Eating Crabs
I have a question about eating crabs.
Is it halal according to hanafi rulings ?
Aadil Sunka, Malawi
بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب
All of the animals that inhabit the water and are not classified as fish are not ḥalāl to consume. A crab is an animal which inhabits the water but it is not classified as a fish therefore it is certainly forbidden to eat.
Imam Ahmad Rida Khan (may Allah have mercy upon him) states,
“In our Hanafi school, all aquatic creatures except fish are absolutely haram.”
[📕Fatawa Radawiyyah, vol. 20, pg. 337]
Similarly, Muftī ‘Amjad Alī ‘Aẓamī states in Bahār-e-Sharī`at:
“Only the fish are ḥalāl among aquatic animals” (Bahār-e-Sharī`at, Vol.15, pg. 326)
It is stated in Fatawa Qazi Khan very clearly:
فتاوی قاضي خان علی ہامش الہندیۃ :
ولا بأس بسائر أنواع السمک نحو الجریث والمارماہي ولا یؤکل ما في البحر سوی السمک وطیر الماء عندنا ۔
(۳/۳۵۷ ، کتاب الصید والذبائح)
“There is no objection to eating all other kinds of fish, such as the jarīth (eel-like fish) and mārmāhī. According to us (the Hanafis), nothing from the sea is lawful to eat except fish and water birds.”
واللہ تعالٰی اعلم
کتبہ
Mufti Abdul Rehman Qadri
Limbe Jaame Masjid Malawi
9 Moharram 1448ھ