Dressing up dogs with jubah, serban an insult to ulama - Mufti

The act of dressing up dogs with jubah and serban must be stopped as it is an insult to the Muslims, especially the ulama or Islamic religious scholars, Mufti of Selangor Datuk Mohamad Tamyes Abdul Wahid said.

He said pictures of dogs wearing jubah and serban had been widely circulated over the social media by irresponsible people and such an act was indeed aimed at insulting the Muslim community, especially the ulama, in the country.

"The ulama, whose valuable advise, words of wisdom and guidelines of the Islamic laws are sought after by the community, are now being badly insulted.

"This is really a disgusting agenda, a total disrespect for the ulama. They are showing protests by making these insulting gestures, but they didn't dare to come face to face with the ulama and debate about this issue."

He said this to reporters after attending the closing of the Multaqa' of Malaysian Fatwa Council Committee Members 2014 by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom here Thursday.

Mohamad Tamyes said Muslims could not touch dogs because the animal was never allowed to be kept as a pet, but instead, was only allowed to be kept for the purpose of hunting, guarding and locating items.

"If we keep it, cuddle it like a cat and take it into our houses, that is haram (forbidden) and Malaikat Rahmat (Angels) will not enter the house in which there is a dog," he added.