WHEN MUSLIMS CARE FOR DOGS.. (PART 1)

In a country where Muslims abhor dogs for religious reasons, one Muslim couple have bucked that belief to rescue and care for stray and abandoned dogs.

They are from Malaysia, an Islamic country, known for her mistreatment for dogs - most Muslims there detest dogs and are intolerant of Muslims having dogs. The nation's city councils too, dispose stray dogs in a most cruel way as shown in the video caught by a civilian below.

That video sparked outrage among dog lovers, predominantly non Muslims in the country. Then, the story of a Muslim couple who were rescuing stray dogs for more than 2 decades cropped up into the Malaysian media and despite the outrage among the Muslims in the country and even from the state Islamic Department pressuring them to vacate the land where the shelter is located, they remain steadfast to their cause.

Pak Mie with some of his furry kids. He refuses to part with any of his dogs and says that spaying will solve the problem of stray dogs.

From their waking hour to the minute they finally retire to bed, the couple, widely known as Pak Mie and Mak Intan devote almost every second of their time to care for their some 800 "furry kids" at the Pak Mie Animal Shelter in the rice bowl state in Malaysia.

Despite the workload, the couple have no army of workers to help them run the makeshift animal shelter. Only their grandson and a helper assist them.

"We have been doing this for more than 20 years. The job is hard as it is not a nine-to-five job. We do not close up at the end of the day, go home, put our legs up and watch television. We skip meals and lose sleep.

"But we keep going simply because we have compassion. The ability to feel compassion, even towards a sick stray dog, is important," Pak Mie or Muhammad Azmi Ismail said.

Despite their work with strays, the 56-year-old and his wife, Mak Intan or Halijah Idris, have seen and heard their fair share of condemnation and criticism from others, who cannot accept their affection towards dogs.

The former contractor said even his own siblings could not stand him because he uses his money to feed dogs, something that brought no profit or benefit.

"People have said all sorts of things. They said my wife and I will suffer until we die because we care for dogs. So I quit my contractor job and Mak Intan took her pension 23 years ago because we wanted to see how far their words would come true. We refrained from asking our relatives for help. Fortunately, things have ways of taking care of themselves," Pak Mie said of his 66-year-old wife who is an army pensioner.

When they began taking in strays, they had scant money to feed the animals and nurse the sick ones. They rented a place to put the sick ones before they eventually built their makeshift shelter.

"For food, Mak Intan and I could eat bread. For the dogs, we needed more. So I went to a Chinese chicken rice shop to talk to the boss, who agreed to let me have all the leftover rice and meat daily. Another left expired sardine cans for us. "But Muslim food outlets will sooner throw the leftovers into rubbish bins rather than let me have them. Until today, I am still trying to find out why some Muslims look at dogs with such contempt, as if they are worse than the devil," he said.

Mak Intan will stay up all night to nurse an ill dog. Pak Mie said many people, including those from the state religious council, had gone to see him about his dog-saving work but he never gave in or gave up.

"I asked them one question. Show me where in the Hadith (Hadiths and Sunnahs are exegesis to the Quran, penned down hundreds of years after Prophet Muhammad's demise by Islamic clerics) says touching, feeding and giving medicine to a dog and even sharing a bed with the animal are sins. If they are, I want to know which Hadith says so."

"God gave us a mind to think for ourselves and do what is right, and of all the millions of creatures on earth, the Quran mentions dogs several times. Not camels, goats or any other animal," he said, referring to an example that Allah forgave a prostitute when she drew water from a well for a thirsty dog.

"God gave us a mind to think for ourselves and do what is right, and of all the millions of creatures on earth, the Quran mentions dogs several times. Not camels, goats or any other animal," he said, referring to references in the Quran to dogs, including one permitting believers to consume animal flesh killed by hunting dogs.

"If a starving dog looks at you when you eat, do you throw stones at it or do you give it some food? Remember we are given minds to think."

Apart from verbal abuses, the couple also face accusations and slander with some people questioning the way he runs his shelter and accusing him of pocketing the donations he had received from well-wishers.

He said some people have claimed that he gets US$85,000 a month from international donors and he was "thankful" that people thought he was rich."

One is forced to think that those who spread such malicious lies would go to heaven and Pak Mie and Mak Intan would go to hell for giving hapless and voiceless animals a new lease of life.

"I am a millionaire now then. Why would I be doing this still if I am now so rich? I can just pay other people to care for the dogs. Mak Intan and I can go on holidays. This is one of the reasons I never wanted publicity for the shelter. People will start talking. When we started, we tried to keep things quiet because a Muslim couple rescuing and adopting dogs can become an issue. I never gave interviews to the media until last year when the local council wanted to confiscate my dogs," he said, adding that he hoped his critics would lodge police reports against him so he can open his accounts for investigation.

Read Part 2 here: When Muslims care for dogs.. (Part 2)

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