In Sahih Bukhari Volume 7 there is a hadith which says that angels do not enter the house where there is a dog or picture. What is your opinion about it? I acknowledge the argument that you and Mr. Ghamidi give regarding pictures but please do comment on the issue of keeping a dog at home. I think that the angels do not enter the houses of people such as non-muslims who worship pictures in their homes like Hindus or Christians who worship Jesus Christ (pbuh) in their houses. So, please comment on my understanding regarding pictures.
Answer
Your argument in explaining the condemnation of pictures is correct. As for the ahadith on dogs, my understanding is that there has been some miscommunication in the process in that the fact that some angels of mercy in the original statement have been understood to mean all angels of mercy. It seems that Gibrael, alaihissalaam, didn’t like dogs and refused to enter the house of the prophet, alaihissalaam, because there was a dog in it at the time when he was about to enter the prophet’s house. On finding the dog’s presence, the angel refused to enter his house until such time when the dog was removed from it.
However, we have positive mention of dogs at least in two passages of Quran and in ahadith too wherein it has been mentioned that dogs are allowed to be kept for the safety of animal herds, for the security of homes, and for using them for hunting purposes. These mentions clarify that the condemnation of the act of keeping dogs was meant for either a particular situation or a particular category of dogs who cause filth and disease to be spread or for both.