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1254 Is lobster Halal?
In the name of Allah the most Beneficent and Merciful.

All seafood EXCEPT fish is not permissible and therefore Haram to eat (Durr-e-Mukhtar). Prawns are regarded as from the fish family and therefore permissible, however due to the difference of some Scholar`s views they are regarded as disliked and best avoided for people with Taqwa.

Lobsters are not regarded as fish and therefore Haram to eat.

The permissibility of fish is as follows:

Animals that are born and live in water are all Haram with the exception of fish. All types of fishes are Halal, with the exception of that which dies naturally in the sea without any external cause. However, if a fish was to die due to some external cause such as cold, heat, being thrown to the shore by the water, colliding with a stone, etc, then it would be Halal.

Allah Most High says: "Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine..." (Surah al-Ma`idah, V: 53)

In the above verse, Allah Almighty forbade the meat of all dead animals without differentiating between sea-animals and land-animals. Thus, all sea-animals would also be included in this general prohibition. However, fish has been exempted from this general ruling due to the explicit mention of its permissibility by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace).

Sayyiduna Abd Allah ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him eternal peace) said: "Two types of dead meat and two types of blood have been made lawful for our consumption: The two dead meats are: fish and locust, and the two types of blood are: liver and spleen." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Musnad Ahmad and Sunan Ibn Majah)

Moreover, there is no mention in the Sunnah literature that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) or his Companions (Allah be pleased with them all) ever consumed the meat of a sea-animal besides the fish, hence if it was permitted, it would have at least been consumed once in order to show its permissibility. (Dars Tirmidhi, 1/280)

As far as the fish which dies naturally in the sea without an external cause (samak al-tafi) is concerned, Sayyiduna Jabir ibn Abd Allah (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: "What the sea throws up and is left by the tide you may eat, but what dies in the sea and floats you must not eat." (Sunan Abu Dawud, no: 3809 & Sunan Ibn Majah)

Sayyiduna Ali (Allah be pleased with him) forbade the selling of naturally dead fish (floating fish) in the markets. (Bada`i al-Sana`i, 5/36 and al-Ikhtiyar)

In light of the above, all sea-creatures are Haram except for fish. It will be permitted to eat a fish even without slaughtering it according to the rules of Shariah. However, a fish that dies naturally without an external cause and begins to float on the surface of the water (Samak al-Tafi) is also considered Haram. Of course Allah knows best.

(Answer provided by: Muhammad Salim Ghisa , Noor ul Islam Mosque) ,

(Answered By: Mowlana Mohammed Kalim)

(Verified by: Hafiz Mohammed Akhtar)
Category (Halal / Haram)
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