Question 107
Please explain the position of the Ḥanafī school with regards to the permissibility of eating prawns and shrimp. Is it correct that the worship of the one who eats one morsel of ḥarām is not accepted for forty days?
Answer
There is a difference of opinion in relation to prawn as to whether it is fish or not. Therefore, one should avoid consuming prawns out of caution. According to the Ḥanafī school, fish is the only permissible aquatic creature. All other aquatic creatures are ḥarām. Shrimp is not a type of fish and therefore it is ḥarām. Therefore shrimp is ḥarām.
It is stated in Al-Hidāyah, kitāb al-dhabā’iḥ, faṣl fīmā yaḥillu akluhū wa mā lā yaḥillu,
ولا يؤكل من حيوان الماء إلا السمك
“Only fish will be eaten from the aquatic creatures.”
It is stated in Majma’ Al-Anhur,
(ولا يؤكل من حيوان الماء)
وهو الذي يكون مثواه وعيشه في الماء عندنا لقوله تعالى {ويحرم عليهم الخبائث} [الأعراف: ١٥٧] (إلا السمك بأنواعه) غير الطافي
وما سوى السمك خبيث
“(And will not be eaten from the aquatic creatures) It is the creature whose abode and life is in water according to us due to the Statement of Allah, the Exalted,
وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَـبٰۗىِٕثَ
“And Allah prohibits the foul for them.” (Sūrah Al-Aʿrāf 7:157)
(except for fish with its types). Otherwise the fish that is floating. Whatever is besides fish is impure.”
It is stated in Al-Fatāwa Al-Riḍawiyyah, Volume 21, Page 656,
“There is a difference of opinion in relation to prawns as to whether they are a type of fish or not. If they are fish then they are halal. Otherwise it is haram. For this reason it is more cautious to avoid it. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.”
It is stated in Al-Fatāwā Al-Riḍawiyyah, Volume 5, Page 113,
“Al-Ṭabarānī narrated with a sanad (chain) that is hasan from Sā’ib Ibn Yazīd (Allah be pleased with him) that Allah’s Messenger said,
من شرب مسكرا ما كان لم تقبل له صلاة أربعين يوما
“Whoever consumes any type of intoxicant, forty days of his Ṣalāh will not be accepted.”
However, warnings are all restricted to the Will of Allah;
وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُوْنَ ذٰلِكَ لِمَنْ يَّشَاۗءُ
“And Allah forgives anything lower than it to whomever He wills.”
Al-Imām Aḥmad Riḍā Khān furthermore stated in Al-Fatāwā Al-Riḍawiyyah,
“There is no doubt in regards to the validity of Ṣalāh and the farḍ (obligation) being fulfilled. As for acceptance, in the position of justice, the great condition of it is;
اِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللّٰهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِيْنَ
“Allah accepts only from the pious.” (Al-Fatāwā Al-Riḍawiyyah, Volume 5, Page 113)
It is stated in Mirqāh Al-Mafatīḥ Sharḥ Mishkāh Al-Maṣābiḥ (Kitāb Al-Hudū’, bāb bayān al-khamr wa waʿīd shāribihā),
أي لم يجد لذة المناجاة التي هي مخ العبادات ولا الحضور الذي هو روحها فلم يقع عند الله بمكان وإن سقط مطالبة فرض الوقت
i.e. he does not attain the pleasure of the supplications which is the essence of worship nor the presence which is the soul of worship. It does not occur in the Court of Allah in status even if the command pertaining to the farḍ of the time drops.”
والله تعالى أعلم وعلمه أتم وأحكم
Allah, the Exalted, knows best and His Knowledge is Most Complete and Sublime
Written by: Shaykh Omar Khan (May Allah preserve him)
Verified by: Mufti Shamsulhuda Khan (May Allah preserve him)
