Question:

Is Caviar permissible to consume?

Answer:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Caviar is the roe or eggs taken from freshly caught fish, sturgeon for true caviar.[1]

It is unanimously agreed upon by the Fuqaha (Jurists) that it is permissible to consume fish eggs.[2] Hence, it is permissible to consume caviar. However, if the caviar is prepared by mixing other ingredients, then the permissibility or otherwise depends upon the nature of the other ingredients.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

(Mufti) Abdul Azeem bin Abdur Rahman

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The Shar’a ruling herein given is based specifically on the question posed and should be read in conjunction with the question.

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[1] http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/caviar#Varieties Last accessed on Feb. 23, 2015

[2]  إِنْ خَرَجَ الْبَيْضُ مِنْ حَيَوَانٍ مَأْكُولٍ فِي حَال حَيَاتِهِ، أَوْ بَعْدَ تَذْكِيَتِهِ شَرْعًا، أَوْ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهِ، وَهُوَ مِمَّا لاَ يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى التَّذْكِيَةِ كَالسَّمَكِ، فَبَيْضُهُ مَأْكُولٌ إِجْمَاعًا، إِلاَّ إِذَا فَسَدَ. (الموسوعة الفقهية الكويتية، ج 5، ص 153،  وزارة الأوقاف والشئون الإسلامية – الكويت)