Eating fish, whale, and shark

Assalam Alaikum 

Why only fish is halal among the animals from water? According to the rule “In essence everything is halal until proven haram”, shouldn’t all sea animals be halal?

Is whale and shark halal ?

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما

In reference to your question, the aforementioned principle is correct and applied throughout Shari’ah. However, this principle is applicable only in cases where there is no explicit text of prohibition established in Qur’an or hadith. In the case of animals, the Qur’an explicitly prohibits the consumption of animals which have not been slaughtered in accordance to Islamic practices. Consider the following verse of the Qur’an:

“Dead animals have been made unlawful for you.” 

(Maaidah: 3) 

The Qur’an used the word maytah which in the shari’ah terminology means any animal which has not been slaughtered in accordance to Islamic principles. Fish are not slaughtered, hence they will always be in the ruling of maytah. So according to the verse from the Qur’an, all animals from the sea are impermissible. However, there is a hadith which specifies that fish is an exception to the aforementioned verse. Consider the following:

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Two maytah (dead animals) have been made lawful for you, fish and locust.”

(Ibn Majah)

 The Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) made an exception of fish only from amongst the animals of the sea; therefore the Hanafi Scholars kept that restriction and have said that only fish is permissible from the sea. Consequently, whales and sharks would also be permissible to consume since they fall under the category of fish.

والله اعلم

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows best.

Mohammad Jafari

Approved by Mufti Husain Ahmad Madani