Question:
What is the ruling on eating locusts?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Answer:
Eating locusts is ḥalāl, and they do not require slaughtering.
Prophetic Evidence:
❀ Abū Yaʿfūr رحمه الله said:
جئت عبد الله بن أبى أوفى رضى الله عنه فسألته عن الجراد فقال: غزونا مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ست غزوات نأكل الجراد
“I came to ʿAbdullāh ibn Abī Awfā رضي الله عنه and asked him about locusts. He replied: We fought six battles alongside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and used to eat locusts.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 5495; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1952; al-Muntaqā Ibn al-Jārūd: 880)
Scholarly Consensus:
❀ ʿAllāmah Amīr al-Ṣanʿānī رحمه الله (1182 AH):
الإجماع واقع على قتله لأكله
“There is consensus that it is permissible to kill locusts for the purpose of eating them.”
(al-Tanwīr Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr, 11/131)
Conclusion:- Locusts are permissible (ḥalāl) to eat.
- There is no requirement of slaughtering, as affirmed by ḥadīth and scholarly consensus.
