Answered by: Maulana Muddasser Dhedhy
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
Someone told me recently that lobsters and crayfish fall under the ikhtilaaf of prawns. Hence, it is permissible to consume them according to one qawl of the mazhab. Any tahqeeq on this?
Answer:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh
As you have noted, there is a difference of opinion in the Hanafi madhab about the consumption of prawns. Some scholars state that it is permissible to eat them whereas other scholars say that it is makrooh tahreemi (i.e. prohibited).
If lobsters can be classified as ‘big prawns’ then the same difference of opinion will apply to them. However, if they cannot be classified as ‘big prawns’ then their consumption will be impermissible.
As for crayfish, some scholars in the Hanafi madhab have classified them as fish which would make their consumption permissible. Others deem them to not be fish in which case their consumption will be impermissibe[1]
Only Allah Ta’ala knows best.
Written by Maulana Muddasser Dhedhy
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham