Home Training

Suki is learning the paths around Ben Ami, beginning with the grocery store and the walk around the block. Later we will take longer hikes and introduce running free in the fields. Familiar paths now take on a new dimension when seen through the angle of working withn a guide dog - curbs, sidewalks, and driveways have to be properly nagivated so that Suki will learn them and not "cut corners."

Roee and I then walked out of the gate and approached the dreaded crossing at the hospital. Here cars zoom by on the highway and the stoplight barely gives a pedestrian time to decide it is time to cross before it turns red again. We crossed with me extending a hand out to warn drivers that I am crossing and to get their attention. It is a dangerous crossing and I hope there will soon be a beeping stoplight there for the benefit of anyone crossing to the hospital.

Speaking to a friend and client in Sachnin, Islam traditionally considers dogs unclean, but I explained to him that there is now a Fatwa - a Moslem legal jurisdiction - that a blind person can enter a mosque with a guide dog! My friend was extremely interested in this. Here is an article explaining the Fatwa, which was issued in Great Britain:

After months of work by The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), guide dog Vargo has become the first guide dog in the UK to enter a mosque after the Islamic Shari’ah Council issued a historic fatwa11 stating “a blind person, in the light of Shariah Law, will be allowed to keep a guide dog to help him and if required to take him to the mosque for his pr More..ayers2”.

In this momentous event today (on Wednesday 24 September), Vargo accompanied his 18-year-old owner Mahomed-Abraar Khatri to his local mosque in Leicester, seen as a massive step forward for other blind and partially sighted Muslims. Previously a guide dog has not been able to accompany its owner into a mosque as the Islamic faith recognises dogs as being used for guarding and hunting only. However Vargo – and other guide dogs – are working dogs and so necessary adjustments to encourage independent mobility are supported.

A specially constructed rest area has been set up in the entrance of the mosque for Vargo to stay in whilst Mahomed-Abraar is praying. Previously Mahomed-Abraar - who attends the RNIB College in Loughborough - had to be accompanied to the mosque by a sighted assistant.

Mahomed-Abraar and his father Gafar attended an event organised by Guide Dogs and MCB in November 2007 – held to increase awareness of how guide dogs help their owners and their high standards of grooming and cleanliness – to ask if Mahomed-Abraar could have a guide dog. Mahomed-Abraar was given the full support of local mosque leaders and the partnership qualified in June 2008; the fatwa allowing Vargo to enter the mosque was issued in September 2008.

Guide Dogs hopes the fatwa and Mahomed-Abraar and Vargo’s story will set a precedent, encouraging other blind and partially sighted Muslims to consider guide dog ownership. It is also hoped that mosque leaders both in the UK and internationally will now make similar adjustments to enable Muslim guide dog owners to enter their mosque.

Mohammad Shahid Raza, OBE, the Director of Imams and Mosques Council U.K and the Secretary of Muslim Law (Shariah) Council U.K who issued the fatwa commented:

Out of the 210 Israelis who now have guide dogs there is one person in the Moslem Arab sector in Um El Fahem, and there are no doubt many people in the Arab sector who could benefit from having a dog. My friend in Sachnin alone knows of several.