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What Are the Halal Birds in Islam?

13 December, 2023
Q Dear scholars, As-Salamu `alaykum. What types of birds are we allowed to eat? Jazakum Allah khayran.

Answer

Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. 


In this fatwa:

  • The Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade the eating of any wild animals with a canine tooth and of any bird with talons.
  • There is nothing wrong, as far as Islam is concerned, in eating horses or camels’ meat after they are slaughtered according to the Islamic way.

Answering your question, Dr. Rif`at Fawzi, Professor of Shari`ah at Cairo University, states: 

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As recorded in Al-Bukhari’s Sahih (authentic book), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the eating of any wild animals with a canine tooth and of any bird with talons.

“Wild animals” denote predatory animals, namely, lion, leopard, wolf, and the like. The examples of birds with talons are the hawk, eagle, falcon, etc.. Thus, any bird that has talons is unlawful to eat; which means that birds that have no talons are edible.

Some scholars hold that what is prohibited is every wild animal with a canine tooth, and not birds with talons. However, the view held by the majority of scholars is that it is haram (unlawful) to eat any animal with a canine tooth or a bird with talon.

Almighty Allah knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.