What Sea Creatures Are Halal to Eat? A Guide to Islamic Rulings
Question: Is everything from the sea halal? Some people say that there are poisonous creatures in the sea. Is this true? If so, what is the ruling on eating them? Also, I have heard that crabs that live in water are halal to eat, but those that live in the desert are not. Can you provide guidance on this?
Answer: Regarding sea creatures, Allah says in the Quran: “Lawful to you is the game of the sea and its food” (Al-Ma’idah: 96). This indicates that any creature whose life is in the water and cannot live without it is halal. However, creatures that can live both in water and on land have different rulings.
Despite this, scholars have prohibited eating certain sea creatures due to their harmful and impure nature. Sheikh Sanaullah Amritsari (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned in his fatwa that based on the verse “and forbids them what is impure” (Al-A’raf: 157), scholars have declared crabs haram due to their harmful and impure nature. Allama Damiri in “Hayat al-Hayawan” writes that crabs are haram because they are impure and harmful. Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in “Fath al-Bari” states that crocodiles, sharks, sea snakes, scorpions, crabs, and turtles are excluded from the permissibility of sea game due to their impurity and the harm caused by their poison.
Sheikh Muhammad Salih Al-Munajjid mentioned some exceptions:
- Crocodiles are not permissible to eat.
- Frogs are not permissible to eat.
Some scholars have also excluded sea snakes, but if they live only in the sea, they are permissible to eat.
Sea dogs and turtles are permissible to eat after slaughtering because they live both on land and in the sea. Crabs are excluded from this, as they do not require slaughtering even if they live both on land and in the sea because they do not have blood.
Any creature that is harmful and causes damage is not permissible to eat, whether it is from the sea or not.
Sheikh Maqbool Ahmed Salafi (may Allah preserve him)
❪Jeddah Dawah Center – Al-Salamah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia❫
Sheikh Maqbool Ahmed Salafi (may Allah preserve him)