Source: Mehr News Agency, Tehran
All Iranian media have been forbidden to publish any advertisements about
pets or pet-related products.
The decision was made by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic
Guidance after it requested a fatwa on the issue from Ayatollah Nasser Makarem
Shirazi, announced the ministry's Advertisement and Information Dissemination
Office (AIDO) in a press release on Tuesday.
Based on his response, publishing any advertisement about keeping, buying, and
selling pets is forbidden, AIDO Director Alireza Karimi said
A dog in a pet clinic in Isfahan, Iran
In addition, ads promoting pet foods and shops selling pet
accessories, especially for cats and dogs, have been banned by the fatwa, he
added.
Karimi demanded that all the various media outlets decline to publish the
above-mentioned ads.
Based on shariah, a dog is essentially unclean.
Keeping pets, especially dogs and cats, has become remarkably common among
Iranians, particularly those living in metropolitan areas. Police have been
assigned the task of stopping people from walking in public or driving with
their pets.
Months ago, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi was asked a question about the cleanliness
of dogs in shariah. Such a question, called an istifta, is a request by someone
for a fatwa, a ruling based on shariah.
The istifta inquired why is a dog considered unclean under shariah despite a
lack of any references to dogs in the Holy Quran.
In his response to the istifta, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi emphasized that under
shariah, dogs are indeed considered unclean. He said the uncleanliness of dogs
is based upon riwayahs, reliable narrations handed down from the Prophet
Muhammad (S) and his household (AS).
He described the current Iranian inclination toward dogs as "blindly imitating
the West"; something that he believes will result in "evil outcomes."
"Many people in the West love their dogs more than their wives and children," he
stated.