Afghanistan has been in the news my entire life. And despite that, I know very little about it. I know even less about its dogs.
So when Pet Travel Tuesday coincided with the month of Ramadan, I decided to review a book about a man who walked across Afghanistan with a dog. What could be better than that?
You can read my review of The Places In Between
But if you want to test your knowledge about dogs in Afghanistan culture, take a short quiz.
[crowdsignal type=”iframe” survey=”976E09AB92A99534″ height=”auto” domain=”something-wagging” id=”what-do-you-know-about-dogs-in-afghanistan”]How did you do?
Your Turn: Afghanistan is a very misunderstood country. And its main religion, Islam, is one of the most misunderstood religions in the world (along with Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Zoroastriansim). Do you have any strong impressions of this country? Or its dogs?
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I did terribly on the quiz!
I do remember, years ago, when I lived in an apartment, it had a pool. The life guard one summer was a young Afghan man. I would walk my dog outside the pool area in the grass. He asked me where I kept my dog and was quite repulsed when I said he lived in my apartment. He said dogs were dirty creatures and had no place in a human’s home. Needless to say, we weren’t going to find any common ground on that topic!
It was hard, wasn’t it? But I hope you learned something new just like I did. 🙂
The place of dogs in Islam is frequently debated. Some people interpret the Hadith (commentary on scriptures) to believe that dogs are unclean and should not live in people’s homes. Other Muslims cite texts where Muhammad talked about showing kindness to all creatures and a story about a faithful dog who guarded the entrance of a cave for 300 years to justify having dogs themselves.
It reminds me of Christians. Some claim that scriptures tell people to care for and protect the environment as God’s creation. Others claim that humans have dominion over the earth and there’s no point in protecting it since it will be destroyed in the end times anyway. Gotta love interpretations.
I’ve also met people like your apartment’s life guard who avoided dogs. But I also remember a Turkish airline attendant who couldn’t stop petting Honey at a hotel. I will say that the dogs in the book I reviewed were not treated very well.
Through sheer luck, I scored 80%. (Apparently, I really wanted nomads to keep puppies under their clothing for warmth…)
I don’t really have a strong impression of the country or its dogs, although I have a friend working there right now so I will be interested to hear what she has to say when she returns to the U.S. Absolutely fascinating stuff… I’m off to read more!
Well of course you wanted nomads to keep puppies under their clothing. Doesn’t everyone? 🙂
We have been to some of the Stans but not to Afghanistan. Fascinating part of the world and very mis-represented. Have a terrific Tuesday.
Best wishes Molly
I also missed just one. Koochee should have been a red flag, but I fell for it.
My impression of Afghanistan and their treatment of dogs is totally negative based on American soldiers who fell in love with a dog over there and moved heaven and earth to reunite with them because of the treatment the dog would receive when they left.
After reading The Places in Between, I don’t believe anyone in Afghanistan is living a very good life. Not the dogs. Not the women. Not the aid workers. Not the foreign troops. And not even the men at the center of life there.
I hope to someday read a much happier account of the life and culture there.
I got one right. But the good news is I didn’t get them ALL wrong.
My impression of Afghanistan and their treatment of dogs is the same as Jan’s. Knowing people who have been stationed over there I have some knowledge of the area. I think Islam is misunderstood because most of what Americans hear are of the radical ones.
Thanks for playing, Jodi. 🙂
And no, I wouldn’t want to be a dog in Afghanistan. But I wouldn’t want to be a woman there either. Nor would I want to be a man.
Hopefully one day it will see peace.
I got 60%…the first 3 right and the last 2 wrong…mostly good luck…interesting to learn a bit about a country so unfamiliar to me
Didn’t do too well. Thanks for the book review.
I got 80% but all my answers were guesses lol