Is Shark Halal?

Eating shark is considered halal and permissible in Islam by all major schools of thought.

To come to this understanding, we explored evidence in the form of Quranic verses, ahadith, and scholarly opinions.

Quranic Verses Declaring the Permissibility of Seafood

The four major schools of Islamic thought consider the majority of seafood halal to be and permissible to eat, with the exception of animals that are poisonous or harmful to consume. The Hanafi school, however, considers fish (e.g catfish) to be halal, and the remainder of seafood to either be makruh (such as crabs) or haram to eat.

The Quranic verse referred to by the scholars is from sūrat l-māidah:

“Lawful to you is the pursuit of water-game (fishing) and its use for food, for the benefit of yourselves and those who travel…”
(Surah al-Ma’ida, V: 96)

Hanafi Mujtahids consider this verse to be applicable to fish only, whereas the remaining major schools of thought believe it applies to all seafood. Since sharks are a type of fish, they are considered halal and permissible to eat by all scholars, including Hanafi scholars.

Scholarly Opinion and Ahadith Confirming the Permissibility of Shark

Shaykh Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam of Darul Iftaa responded to the question, “Is it Permissible to eat sharks? Aren’t man-eating animals Haram?”, with the following (source):

“In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,

The answer given earlier is correct indeed and something that is agreed upon by all four Sunni schools of Islamic law. All the four major Sunni Madhabs are in agreement that consuming all types of fish is without doubt Halal, due to the explicit mention of this in the Qur’an and Sunnah.

The permissibility of eating all types of fish without the need of carrying out the Islamic method of slaughter is a special dispensation given to us by Allah Most High, the All-Wise and All-Knowing.”

Shaykh Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa

The mufti proceeded to cite the Quranic verse we covered in the previous section, alongside some ahadith, in his response (source). This includes the narration:

Sayyiduna Jabir (Allah be pleased with him) says:

“We set out in the army of al-Khabt and Abu Ubayda (Allah be pleased with him) 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, no: 4104)

This narration confirms that the gigantic Anbar fish was halal to consume. Scholars use this and similar narrations to confirm that large fish such as sharks and whales are indeed halal to consume.

Final Word

Sound Islamic sources lead us to the understanding that shark is halal and permissible to eat, just as all other non-poisonous fish that are not harmful to consume are.

Curious about other fish? Learn more about whether Tuna, Shrimp, crab are considered halal or not.