Is crab Halaal?

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

You seek clarity on how can one declare the kalima halal according to the Shafi Mazhab or haram according to the Hanfi Mazhab. Please clarify what you mean as there is no issue of kalmia being halal or haram.

It is on the basis of this misunderstanding that you probably didn’t understand the ruling on the crab according to the different Mazahib. It is important that you understand that there are two types of rulings in Deen. Some rulings are clearly mentioned in the Quraan and Hadith and cannot be academically contested. [1] The second type of rulings are those that are not expressly mentioned in the Quraan or Hadith, and require guidance from the Mujtahids. The Mujtahids are those great Ulama who are experts in all fields of Shariah. They understand every aspect of the Quraan and Ahadith and have the expertise to deduce rulings from the Quraan and Ahadith.

Crab being halal or haram falls in the second category. According to the Hanafi Mazhab crab is haram while according to the Shafi Mazhab it is halal.

As Muqalids, (followers of a school of thought) we are bounded to following the rulings of the Mazhab we are following. Furthermore, we respect the differences of other Mazhabs and tolerate them. You may refer to the following links for more details on the issue of Taqleed.

http://www.askimam.org/public/question_detail/17099

http://zakir.me.uk/salaf/LegalStatusOfFollowingAMadhab.pdf

http://www.al-miftah.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Who-are-the-Blind-Followers.pdf

According to the Hanafi Madhab, all water borne creatures besides fish are impermissible to consume. [3] You may refer to the following link for more details. http://www.askimam.org/public/question_detail/19531

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Ismail Dawoodjee

Student Darul Iftaa
Zambia

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

www.daruliftaa.net