In response to the recent “I Want to Touch a Dog” event, the director of the Persatuan Jemaah Pondok-pondok Kedah, Sobri Osman suggested to have a “Do Not Go Near Dogs” campaign instead to educate the Muslims about the proper way of handling dogs.
According to The Star, Sobri Osman urged the authorities to prevent a similar programme like “I Want to Touch a Dog” that took place at One Utama Central Park in Petaling Jaya from happening again in the future.
“I want to touch a dog” event should not have been allowed and the participation of Muslims clearly reflected their shallow knowledge of their religion,” said Osman who told the reporters that the programme is an insult of Islam.
A group of Muslim ladies get acquainted with a dog at the ‘I want to touch a dog’ event at 1Utama’s central park earlier this morning, October 19, 2014. — Pictures by Choo Choy May (Source: www.mmail.com.my)
With a slight change to the programme’s title, he suggested to hold a campaign “Do Not Go Near Dogs” if the objective was to educate Muslims on the proper way of handling dogs. He also asked Muslims to cleanse themselves should they happen to touch the wet parts of the dogs.
He added:
If they are confident that they were dry and the dogs they touched were also dry, it is not necessary for them to do so. Otherwise, they should do the proper cleansing method or their prayers will not be accepted
Organised by Syed Azmi, the objective of the controversial programme is to help Malaysians familiarise themselves with dogs and overcome their fear of dogs. The event also hopes to essentially help erase the negative cultural stigma attached to dogs e.g. dogs are unclean, it’s illegal for Muslims to touch dogs, etc. However, it has been widely criticised despite its major success.
So, what do you think of the proposal of “Do Not Go Near Dogs” campaign? Do you think it’s necessary to do it? Let us know in the comments box below.
(Source)