Are Fish Which Have Been Fed Haram Food Unlawful to Eat?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

Are fish which have been fed haram food unlawful to eat?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

No, fish which have been fed that which is legally filthy does not make them unlawful to eat. And the same applies to fish which live in a filthy body of water, namely, that they can be eaten.

Generally, it is disliked to eat animals which consume filth to the point that they have a palpable, filthy odour. If this occurs to a fish, the same ruling would appear to apply.

[Hamawi, Ghamz ‘Uyun al-Basa’ir (2.459); Shurunbulali, Ghunyat Dhawi al-Ahkam; Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar ‘ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar (5.194)]

Please also see: Is It Permissible to Eat Shark Meat? and: Is It Permissible to Eat Raw Meat or Fish? and: What Animals Are Halal and Haram to Eat in the Hanafi School?

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.