Animals the Prophet ﷺ Prohibited from Being Killed and Their Ruling in Sharīʿah

Animals Whose Killing Has Been Prohibited in Islam
By: Imran Ayyub Lahori

1. Four animals prohibited to be killed​

Ḥaḍrat Ibn ʿAbbās (رضي الله عنهما) narrated:
"إِنَّ النَّبِيَّ نَهَى عَنْ قَتْلِ أَرْبَعٍ مِنَ الدَّوَابِّ: النَّمْلَةِ، وَالنَّحْلَةِ، وَالْهُدْهُدِ، وَالصُّرَدِ"
"The Prophet ﷺ forbade the killing of four creatures: the ant, the honeybee, the hoopoe bird, and the shrike (mimola)."
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd: 4387; Abū Dāwūd: 5267; Ibn Mājah: 3224; Aḥmad: 1/332; Al-Dārimī: 2/89; Ibn Ḥibbān: 1078; Al-Bayhaqī: 9/317; Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl: 8/142, 2490]

2. Frog prohibited to be killed​

Ḥaḍrat ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUthmān (رضي الله عنه) narrated:
A physician asked the Prophet ﷺ about using a frog in medicine:
"فَنَهَاهُ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ عَنْ قَتْلِهَا"
"The Prophet ﷺ forbade him from killing it."
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd: 3279; Abū Dāwūd: 3871; Al-Nasāʾī: 4355, 4062]

Sharʿi Principle Regarding Eating These Animals​

There is a difference of opinion among scholars regarding whether animals prohibited from being killed are also prohibited from being eaten. The stronger view is:

• The basic principle is that everything is permissible unless the Sharīʿah explicitly declares it ḥarām.
• Therefore, if an animal has been prohibited from being killed and the Sharīʿah has declared it ḥarām to eat, then it is ḥarām.
• If the Sharīʿah has not prohibited its consumption, it remains ḥalāl, even if killing it is prohibited.

References: Al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah 2/393, Al-Darārī al-Muḍabbah, p. 283.