Prawns are not considered Haram in Islam. However, their halal status is controversial due to the different beliefs of Shafi’ee, Maliki, Hanafi, and Hanbali.
According to three schools of fiqh: Shafi Maliki, and Hanbali, All seafood is halal except a few and is permissible for Muslim consumption therefore prawn is also considered halal.
While the Hanafi school of fiqh only consider fish to be Halal seafood. There are two thoughts about prawns being halal or not in the Hanafi school of thought.
The classification of prawn being halal or not depend on the question of whether it comes under the fish category or not.
Many linguistic specialists refer to prawns as a type of fish. Allama Dameeri also started in his book that prawns are very small redfish.
Therefore many scholars suggest prawn to be permissible and halal for Muslim consumption.
However, the scientific classification of fish doesn’t assess prawn as a type of fish due to dissimilar characteristics.
Fish contain backbone and breathe through gills while prawns do not possess both of these characteristics.
Some suggest them as a type of insect and not halal for Muslim consumption.
The conflicting views of prawn being a fish or not have categorized it into Makrooh, neither halal more haram. It is best to avoid doubtful matters. However if someone consumes it, we have no right to oblige them
Allah knows the best.
