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:

asalamu alaikum

in your answer to are sharks halal u showed a hadith where the prophet said that everything in the sea is pure,allowed but i heard that the prophet (saw) also said that your not allowed to eat predators is this true or false.

jazakallah 

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Answer:

Sharks are predators

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.435B Narrated by Az Zuhri

The Prophet (saws) prohibited the eating of beasts having fangs.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) indeed declared haraam for the believers to consume the meat of the predators or beasts who have fangs; but that is only for the beasts and animals of the land, eg. Lions, tigers, cheetahs, etc.

The ruling for the animals of the seas is absolutely different from the ruling of the land animals; for the Messenger of Allah (saws) declared all sea-animals halaal without any restrictions whatsoever.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 83 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

A man asked the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him): “O 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 (even) 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.

Besides, almost all the fish in the sea are predators, where big fish eat small fish! It is not that Sharks alone are predators or eat human flesh; even if we were to cut a human being into small pieces and throw the pieces in the sea, most of the fishes would eat of the human flesh! Thus the criteria for predators with fangs does not apply for the sea-based animals.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan