Is It Permissible to Consume Chicken or Fish That Are Fed Feed Containing Pork By-Products?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
If chickens or fish are fed feed containing pork by-products, such as meat and bone meal, is it permissible for Muslims to consume them?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. May Allah alleviate our difficulties and guide us to what pleases Him. Amin.
Thank you for your important question.
The General Ruling
In the Shafi‘i School, the default ruling is that lawful animals remain lawful even if they are fed on impure substances. Pork by-products, blood, and carcass matter are considered najasa (impurity). If chickens or fish are given such feed, the animals themselves do not automatically become haram.
Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) explained in al-Minhaj that such cases fall under the ruling of ‘jallala’, animals that consume impurities. The stronger opinion (qawl asahh) in our School is that eating their meat is not prohibited but considered disliked (makruh), and this dislikedness only applies if the impurity affects the smell, taste, or colour of the animal’s flesh or by-products. Otherwise, their consumption remains permissible. [Nawawi, Minhaj al-Talibin; Zakariyya al-Ansari, Asna al-Matalib, 3:412]
The jurists gave a classic example: Even if a lamb were raised on a pig’s milk, it would still be lawful to eat once properly slaughtered. However, it may be regarded as ‘jallala’ if its flesh or milk carries the smell of impurity.
Precaution and Piety
Our scholars also mention that if an animal is found to be jallala, it is recommended (mustahabb) to quarantine and feed it clean food until the traces of impurity are gone. Ibn Hajar al-Haytami and others record that the guideline periods are: forty days for camels, thirty for cattle, seven for sheep and goats, and three for chickens. [Ibn Hajar, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 12:322]
Imam Ghazali (Allah have mercy on him) advised that while eating such meat is not unlawful, leaving it out of scrupulousness (wara‘) is a sign of greater piety. [Ghazali, Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din, 2:125; Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj, 6:156]
Practical Guidance
- Permissibility: Chickens or fish fed pork by-products remain halal when properly slaughtered, unless the impurity clearly alters their flesh.
- Dislikedness: If the meat carries an offensive odor, taste, or discoloration from impurities, it is disliked to eat, though not haram.
- Best practice: Where possible, seek poultry or fish raised on clean feed, as this avoids doubtful matters and aligns with scrupulousness.
- Balance: Remember that the Law distinguishes between what is outright prohibited and merely disliked, leaving the disliked is rewarded but not obligatory.
I pray Allah grants you clarity in your practice, provides you with pure sustenance, and rewards you for your concern in ensuring your food is pleasing to Him.
And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan (Allah have mercy on him), where he taught.
Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Shaykh Muhammad Awama, Shaykh Muhammad Hasan Hitu, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.
He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has been the Director of the Discover Islam Centre, and for six years, he has been the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.
Shaykh Irshaad has fifteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town. He is currently building an Islamic podcast, education, and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy Prophetic living and fitness.
