Which animals are haram to eat?
The animals haram to eat are pigs, carnivores with fangs, birds of prey with talons, donkeys, and (for most scholars) reptiles, insects and vermin. Everything else is generally allowed, as long as land animals are slaughtered the halal way.
What the Quran names directly
The Quran lists a short set of forbidden foods:
So pork is clearly haram, and so is any animal that died by itself or wasn't slaughtered properly. See Why can't Muslims eat pork? The rest of the list comes from the Sunnah.
Animals forbidden in the Sunnah
- Predators with fangs: lions, tigers, wolves, bears, dogs, cats. The Prophet ﷺ forbade eating every fanged beast of prey and every bird with talons (Sahih Muslim 1934).
- Birds of prey: eagles, hawks, falcons, owls.
- Domestic donkeys: forbidden on the day of Khaybar, while horse meat was allowed (Sahih al-Bukhari 5520). The Hanafi school dislikes horse meat; the others permit it.
- Vermin and pests: rats, mice, snakes and scorpions, which the Prophet ﷺ allowed to be killed.
Where scholars differ
- Seafood: fish are halal for everyone. The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools allow almost all sea creatures (shrimp, crab, lobster, squid). The Hanafi school allows fish only, with most Hanafis also accepting shrimp. See Can I eat shrimp and other seafood?
- Insects: locusts are halal by agreement. Most scholars forbid other insects; the Maliki school is more lenient.
- Frogs, snails, reptiles: most scholars say no, with some Maliki leniency. See Can I eat snails and frog legs as a Muslim?
- Rabbit: allowed by the majority.
Allowed animals still need halal slaughter
Cows, sheep, goats, camels, deer, chickens, turkeys, ducks and other common farm or game animals are halal. But a land animal only becomes halal food when it's slaughtered correctly, with Allah's name mentioned. See How is halal meat slaughtered? Fish and locusts don't need slaughter.
- Pork, carrion and blood are forbidden in the Quran.
- Fanged predators, birds of prey and donkeys are forbidden in the Sunnah.
- Scholars differ on some seafood, insects and reptiles.
- Allowed land animals still need halal slaughter.
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