Actually dogs were a part of the Arab life before Islam and hadith came along. Through my extensive reading on the subject it would appear that in all likely hood an outbreak of rabies occured that caused people to fear dogs. Better to be safe then sorry and harm society by having dogs in an age when vaccines were unavailable…so forbid the owning of dogs…except for certain circumstances. There is no mention of owning dogs being forbidden in the Quran…while pigs are mentioned as being forbidden to eat…so it would appear that it would be plausible that the forbidden ayat would be there…if it was actually forbidden by God…and not just something Arabs accepted over time.

Now days we have soap and water…anti bacterial soaps…vaccines etc that protect society from potential harm from dogs and cats…so the original reason to forbid ownership..really doesnt apply any more…and like slavery…can die out and be forgotten.

But I’m sure some of you must know that in Islam, it is not allowed to have dogs unless there’s a reason – like a guard dog or one on a farm. The different schools of law may be slightly different, but for most Muslims, having a dog touch you (especially its saliva or wet fur) is a problem – you have to thoroughly wash those clothes or dishes or whatever it touches. And there are hadiths which prohibit buying and selling cats and/or dogs. (Although having a pet cat is no problem, as long as it’s not mistreated.)

Until recently, it was rare to see people walking around with pet dogs in this region. The fact is that most Muslims don’t want that a dog touching them, and it’s a major annoyance. (In fact, before I was ever a Muslim, I hated that, simply because I’ve never been fond of dogs.)

Of course, Islam doesn’t allow abusing animals in any way; there are hadiths about people getting Paradise for helping animals, and others being condemned to Hell for mistreating them.

Peggy — yes; women do ride here. They ride on private farms, estates as well as a few riding schools. And no, they do not cover per se when riding. Most women I know (Saudi and non-Saudi) ride as any woman in the west, uncovered, hair flowing or maybe tucked up in a hat. However there are a few women who do choose to ride wearing a hijjab but not niqab (hijjab being the hair is covered whereas a niqab only the eyes are visible).