Why Eating Squid is Not Haram in Islam with 5 Clear Proofs
C.J Ahmed-07.04.2023
Squid are members of the phylum mollusca family of sea reatures and Islam ha ade all marine creature permissible to eat including squid.
The general confusion among some Muslims on whether octopus halal or not is due to various differing opinions and disagreements that have existed among scholars and schools of thought and the topic of whether crabs are halal has ended as an unnecessary issue.
The confusion among Muslims as to whether you can eat octopus is similar to eating crabs and this misunderstanding and confusion is a result of having a baseless view that eating certain sea creatures such as crabs is makrooh and I have heard people arguing that eating more than three or so crabs is haram and anything less is makrooh. This is what will happen when ignorance creeps into your mind and ignorance is dangerous because it is like a virus or bacteria that slowly feeds on your numb leg and you will never realize this until it is too late. In Islam, if there is a difference of opinion, Allah(Swt) tells us to refer to him and his messenger(Sal).
" If you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger (SAW), if you believe in Allah and on the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination".(Al-Quran-4:59)Below are the five reasons why eating squid is halal in Islam,
Reason number 1
Allah(Swt) says in the Quran,
"The game of the water and eating thereof are permitted to you as a provision for you and for those on a journey"(Al-Quran-5:96)
The above verse clearly says that animals that live in the water such as i n the sea is halal.
Ibn Abbas(Rali) explained the above verse as mentioned in Ibn kathir as "Sayduhu (lit. hunting, pursuit) refers to whatever is taken from it alive, and ta’aamuhu (lit. its food) means whatever is taken dead.”
This verse is clear proof that any animal that lives in the sea is halal and the octopus lives in the sea it falls under the explanation of the above chapter in the Quran. What needs to be understood is that Islam is a religion of ease. Allah(Swt) says in the Quran,
"Allah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you”
(Al-Quran-2:185)
Reason number 2
The other misunderstood argument among Muslims about eating octopus is have fangs and they fall into the category of animals have fangs. They quote the below hadith.
Abu Thalaba(Rali) narrated,
"The prophet(Sal) forbade the eating of the flesh of every wild beast having fangs"(Bukhari)
What is mentioned in the above hadith is about eating the flesh of wild predators like lions and tigers. Although octopuses eat meat, they do not have fa nds i n the first place and instead they possess beaks. There are several hadiths prohibiting the eating of animals with fangs but this is only limited to predators and not all animals.
Abu Thalabah (Rali) narrated,The prophet (Sal) forbidding the eating of all beast of prey with fangs"
(Sahih Muslim)
Abu Hurayrah (Rali) narrated,The prophet(Sal) as saying,"The eating of all fanged beasts of prey is unlawful".(Sahih Muslim)
Ana(Rali) narrated that the prophet(Sal) prohibited the eating of all fanged beasts of prey, and all the birds having talons."
(Sahih Muslim)
None of these hadith have anything to do with octopuses or sea animals. Squids are nor predatory animals and even for the sake of argument if we agree they are predatory animals, it is still halal to eat them because all animals in the sea are halal.
Reason number 3
Abu Hurayrah(Rali) narrated the prophet(Sal) was asked about sea water and he said, “Its water is purifying for ablution, and its dead animals are lawful to eat.”
(Tirmidhi-Graded Sahih by imam Tirmidhi)
The above authentic hadith closes the argument on whether you can eat octopuses or not and proves clearly that eating them is halal. The companions of the prophet(Sal) also had no difference of opinion. One example is below.Jabir(Rali) said,"We set out in the army of al-Khabt and Abu Ubayda (Rali) was the commander of the troops. We were struck with severe hunger and the sea threw out a dead fish the like of which we had never seen, and it was called al-Anbar. We ate of it for half a month. Abu Ubayda took (and fixed) one of its bones and a rider passed underneath it (without touching it). Abu Ubayda said (to us): "Eat (of that fish)." When we arrived at Madina, we informed the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) about what had happened, and he said: "Eat, for it is food Allah has brought out for you, and feed us if you have some of it." So some of them gave him (of that fish) and he ate it."
(Sahih Al Bukhari)
Reason number 4
One of the main reasons why some Muslims are of the view that eating crabs is haram is because of the blind following of madhhabs and madhhab imams. First of all, madhhabs are not a source of Islam and blind following the madhhabs is haram i n Islam . For example,imam Malik in Al Lubab p.533 v.7 and Hidayah p.442 v.4 said that all living creatures in the ocean are halal except for eels. This is only imam Malik's opinion and as a human being he made a mistake. Imam Malik said,
"Truly I am only a mortal: I make mistakes (sometimes) and I am correct (sometimes). Therefore, look into my opinions: all that agrees with the Book and the Sunnah, accept it; and all that does not agree with the Book and the Sunnah, ignore it."
(Ibn 'Abdul Barr in Jaami' Bayaan al-'Ilm (2/32), Ibn Hazm, quoting from the former in Usool al-Ahkaam (6/149), & similarly AlFulaani (p. 72))
Reason number 5
Muslims should not fall prey to the Shia arguments that octopus is haram.Among the deviant sects, the Shia are among the most deviated sects that forbid eating fish without scales and have gone against the Quran. The Shia argue that only a portion of the Quran has been given to mankind and the Shia imams are infallible hence what they say is what that needs to be followed. According to them, what Allah(Swt) says in the Quran is lesser in value compared to their imams. This is Kufr. I would like to ask them where the other parts of the Quran are there according to them and in which of these invisible parts of the Quran does it say that eating fish without scales is haram? The most authentic hadith book of the Shia mentions as follows
Imam Al-Baqir said,
"Eat any fish that has scales, and do not eat what does not have scales."
(Al-Kulayni, Al-Kafi, Vol.6, p. 219)
Muhammad bin Muslim asked Imam Baqir: "They bring us fish without scales (what should we do)?"
Imam Baqir replied: "Eat the fish that has scales and do not eat the fish that does not have scales?" Scales are the small, thin horny or bony plates protecting the skin of fish and reptiles, typically overlapping one another"
( Wasail al-Shi'ah, vol.16-hadith 3 and 7)
Ayatollah Khomeini is a well known heretic and he gave his fatwa that fish without scales is haram after a huge drama on whether sturgeon (a type of fish) had scales or not. His fatwa was published in the newspaper, Keyhan, no. 11,959, 6 September 1983-18.
The Shia ideology of not eating fish or sea creatures without scales is the same as what is in the Torah."But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you".
(Leviticus 11:10)
"Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you"
(Leviticus-11:12)Based on these verses, The Jews do not eat fish which do not have scales or fins and modern day Kosher is also based on this. It is clear that the Shia and the Jews do not eat fish which do not have scales or fins.
Squid are members of the phylum mollusca family of sea reatures and Islam ha ade all marine creature permissible to eat including squid.
The general confusion among some Muslims on whether octopus halal or not is due to various differing opinions and disagreements that have existed among scholars and schools of thought and the topic of whether crabs are halal has ended as an unnecessary issue.
The confusion among Muslims as to whether you can eat octopus is similar to eating crabs and this misunderstanding and confusion is a result of having a baseless view that eating certain sea creatures such as crabs is makrooh and I have heard people arguing that eating more than three or so crabs is haram and anything less is makrooh. This is what will happen when ignorance creeps into your mind and ignorance is dangerous because it is like a virus or bacteria that slowly feeds on your numb leg and you will never realize this until it is too late. In Islam, if there is a difference of opinion, Allah(Swt) tells us to refer to him and his messenger(Sal).
" If you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger (SAW), if you believe in Allah and on the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination".(Al-Quran-4:59)Below are the five reasons why eating squid is halal in Islam,
Reason number 1
Allah(Swt) says in the Quran,
"The game of the water and eating thereof are permitted to you as a provision for you and for those on a journey"(Al-Quran-5:96)
The above verse clearly says that animals that live in the water such as i n the sea is halal.
Ibn Abbas(Rali) explained the above verse as mentioned in Ibn kathir as "Sayduhu (lit. hunting, pursuit) refers to whatever is taken from it alive, and ta’aamuhu (lit. its food) means whatever is taken dead.”
This verse is clear proof that any animal that lives in the sea is halal and the octopus lives in the sea it falls under the explanation of the above chapter in the Quran. What needs to be understood is that Islam is a religion of ease. Allah(Swt) says in the Quran,
"Allah intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you”
(Al-Quran-2:185)
Reason number 2
The other misunderstood argument among Muslims about eating octopus is have fangs and they fall into the category of animals have fangs. They quote the below hadith.
Abu Thalaba(Rali) narrated,
"The prophet(Sal) forbade the eating of the flesh of every wild beast having fangs"(Bukhari)
What is mentioned in the above hadith is about eating the flesh of wild predators like lions and tigers. Although octopuses eat meat, they do not have fa nds i n the first place and instead they possess beaks. There are several hadiths prohibiting the eating of animals with fangs but this is only limited to predators and not all animals.
Abu Thalabah (Rali) narrated,The prophet (Sal) forbidding the eating of all beast of prey with fangs"
(Sahih Muslim)
Abu Hurayrah (Rali) narrated,The prophet(Sal) as saying,"The eating of all fanged beasts of prey is unlawful".(Sahih Muslim)
Ana(Rali) narrated that the prophet(Sal) prohibited the eating of all fanged beasts of prey, and all the birds having talons."
(Sahih Muslim)
None of these hadith have anything to do with octopuses or sea animals. Squids are nor predatory animals and even for the sake of argument if we agree they are predatory animals, it is still halal to eat them because all animals in the sea are halal.
Reason number 3
Abu Hurayrah(Rali) narrated the prophet(Sal) was asked about sea water and he said, “Its water is purifying for ablution, and its dead animals are lawful to eat.”
(Tirmidhi-Graded Sahih by imam Tirmidhi)
The above authentic hadith closes the argument on whether you can eat octopuses or not and proves clearly that eating them is halal. The companions of the prophet(Sal) also had no difference of opinion. One example is below.Jabir(Rali) said,"We set out in the army of al-Khabt and Abu Ubayda (Rali) was the commander of the troops. We were struck with severe hunger and the sea threw out a dead fish the like of which we had never seen, and it was called al-Anbar. We ate of it for half a month. Abu Ubayda took (and fixed) one of its bones and a rider passed underneath it (without touching it). Abu Ubayda said (to us): "Eat (of that fish)." When we arrived at Madina, we informed the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) about what had happened, and he said: "Eat, for it is food Allah has brought out for you, and feed us if you have some of it." So some of them gave him (of that fish) and he ate it."
(Sahih Al Bukhari)
Reason number 4
One of the main reasons why some Muslims are of the view that eating crabs is haram is because of the blind following of madhhabs and madhhab imams. First of all, madhhabs are not a source of Islam and blind following the madhhabs is haram i n Islam . For example,imam Malik in Al Lubab p.533 v.7 and Hidayah p.442 v.4 said that all living creatures in the ocean are halal except for eels. This is only imam Malik's opinion and as a human being he made a mistake. Imam Malik said,
"Truly I am only a mortal: I make mistakes (sometimes) and I am correct (sometimes). Therefore, look into my opinions: all that agrees with the Book and the Sunnah, accept it; and all that does not agree with the Book and the Sunnah, ignore it."
(Ibn 'Abdul Barr in Jaami' Bayaan al-'Ilm (2/32), Ibn Hazm, quoting from the former in Usool al-Ahkaam (6/149), & similarly AlFulaani (p. 72))
Reason number 5
Muslims should not fall prey to the Shia arguments that octopus is haram.Among the deviant sects, the Shia are among the most deviated sects that forbid eating fish without scales and have gone against the Quran. The Shia argue that only a portion of the Quran has been given to mankind and the Shia imams are infallible hence what they say is what that needs to be followed. According to them, what Allah(Swt) says in the Quran is lesser in value compared to their imams. This is Kufr. I would like to ask them where the other parts of the Quran are there according to them and in which of these invisible parts of the Quran does it say that eating fish without scales is haram? The most authentic hadith book of the Shia mentions as follows
Imam Al-Baqir said,
"Eat any fish that has scales, and do not eat what does not have scales."
(Al-Kulayni, Al-Kafi, Vol.6, p. 219)
Muhammad bin Muslim asked Imam Baqir: "They bring us fish without scales (what should we do)?"
Imam Baqir replied: "Eat the fish that has scales and do not eat the fish that does not have scales?" Scales are the small, thin horny or bony plates protecting the skin of fish and reptiles, typically overlapping one another"
( Wasail al-Shi'ah, vol.16-hadith 3 and 7)
Ayatollah Khomeini is a well known heretic and he gave his fatwa that fish without scales is haram after a huge drama on whether sturgeon (a type of fish) had scales or not. His fatwa was published in the newspaper, Keyhan, no. 11,959, 6 September 1983-18.
The Shia ideology of not eating fish or sea creatures without scales is the same as what is in the Torah."But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you".
(Leviticus 11:10)
"Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be regarded as unclean by you"
(Leviticus-11:12)Based on these verses, The Jews do not eat fish which do not have scales or fins and modern day Kosher is also based on this. It is clear that the Shia and the Jews do not eat fish which do not have scales or fins.