Is It Permissible to Consume Shellac-Coated Food?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
I wanted to ask if it can be clarified whether shellac is permissible for consumption in Hanafi madhab as there are different opinions when looking on the Internet.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health.
Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is permissible to use it in medicine and food items due to the following reasons:
- The actual reasoning for insects being impermissible is their filthiness and repulsiveness. If a small amount of secretion of insects is mixed and liquified into a mass amount, it is not considered repulsive now, customarily.
It has been reported by Salman (Allah be pleased with him) the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “any type of food or drink in which an insect that has no flowing blood falls and dies will be permissible to eat, drink and light up oil with.” [Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra; Dar al-Qutni, with Muhaqqiq ‘Ibn al-Humam verifying it not less than good (hasan)] - It is difficult to separate these insects from any food or medicine; therefore, it will be permissible based on widespread custom.
- Based on the analogy of secretion derived from the bee when it is taken out of its beehives, some bee particles are included in the extracted honey, and it is difficult to separate them.
- The impermissibility of insects is not based on textual evidence but due to filthiness and repulsiveness. However, due to the permissibility of insects according to Imam Malik (Allah have mercy on him), this issue is one of differed upon, and therefore it is permissible at the time of need.
- If a transformative change takes place, then one is allowed to use it internally too. [Rada al-Haq, Fatawa Darul-Ulum Zakariyya]
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
