Fish without clear scales (catfish, eel, swordfish, sturgeon or caviar, monkfish)

Fish without clear scales, such as catfish, eel, swordfish, sturgeon (caviar) and monkfish, are permissible: Darul Fatwa permits fish without any condition about scales, and none of the four schools requires scales.

Food	Cosmetics & personal care	Medicine
Halal	Halal	Halal

What clears it

Nothing can clear this, because the problem is the ingredient itself.

What our sources say

Darulfatwa – Islamic High Council of Australia · التذكية الشرعية وتفسير قول الله تعالى:”حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ ….”

والسمك حلال كيفما وصل إلينا سواء عن طريق مجوسي أو كتابي لأن ميتة السمك حلال.

Translation “Fish is halal however it reaches us, whether through a Magian or a kitabiyy, because dead fish is halal.”

Source page · archived copy · retrieved Sep 22, 2026

Certification Center "Halal" · Требования

Из дозволенных животных ничего не разрешено употреблять в пищу, не зарезав его, кроме морских обитателей и саранчи.

Translation “Of the permitted animals, nothing may be eaten without slaughtering it, except sea creatures and locusts.”

Page of the older WordPress site (2015); no longer online. · Source page · archived copy · retrieved Sep 22, 2026

Darulfatwa – Islamic High Council of Australia · التذكية الشرعية وتفسير قول الله تعالى:”حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ ….”

وقد ورد في القرءان حلّ أكل السّمك وصيد البحر في قوله تعالى: {أُحِلَّ لكم صيدُ البحر وطعامُه متاعا لكم}.

Translation “The permissibility of eating fish and the game of the sea is stated in the Qur‘an, in the saying of Allah, the Exalted: {Lawful to you is the game of the sea and its food, as provision for you}.”

Source page · archived copy · retrieved Sep 22, 2026

Certification Center "Halal" · Центр сертифікації «Халяль» (home page)

Заборонених тварин, птахів, земноводних тощо, їх м'ясо та будь-які інші частини (жир, кістки, шкіра, шерсть, внутрішні органи, пір'я, пазурі, кров та ін.);

halal.ua's own English “Prohibited animals, birds, amphibians, etc., their meat and any other parts (fat, bones, skin, wool, internal organs, feathers, claws, blood, etc.);”

Source page · archived copy · retrieved Sep 22, 2026

Darulfatwa – Islamic High Council of Australia · التذكية الشرعية وتفسير قول الله تعالى:”حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمُ الْمَيْتَةُ ….”

فمتى كان السمك يحتاج لأكله إلى ذبح؟

Translation “So since when has fish needed slaughtering in order to be eaten?”

Source page · archived copy · retrieved Sep 22, 2026

Darulfatwa – Islamic High Council of Australia · سؤال عن اكل هذا المسمى اويستر …؟

يجوز إن ماتت. عن صدف البحر نعم يأكله إن مات بهذا فيأكله.

Translation “It is permissible if it dies. About sea shellfish: yes, he may eat it; if it dies from this, he may eat it.”

Source page · archived copy · retrieved Sep 22, 2026

All sources →

Other sources: quran.com/5/96

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