QUESTION:

What do the scholars of the Din and muftis of the Sacred Law state regarding the following issue: Oyster sauce is available where we live, so how is it to eat this according to Hanafīs, what is the ruling of eating oysters and according to which Imām is this permissible?

Questioner: Fatimah from England

ANSWER:

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم
الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب

Oyster is known as a mollusc, seashell & pearl, and molluscs are soft & delicate sea creatures – they are included among the insects of the sea, and are of two types:

1 – Those that live on land – they are in the ruling of eating insects. Other than Imām Mālik, the three Imāms i.e. Imām Abū Hanīfah, Imām Shafi’ī & Imām Ahmad are of the opinion that this is Harām [unlawful].

2 – Those that live in the sea – they have no blood inside them, thus Hanafīs also regard this as impermissible. In other words, eating any type of oyster is Harām according to Hanafīs, and any sauce which is made from them is also of this same ruling. This is because all sea creatures other than fish are Harām.

Just as it is stated in Badā’i’ al-Sanā’i’,

“فَجَمِيعُ مَا فِي الْبَحْرِ مِنْ الْحَيَوَانِ مُحَرَّمُ الْأَكْلِ إلَّا السَّمَكَ خَاصَّةً فَإِنَّهُ يَحِلُّ أَكْلُهُ”

“Every sea creature is Harām other than fish, because eating this is Halāl.”

[Badā’i’ al-Sanā’i’, vol 5, pg 35]

In addition, Sayyidī Alāhadrat, the Imām of the Ahl al-Sunnah, Imām Ahmad Ridā Khān states in Fatāwā Ridawiyyah that it is Harām to eat oyster shells; there is no problem in eating from the spoon of an oyster shell.

[Fatāwā Ridawiyyah, vol 21, pg 664]

واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم
کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری

Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadiri
Translated by Haider Ali

Read the original Urdu answer here: [Q-ID0725] Is it permissible to eat oyster sauce?

Also see:

[Q-ID0354] Are Prawns, Crabs & Shellfish halal to eat?

[Q-ID0513] Are Octopus, Cuttlefish, Tattler and Shrimp halal to eat?