A Glance at Signification of Narratives on “Hunting Dogs” with an Emphasis on Imam Khomeini’s Attitude

Abstract

The sale of dogs is one of the long-lasting arguments in jurisprudents’ books. Since arguments center round narratives apparently authorizing dog sale for “hunting” purposes, renowned early jurisprudents argue that the sale of non-hunting dogs is not permissible. Some others, like Sheikh Mofid, have confined the sale of hunting dogs to Saluki breed. On the contrary, delving into narratives and evidences, later jurisprudents conclude that the word “hunting” attributes to all dog breeds with intended legitimate use. One of the jurisprudential initiatives of Imam Khomeini concerns the hunting dogs. Scrutinizing narratives and opinions, he argues that all dogs with intended legitimate use may be included in “hunting breeds” and the validity of dog sale depends upon hunting purpose. This research study reviews opinions of early jurisprudents and analyzes Imam Khomeini’s Viewpoints in detail, as well as evidences supporting his opinion and concludes that the pivotal theme of the narratives concerns the “training of dogs”; therefore, the sale of any dog trained for intended legitimate use is permissible and “hunting” in an instance of such training.

Keywords

• imam khomeini
• dog sale
• hunting dogs
• saluki breed
• four-footed animals
• dog fight