Is Seafood Permissible
Question:
ASOA
There is so much out there these days with regards to sea food that one wonder if it's all halal.
I know the opinion is split on sea food. I am specifically interested about Squids, lobsters , pesters and scallops.
I actually once got some frozen tube squids from the supermarket mistaken for fish due to its packaging.
But the fact it's so easily available in a Muslim country made me think may be it is halal?
I would be very grateful to know your opinion about it.
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
The kind of meet or substance from animal that is forbidden to eat, based on clear verses of the Qur'an (2:173, 6:145, 16:115) are: dead animal, blood and pork. Accordingly there is no reason to believe that any seafood is impermissible by Shari'ah. (1)
Beside this any thing that human by nature does not consider appropriate to eat is also considered inappropriate in Islam, examples are meat of wild animals (carnivore). In my view this also includes meat of overly wild carnivore sea animals like shark. However there can be differences of opinion about this as the source of guidance here is not the Shari'ah but the human instinct.
So to directly answer your question, in my understanding Squids, lobsters , pesters and scallops are all permissible to eat.
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Footnote
1. There is an agreement between many scholars that based on the use of the word among Arabs, as it is also mentioned in hadith, dead sea animal is not necessarily considered as carrion and is therefore still permissible. In my understanding even here we need to be careful not to eat a dead sea animal that may have become impure. I therefore prefer the view of the Hanafies who consider the fish that dies by natural causes in the water to be impermissible to eat, or a very similar view by most of the Shi'a scholars who cosnider dying out of the water to be the condition for being halal.
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August 2015
ASOA
There is so much out there these days with regards to sea food that one wonder if it's all halal.
I know the opinion is split on sea food. I am specifically interested about Squids, lobsters , pesters and scallops.
I actually once got some frozen tube squids from the supermarket mistaken for fish due to its packaging.
But the fact it's so easily available in a Muslim country made me think may be it is halal?
I would be very grateful to know your opinion about it.
Answer:
Assalamu Alaykum,
The kind of meet or substance from animal that is forbidden to eat, based on clear verses of the Qur'an (2:173, 6:145, 16:115) are: dead animal, blood and pork. Accordingly there is no reason to believe that any seafood is impermissible by Shari'ah. (1)
Beside this any thing that human by nature does not consider appropriate to eat is also considered inappropriate in Islam, examples are meat of wild animals (carnivore). In my view this also includes meat of overly wild carnivore sea animals like shark. However there can be differences of opinion about this as the source of guidance here is not the Shari'ah but the human instinct.
So to directly answer your question, in my understanding Squids, lobsters , pesters and scallops are all permissible to eat.
------
Footnote
1. There is an agreement between many scholars that based on the use of the word among Arabs, as it is also mentioned in hadith, dead sea animal is not necessarily considered as carrion and is therefore still permissible. In my understanding even here we need to be careful not to eat a dead sea animal that may have become impure. I therefore prefer the view of the Hanafies who consider the fish that dies by natural causes in the water to be impermissible to eat, or a very similar view by most of the Shi'a scholars who cosnider dying out of the water to be the condition for being halal.
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August 2015
