The circumstances in which the Shari'ah permits keeping dogs

Question:
May Allah reward you with good and do you well. Is keeping dogs in rural homes forbidden or permissible? And if a person keeps one, what should he do? Please guide us on these matters. May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that the angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or an image. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not permit keeping dogs except for three circumstances.
The first is guarding: guarding sheep, or rather guarding livestock, or guarding crops, or for hunting. Keeping dogs for hunting means trained dogs used for hunting. For these three purposes, it is permissible to keep a dog: guarding livestock, guarding crops, and hunting with a trained dog.
As for one who keeps dogs for anything else, this is forbidden. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that this reduces his reward by one qirat every day. The angels do not enter a house that shelters a dog. What is the state of a person into whose house the angels of mercy do not enter? As for what some imitators of the West and imitators of the disbelievers do by keeping dogs in their houses or in their cars, this is first a disobedience to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) by keeping dogs for other than what the dispensation came for. Second, it is imitating the disbelievers, and the Prophet said: Third, this harms health because these dogs carry diseases, and they may be serious diseases. Yes.