Works of Abul Baraa Muhamad Amreeki

Q&A Is Using a Fish Club to Kill a Fish, or Boiling a Lobster While it is Alive Halal

All the praises is for Allah the Lord of the Worlds and peace and blessings be upon His Chosen Messenger Muhammad and upon his family and his companions all of them.

   By the Student of Knowledge, Shaykh Abdurrahman Murad هداه الله 

Question:

Is using a fish club to kill a fish, or boiling a lobster while it is alive Halal? 

Answer:

The Prophet, may Allah praise him, said: “Indeed Allah has prescribed upon you to deal with all things in a manner of excellence.”
No doubt, this would include that you deal with the creation of Allah around you in a manner of peace, tranquility and compassion. The Prophet, may Allah praise him, further shed light on the importance of this concept saying: “If you are merciful to a sheep, Allah shall show you mercy!”
As well we have all read the narration which indicates that a woman was punished by Allah on account of her ill treatment towards her cat.
So, if this is the case…what can be said of the ‘cruel’ manner in which fish, lobsters and crabs are killed?
In general, a fish usually dies quite quickly after being removed from water…it may continue to move and flop on account of the motor reactions that it goes through…but it usually dies. In the instance, where it does not die, it is inappropriate to strike the fish on its head, clubbing it to death, as this goes against the guidance of our Prophet, may Allah praise him, as mentioned in the above quoted Hadeeth! In this case, one may resort to gutting and cleaning it or it may also be kept out for a longer duration out of water and this would sufficiently cause it to die. In any instance one must avoid all forms of cruelty!
In relation to crabs and lobsters…A large kitchen knife will make for a quick death…you can read more about this at this blog:
http://trevorcorson.tumblr.com/post/262203493/how-to-cook-a-lobster-humanely

May Allah protect us from being cruel…Ameen!