1. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims
  2. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

7 Questions

Is everything from the ocean considered Halal in Islam? If so, how can that be when there are so many creatures in the ocean that are deadly and poisonous when you eat them?
Amina Inloes

Eating poisonous food is not halal. The idea is that eating seafood is a blessing we are allowed to partake in (with the appropriate guidelines) without it being extremely complex and that it is one we may make use of and thank Allah for.
Is everything from the ocean considered Halal in Islam? If so, how can that be when there are so many creatures in the ocean that are deadly and poisonous when you eat them?
Seyed Ali Shobayri

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

Not everything that comes from the ocean is halal unlike what some other sects might claim.

In our jurisprudence for example, one cannot eat fish that doesn’t have scales. Jurists also differ as to the amount of scales which must be present on the fish. For example, some fuqaha say that it is only allowed to eat a fish if MOST of the body has scales, and others say that even a tiny amount of scales is sufficient. It should be noted that prawns are also halal. 

The above ruling are based on the ahadith such as the following: 

Imam Al-Baqir (peace be upon him) said: 

“Eat any fish that has scales, and do not eat what does not have scales."

[Al-Kulayni, Al-Kafi, Vol.6, p. 219]

May Allah grant you success
What is the ruling regarding cross contamination between Halal food, such as a steak, and any Haram seafood? Is it allowed to have the Halal food cooked from utensils that were used for the Haram seafood?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

Haraam sea food is not allowed to be eaten but it is not Najis, that is why, Halal food cooked in utensils that were used for Haraam seafood is allowed.

This is only for the non Halal seafood because it is not Najis, otherwise, every non Halal food like meat, chicken etc is Najis and utensils used in cooking it become Najis and must be made Taahir before we can use it in cooking.

It is good to mention that non Halal seafood includes every seafood except scaled fishes and prawns.

Wassalam.