Are Sharks halaal?
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:
dear sir,
asak
in this q&a
issue u told all the animal of the sea water is halal, i want to know
about sea animals like frogs (maindak), snakes, sharks, crocodile, seal, sea
horse etc. etc. is this halal, if its hallal, please tell me about shark, it is
eating humanbeings also, i never heared b4 that maindak eaten by any human
beings. please reply all these quires
awaiting ur reply
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Answer:
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.
In determining whether a thing
is halaal or haraam, the principle or
‘usool’ in Shariah is that unless the thing is found in the list of the
haraam, it will be considered halaal
for the believers. Frogs, snakes,
sharks, crocodiles, seals,
and sea-horses are not found in the list of haraam foods; therefore they will be considered halaal for
the believers.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 16 Surah Nahl verse 14:It is He (Allah) Who has subjected the sea
to your service so that you may get fresh flesh from it to eat and bring out of
it articles of ornaments, which you
wear.
Abu Hurairah
(r.a.) related that a man asked the
Messenger of Allah (saws), "O Messenger of Allah, we sail on the ocean and
we carry only a little water. If we use
it for ablution, we will have to go thirsty.
May we use sea water for ablution?" Said the Messenger of Allah (saws), "Its (the sea) water is pure and (even) its dead (animals)
are lawful (i.e., they can be eaten without any prescribed slaughtering)."
In light of the above Aayah of
the Quran, and the Sunnah of the
Messenger of Allah (saws), almost all
the scholars in Islam are unanimous in their opinion that all types of animal
that predominantly live in the sea are halaal for the believers.
Allah Says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verse 32 (part): Say: Who hath forbidden the beautiful
(gifts) of Allah which He hath produced for His servants, and the things clean and pure (which He hath
provided) for sustenance?
The nature of most types of fish
is such, that it will eat almost
anything which is edible. If the flesh
of human being is cut in small pieces and thrown in the sea, the flesh will be eaten by most of the
fishes. Thus, the permissibility of the haraam/halaal of a
fish does not depend on whether it eats human flesh or not; but its permissibility depends on the
guidance and teachings of Allah and His Messenger (saws). The Messenger of Allah (saws) has declared
that all types of food that is derived from the sea is halaal for the
believers, and since Sharks live in the
sea, they will be considered halaal as
food for the believers.
Your Question: i never heared b4
that maindak eaten by any human beings.
Although I personally have never
tried it myself, I understand that
frogs, especially frog-legs, are
considered a delicacy in many parts of the world, especially in South-East Asia.
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,
