Question:

Salaamalaikum wrb hazrat,
I had one simple question. What among these are halal/makrooh/haram. Can you please breifly mention how our beloved Prophet explained what is halal/haram from the sea ?
1. Shrimps
2. Crab
3. Lobster
jazaakAllah hu khair

Answer:

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

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

From the creatures of the sea, only fish is Halal. Any other seafood besides fish is Haram.[1]

In the Quran, Allah Ta’ala states that Maytah (Animal that dies without Islamic slaughter) is Haram. Consider the following verse:

حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ (سورة المائدة، رقم الاية 3)

Maytah has been prohibited upon you. (Al-Maaidah, Verse # 3)

From this general prohibition, two Maytahs are excluded through the following Hadith of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam:

أُحِلَّتْ لَنَا مَيْتَتَانِ… فَأَمَّا الْمَيْتَتَانِ: فَالْحُوتُ وَالْجَرَادُ (مسند أحمد، رقم الحديث 5723، الرسالة)

Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam said, “Two Maytahs have been made permissible for us….. The two Maytahs are: Fish and Locust. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith # 5723)

Hence, the Fuqaha have classified fish as the only Halal sea creature for consumption.[2]

The answers to your queries are as follows:

1. There is a difference of opinion amongst competent scholars with regards to the permissibility of shrimp. Those who consider it to be a fish are of the view that it is permissible to consume. Those who do not consider it a fish consider it to be impermissible for consumption. In any case, it is the demand of precaution that one abstains from consuming shrimp.[3]

2. Crab is not a fish and hence it is impermissible to consume.

3. Lobster is not a fish and hence it is impermissible to consume.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

(Mufti) Abdul Azeem bin Abdur Rahman

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[1]  (وَلَا) يَحِلُّ (حَيَوَانٌ مَائِيٌّ إلَّا السَّمَكُ) (الدر المختار مع رد المحتار، ج 6، ص 306، سعيد)

فتاوى رحيمية، ج 10، ص 77، دار الإشاعت

[2]  قاموس الفقه، ج 2، ص 289، زمزم

[3]  فتاوى محمودية، ج 18، ص 216-217، فاروقية