Seafood..

[psyah]

@USResident

Bro

I think now we are on the same page. You are correct, that we can always find some wisdom in it, the most important of which is our submissiveness to the command of Allah SWT. However we should clearly understand the fundamentals that differentiate between the two i.e. halal and haram.

I don’t know if I want to open a pandoras box here but well, anyway. Is it the method of slaughter which makes it halal or the acknowledgement that Allah SWT has provided us this food or both? I have researched this area many a time and have even flip flopped in my opinion sometimes however currently I am steady with what I think I understand. To me, the acknowledgement that this food has been provided by Allah SWT takes priority over the method of kill (with the exception of those specifically mentioned in Quran, specifically Surah Maidah). I say this because I have not come across conclusive evidence that the method of kill or slaughter used by the muslims was any different from other Arabs or non-Arabs of the time. What the Quran did was further restrict a few of the prevalent categories and clarified that all food is a blessing from Allah SWT and that only He SWT should be acknowledged for it.

Peace bro USResident

We need to caution at the same time not to undermine the reasoning that has been given to us in hadith … Such as “the salt water is pure therefore …” this is clearly an appeal to reason within hadith and cannot be sidelined.

In one of the lectures by Shaikh Zaid Shakir he mentioned there was scholar who refrained from eating fish from a river for a period of time because his student dumped some bread that was bought with by impure means. It was not because he thought of it as haram, but rather he put himself on a strict line of caution so as not to suffer the effects of such things in himself.

Islam encourages prudence over the self. A Muslim is one who looks for the haram and halal, but the Muttaqi is one ho protects himself from possible haram and avoids possible halal in case that it is not. It makes his life restricted which coincides with the hadith that states this life for the Mo’min is like a prison, but a paradise for the disbelievers.

When we ask scholars for fatawa regarding issues we do not ask wisely enough. Rather we should say what is or is not permissible and what is better or worse and may be ask them what they themselves do. Often traditional scholars will make things easy for others but be very strict on themselves.