Fatwa ID: 06831
Answered by: Alimah Saleha Bukhari Islam
Question:
I would like to know the ruling of Hanafi scholars regarding oyster sauce. Is oyster sauce halal to use?
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Prohibitions of animals are generally stated in the Quran, some of which are explicit and others implicit. Those explicitly haram, there is no doubt about but those implicitly haram require further explanation and which can be derived from ahadith:
According to Hanafi Fiqh, aquatic creatures (which live underwater) that fall under the category of “fish” are lawful to consume and all other creatures are unlawful based on the following ahadith:
“A man asked the prophet (ﷺ): ‘O Messenger of Allah, we travel by sea and we take a little water with us, but if we use it for Wudu’, we will go thirsty. Can we perform Wudu’ with seawater?’ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Its water is a means of purification and its dead meat is permissible.'”[1] [An-Nasai’: no. 332]
«هُوَ الطَّهُورُ مَاؤُهُ الْحِلُّ مَيْتَتُه»
(Its water is pure and its dead are lawful).”
It was narrated from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“Two kinds of dead meat and two kinds of blood have been permitted to us. The two kinds of dead meat are fish and locusts, and the two kinds of blood are the liver and spleen.”[2] (Ibn Majah No 3314)
Then there is the question of what qualifies to be categorised as fish. Two exceptions to dead meat are referenced, one being fish and the other locusts. Because there is no blood in these two types of “dead meat”, fish and locusts, they are made permissible. What’s considered to be forbidden is the blood and so the (live) fish is similar in this sense. We interpret, the words of Allah:
{And unlawful for them are impure things} [Quran: A’araf 157]
Furthermore the prophet (ﷺ) forbade medication from frogs (an example of what is excluded from the category of fish). [3]
Based on the above evidence, what is categorised as other than fish is considered “impure” and “impermissible” and this includes oysters. Therefore oyster sauce is impermissible to use.
Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.
Written by Alimah Saleha Bukhari Islam
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
[1] سَأَلَ رَجُلٌ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّا نَرْكَبُ الْبَحْرَ وَنَحْمِلُ مَعَنَا الْقَلِيلَ مِنَ الْمَاءِ فَإِنْ تَوَضَّأْنَا بِهِ عَطِشْنَا أَفَنَتَوَضَّأُ مِنْ مَاءِ الْبَحْرِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ هُوَ الطَّهُورُ مَاؤُهُ الْحِلُّ مَيْتَتُهُ ”
[2] “أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ “ أُحِلَّتْ لَنَا مَيْتَتَانِ وَدَمَانِ فَأَمَّا الْمَيْتَتَانِ فَالْحُوتُ وَالْجَرَادُ وَأَمَّا الدَّمَانِ فَالْكَبِدُ وَالطِّحَالُ“
[3] وَقَوْلُهُ – عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ – فِي الْبَحْرِ «هُوَ الطَّهُورُ مَاؤُهُ وَالْحِلُّ مَيْتَتُهُ» وَلِأَنَّهُ لَا دَمَ فِي هَذِهِ الْأَشْيَاءِ إذْ الدَّمَوِيُّ لَا يَسْكُنُ الْمَاءَ وَالْمُحَرَّمُ هُوَ الدَّمُ فَأَشْبَهَ السَّمَكَ. قُلْنَا: قَوْله تَعَالَى {وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ} [الأعراف: ١٥٧] وَمَا سِوَى السَّمَكِ خَبِيثٌ. «وَنَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ – عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ – عَنْ دَوَاءٍ يُتَّخَذُ فِيهِ الضُّفْدَعُ» ، وَنَهَى عَنْ بَيْعِ السَّرَطَانِ وَالصَّيْدُ الْمَذْكُورُ فِيمَا تَلَا مَحْمُولٌ عَلَى الِاصْطِيَادِ وَهُوَ مُبَاحٌ فِيمَا لَا يَحِلُّ، وَالْمَيْتَةُ الْمَذْكُورَةُ فِيمَا رَوَى مَحْمُولَةٌ عَلَى السَّمَكِ وَهُوَ حَلَالٌ مُسْتَثْنًى مِنْ ذَلِكَ لِقَوْلِهِ – عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ – «أُحِلَّتْ لَنَا مَيْتَتَانِ وَدَمَانِ، أَمَّا الْمَيْتَتَانِ فَالسَّمَكُ وَالْجَرَادُ وَأَمَّا الدَّمَانِ فَالْكَبِدُ وَالطِّحَالُ» قَالَ (وَيُكْرَهُ أَكْلُ الطَّافِي مِنْهُ)
