My first beef with All American Muslim.

[HijabiLady]

I don't watch the show so I am coming in blind here but, a word about Muslim households and dogs. We are permitted to own dogs but they cannot live in the home. There is a hadith where Prophet Mohammed states angels will not enter into a house with graven images or dogs. Therefore we are not to have pictures of animated beings or keep dogs indoors.

Don't know if that adds or subtracts from this but this Shadia knew she could not live in a house with a dog before they married. She should've been very honest from the get-go. This marriage sounds doomed.

[Sinister Rouge]

So the guy converted to her religion, and then gave up his dog for her? He sounds like he really cares about her. I hope she steps up her game, cuz right now it doesn't sound like she deserves him. Also, poor doggy :(

[AtroposHeart]

I think she's lying to cover up Islamic law.

Quran forbids dogs as pets(unless for the blind) and say that angels won't enter houses wih dogs in them and says that their salvia is unclean.

(I've never seen the show)

She probably didn't mention it because of how attached Americans are to dogs, and didn't want to make Islam look bad, and I bet their of plenty of Americans who would lose any interest in becoming Muslim if they knew about the dog rule.

I was once told that Iraqi stray dogs are very attached to American soliders.

(I am not sure how true this is)

[violeta]

What bothered me even more was she seemed very insensitive about the whole thing. Her attitude was shitty and not very sympathetic. She seemed pretty cold to me.

I agree...I don't think this marriage will last.

[Sunnichick31]

I finally am getting to watch it!

First-I hate Shadia. She is insensitive about the dog, and also where there's a will, there's a way. Someone I know has a therepy dog and he has a room where he keeps the door close at all times so the dog can't get in therefor the room stays clean for prayer. Yea, it might not be too nice, but the dog could stay outside, or limited to certain areas of the house (ex, the dog stays in the basement or something.

Second-I hate Nina. OMG bitch, it's not that you can't open a club because you're a woman, it's cause you're in freaking DEARBORN!!! MUSLIM CAPITOL OF THE USA!!!! No one wants a club!!!!!!!

Third-I feel bad for Nawal! She seems so stressed and probably has post pardum. :( I can't even imagine having a baby before you're even married for a year. I mean, they didn't even have time to get used to being married before she got pregnant and had a baby. That's gotta be so tough. :( I can't imagine that at all.

ETA-I can't even stand to be in the same room as a dog (mostly because of a major phobia. get me in a room with a dog and I panic and start crying) but I couldn't watch this episode without crying. :( Poor Jeff. I hope Shadia knows that everyone who watches AAM pretty much hates her.

[Deesire]

I haven't seen this episode yet, but I won't let that stop me from piping in...

Up until now, it's Jeff, not Shadia, that I have found unsympathetic. I have just found him pretty distant and unlikeable. He said he would have converted to any religion to marry Shadia. Based on that statement, and his general attitude and demeanor (as well as other things he's said on the show), I do not believe he has any true religious belief. Maybe some vague notion about the existence of god. But not much beyond that. I don't think he was ever truly Christian (in the sense of having beliefs about Christ as saviour, as opposed to belonging to a Christian culture and family and not actively disagreeing with those dominant beliefs), any more than I truly believe he is Muslim now. I think Shadia's brother was bang on to be concerned about the truth of his conversion.

And now that I am hearing this about Shadia, my reaction is not so much one of sympathy toward Jeff for having converted and for now giving up his dog, as it is one of thinking Jeff is whipped and will do whatever Shadia wants and will come off as a whining martyr because of it.

Does anyone know what happened to the dog? (i.e. if it went to a pound, if it was adopted?) Or whether there were any efforts to find the dog an alternative home with a friend of Jeff's (or elsewhere) before getting rid of the dog?

[violeta]

Desiree: The dog went to some kind of dog sanctuary.

[Olivia]

While technically the belief dogs shouldn't be in the home is a Muslim thing, my Muslim friends have and adore their dogs (but they're Southeast Asian Muslims, and tend to be much less conservative than Arab Muslims -- my best friend was thrilled to find a less-Arab-influenced mosque to attend where she didn't feel judged for not wearing a head scarf).

Anyway, I thought that was terrible. And yeah, I find it hard to believe anyone with allergies severe enough to warrant getting rid of a pet wouldn't know that prior to moving in with the dog; it wasn't like she'd never spent time in his house or interacted with the dog. My husband is allergic to cats. Claritin makes our relationship work.

[Deesire]

Jeff and Shadia got the dog back! Jeff missed his dog way more than he realized he would and Shadia couldn't stand his moping anymore.

[Olivia]

I'm glad to hear that!

[sippin0nsunshine]

Newbie Here~

I don't think Shadia really was allergic to Wrigley. In the first episode about Ramadan (when they switched the football schedule around, episode 2 I think), When Jeff came home and was going through the Freezer, Shadia leaned down and petted (pet?) Wrigley and gave her food, saying something along the lines of the dog not having to fast.

I'm glad they got her back though.

[Maul the Koala]

I gave up my adorable, super affectionate cat when I got married because my husband is allergic. He's also allergic to dogs, so realistically, we are going to live a pet free life, sadly. But, I knew that before the "I dos", so it was something I chose and luckily my kitty is with my sister, so I still get to visit.

The crazy things you do for love...

Haha. One of my relatives is severely allergic to animals. The spouse said if the animals go, I go. Yeah... the animals stayed and out the allergy medicine came out, even though it only helps a little bit.

[valsa]

I'm glad they got the dog back. I have 5 cats and I wouldn't marry someone if I had to get rid of them for him or her (I say this as someone who is mildly allergic to cats and wakes up every morning with sludge filling my sinuses and back of my throat) While I don't think my animals are more important than people (for instance, I'd save my mom in a house fire before I'd save my cats), I do take my obligation to care for them very seriously.