The strollers on this photo* unconcernedly watch the scene of cruelty while the kids beat the poor dog to death. They do not seem to be willing to prevent the sadistic act; after all, the dog is “nejis/ najes”, impure in Islam, let it be!

For non-Muslims, it is impossible to find a suitable word to describe such a cruel act, unless one is familiar with the cultures where such animal abuses are practised. As divine purpose, killing or torturing animals is a vicious ritual still practised in some tribal cultures, but this is not the case in Islam. Animals like pigs and dogs are considered as “nejis” or impure. The Islamic legal tradition has developed several injunctions that warn Muslims against nejis dogs.

Based on Islamic laws, a nejis body or object is essentially unclean, what can never be ritually clean by any means. No Muslim is allowed to touch a nejis body or object, it is ritually sinful. Dogs, pigs and non-Muslims are ritually nejis. There are other laws and traditions suggesting even to kill, torture and humiliate them.

Psychologically, since cruelty to nejis animals is widely practiced or tolerated in Islam, it leads to development of violent antisocial behaviour, Kids who repeatedly torture animals can develop high levels of aggression toward people as well, which unfortunately can affect these Muslim kids to the extent of being the future jihadists or Islamic terrorists. This chain reaction cycle has roots in violence deep embodied in the culture of Islam. Such Muslim kids who are cruel to animals probably witness of suffering from early childhood.

We should not compare the Islamic colonisation of the infidel world with those of the European Western colonisation. The indigenous people of these regions not only were colonised, but also forced to convert to Islam; worse, they were forced to abandon their cultures and grow up specific habits of oppressed peoples or have selective reminiscences of their own culture. Contrary to Islam, Western colonialists, resorted to much less slavery, committed less violence and left indigenous cultures and tradition often unperturbed. Human relations with animals are hence adjustable to Islamic norms, not native culture. It is evidence that pet dog was common in ancient Persian before the invasion of Muslims and imposition of Islam in 7th.century.

The evidence indicates that Muslims’ hostility to these animals has been deliberately fostered in the first place in Iran, as a point of opposition to the old (pre-Islamic jihad conquest) faith (i.e., Zoroastrianism) there. No wonder the Islamic regime considers pet dogs un-Islamic and banned dogs in public. In a society where people are amputated, hanged, and stoned to death, this cruel act toward a nejis dog is considered as a warm up practice!

*Photo omitted