Is It Permissible To Eat Shrimp?

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Question: What is the ruling on shrimp and scampi? Are they permissible to consume?

Answer:

In the Hanafi school, it is permitted to eat shrimp according to the soundest position.

The basic criterion is that anything that the Arabs considered ‘fish’ (samak) at time of revelation is permitted. Other produce of the sea is not permitted in the Hanafi school.

Therefore, if “scampi” refers to a shrimp dish made with garlic butter, as in America, then it would be permitted to consume. If it refers to a lobster dish, as commonly done in Europe, it would not be permitted to consume.

A lot of times though, “scampi” served in restaurants is cooked with white wine and so consuming it in such a case would be impermissible. Generally, a person should inquire as to what’s in the recipe, given the abundant usage in the West of wine and pork in dishes.

Wasalam
Faraz Rabbani