Is seafood like prawns, crabs, etc., haram?

Question

I heard it from a friend that crabs and prawns are haram. But I thought that the seafood is Halal.

So can any one put light on this question of mine because I don't think it is Haram.

Is seafood like prawns, crabs, etc., haram?

Answer 1

Sea food is Halal. And my reasons are below:

Allah says in the Holy Quran Surah Nahl verse 14:

It is He (Allah) Who has subjected the sea to your service so that you may get fresh flesh from it to eat and bring out of it articles of ornaments, which you wear. [Qur'an 16:14]

There is also a hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah,

A man asked the Messenger of Allah (saws): ‘O Messenger of Allah (saws), we travel on the sea and take a small quantity of water with us. If we use this for ablution, we would suffer from thirst. Can we perform ablution with sea water?’ The Messenger of Allah (saws) replied: ‘Its water is pure and (even) what dies in it is lawful food.’ [al-Tirmidhî, al-Ilal al-Kabîr (1/136) and al-Zaylaî, Nasb al-Râyah (1/96)]

Answer 2

Sunni view.

Short answer

It is Halal.

Long answer

3 of for major jurisprudence schools considered it Halal. 1 considered haram (Hanafi)

In the link below a very detailed explanation for the topic. Unfortunately it is in Arabic.

Reference:

http://www.dar-alifta.org/viewMoslemFatawa.aspx?ID=4732&LangID=1