• Fajr: 05:54 AM
  • Maghrib: 07:48 PM
[email protected] (214) 778-1610

Ruling of shrimp, crab, and lobster

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]

 

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

 

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

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

(Mufti) Abdul Azeem bin Abdur Rahman

 

Disclaimer:

 

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

 

Darul Iftaa Texas bears no responsibility to any party who may or may not act on this answer and is being hereby exempted from loss or damage howsoever caused.

 

This answer may not be used as evidence in any Court of Law without prior written consent of Darul Iftaa Texas.

[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

Copyright 2022. Masjid Yaseen, Garland TX