My concept of halal and haram from the oceans and seas was that practically everything is halal except a few fish.
Mu' meneen Brothers and
Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa
Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
Is Shark and Alligator meat
halal?
Assalamalaikum Burhan.
May Allah bless you
and your collegues with the utmost reward from the selfless work and service
you all are providing to the fellow muslims. And May Allah also accept all our
prayers and dua's. Ameen.
I was reading the
response to a brother's question regarding the halal and haram edibles from the
oceans and seas. I am not from the bohra community. My concept of halal and
haram from the oceans and seas was that practically everything is halal except
a few fish. Like squids, sharks, octopus etc.
Are Sharks, Squids,
Octopus, and alligator meat halal?
Thanking you in
advance for your reply.W'Salam
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions,
comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Sea food Alligator
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May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world
and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble
efforts in the propagation of the Truth.
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and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our
humble and weak efforts, forgives us
our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of
the Hell Fire. Ameen.
Your
Question: My concept of halal and haram from the oceans and seas was that
practically everything is halal except a few fish. Like squids, sharks, octopus
etc.
Are
Sharks, Squids, Octopus, and alligator meat halal?
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 14:
It is He (Allah) Who
has subjected the sea to your service so that you may get fresh flesh from it
to eat and bring out of it articles of ornaments, which you wear.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 83 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah
A man asked the Apostle of Allah (peace be
upon him): Messenger of Allah, we travel on the sea and take a small quantity of
water with us. If we use this for ablution, we would suffer from thirst. Can we
perform ablution with sea water? The Messenger (peace be upon him) replied: Its water is pure and what dies in it is
lawful food.
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 5.648 Narrated by Jabir
We set out in the army of Al-Khabt and Abu
Ubaida was the commander of the troops. We were struck with severe hunger and the
sea threw out a dead fish the like of which we had never seen, and it was
called Al-'Anbar. We ate of it for half
a month. Abu Ubaida took (and fixed) one of its bones and a rider passed
underneath it (without touching it). (Jabir added:) Abu 'Ubaida said (to us),
"Eat (of that fish)." When
we arrived at Medina, we informed the Prophet (saws) about that, and he said,
"Eat, for it is food Allah has brought out for you, and feed us if you
have some of it." So some of them
gave him (of that fish) and he (saws) ate it.
Whenever one wishes to determine whether an animal is
permissible or impermissible for the believers to consume, the principle law is
look in the list of what has been declared haraam by Allah and His Messenger
(saws); and if one does not find the name of the animal in the haraam list, its
flesh would be presumed halaal for the believers.
In light of the above clear guidance of the Messenger of
Allah (saws), every animal that predominantly lives in the sea would be
absolutely halaal for the believers to consume, including the flesh of animals
like sharks, squids, octopus, etc.
When it comes to animals (reptiles) which have the ability
to live on land as well as in water, the scholars have a difference of opinion
regarding its permissibility. The
majority of the scholars opine that if the reptile predominantly lives in water,
then it would be considered an animal of the sea and thus its flesh would be
halaal for the believers to consume.
And if the animal predominantly lives on land, then the laws of the land
animals would be applied to it to determine its permissibility.
Thus because the alligator predominantly lives in water,
it will be considered an animal of the sea and its food would be halaal for the
believers to consume, if they wish to do so.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your brother and sincere well
wisher in Islam,
Burhan