't follow this rule and keep dogs in their homes as pets.

I hope that clears up any misunderstandings on this matter

[jordanianprincess 0]

I disagree, it's also cultural. I am arabic and christian and I can't think of one arabic christian family I know that has a pet in the us or jordan. It's mostly how people are raised. When you are not exposed to something growing up then it is weird to you. Some people can grow to accept it and some can't. My fiance lives in Jordan and has never has a pet nor did his family allow him to have one (he is christian too)but he always talks about getting a dog when he comes here.

My family does not eat pork because they were never exposed to it when they were growing up, the same goes for my fiances family. However I do eat pork, becuase I was raised in the usa and pork is everywhere.

I do think that if your husband is very religious he will most likely say that he doesn't want a dog. There are other things that are forbidden by Islam, but people still do them.

As for myself...I would not mind having a dog (a small one) but I would not want it to be inside my house which is not really fair to the dog so I probebly won't get one. I just don't like the hair shedding everywhere. My friend has a small dog and when I go to her house, I always come back with dog hair on me and she is so clean! I mean her house is always clean, but no matter how much you clean you can't get all the hair. She finally resorted to buying a roomba which has not worked out so great because her dog keeps attacking it.

[UmmSqueakster 54]

I want a kitty. Dang it, my husband needs to hurry up and get a job so we can afford one

I want to adopt this kitty or this kitty, but they'll probably be gone by the time we can get one. But, there is never a shortage of cats at local shelters, so I'm sure they'll be one there that will steal my heart when the time comes.

[Together4ever 1]

Hope you all don't mind me jumping in. I can't resist animal talk. Mohammed bought me a little parakeet which we kept in our room in Egypt and Mohammed learned for the first time in his life to joys of a real friendship with an animal. That bird was CRAZY about him and she would climb around all over him and his guitar while he was playing and singing. He would just laugh and laugh. Shortly after I had to return to the USA, she got out of her cage and flew away. He was devastated.

Now I have a pet bunny, a dwarf just like the one in rahma's avatar... they could be twins!!! (Rahma where did you get that photo. I just wastes me.) Mohammed is dying to come and play with him now that he's experienced how lovely having a furry friend can be. He just marvels at how "people like" they can be.

[AngelK96 0]

When I was in irbid jordan a few times I seen a lot of cats that had collars on them walking around. I also seen cats that were so wild they wouldn't even come near you. Now that's a sight to see. They reminded me of little bobcats in the wild. I remember me and anmar walking and all of a sudden i hear him say omg and i'm like what. and there in the middle street was this tom cat licking it's B*lls

I just laugh and thought now that jordanian cat had the balls to lay in the street and clean itself and when we walk by it just laid there didn't even get up and run away.

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Now I have a pet bunny, a dwarf just like the one in rahma's avatar... they could be twins!!! (Rahma where did you get that photo. I just wastes me.) Mohammed is dying to come and play with him now that he's experienced how lovely having a furry friend can be. He just marvels at how "people like" they can be.

It's from cuteoverload.com, my faaaaavorite website. anno superstar did them. I had a hard time picking just one.

Edited April 14, 2006 by rahma

[AInfante-Saraireh 0]

I love the "dog" response. I talked to faisal about it again, he said we talked about it. I did bring up the fact that i found a post from the Quran on it, he said, so what do you think? I said, well, I want to respect you and make u as comfortable as possible here, but Im not getting rid of my babies nor are they sleeping outside. He said, "Ok." Now, Jess wants a cat/kitten or another dog. I don't want another dog right now and I told faisal to tell her no. He said, "no, i won't tell her no." I said, "you want her to have another dog?" he said, "maybe" and I laughed.

Update on the post yesterday on not being sure the I130 was approved. Talked to USCIS as they transferred me to another operator because they couldn't make heads or tails of the email either. They looked into it and yes, it was approved! Now, short on money, so can't do it now but maybe it will get there when my husband interviews for the K3 on August 23, 2006. Who knows. Either way, can't wait for my husband to get here.