The ruling on eating fish that exhibits the taste of impurity, and the ruling on the Jalalah
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The questioner : Some Muslims catch fish in places where impurities are discharged, and sometimes at the opening
The Shaykh : Excuse me, what did you say? Some Muslims.
The questioner : They catch fish.
The Shaykh : Okay, young men?
The questioner : Yes, in places where impurities are discharged. Sometimes, when they open the fish's belly, they find impurities inside. What is the ruling on this fish? Also, what is the ruling on the Jalalah? And what is the validity of the opinions of jurists who state that a chicken or other animal should be confined for such-and-such number of days? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : As for this type of fish, which is the first time we have heard of it, what we see, and Allah knows best, is that if the taste of impurity appears when it is boiled or cooked in any manner of cooking, then it is not permissible to eat it because the effect of the impurity is apparent in it. It is recommended that if he wants to eat it and is able to purify it in fresh water until its flesh changes and becomes good meat, he should do so. However, if the taste of impurity does not appear in it, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. With the observation that when we want to call something impure, it must be from the known impurities, such as human excrement, for example, or the dung of animals whose meat is not eaten. So this type of fish that you are referring to, it means it lives in any water. We find this strange. It lives in any type of water, even if impurity is seen in the environment,
The questioner : in the valleys, and some seas in Algeria, meaning where humans go
The Shaykh : these channels, the waterways where human waste is discharged. It stands in the back so that... Let's try again. What is its name?
The questioner : I did this, I heard. How is it in Kuwait?
The Shaykh : The ruling, as we mentioned, and its summary is that if it is customary for this type of fish to exhibit the taste of impurity when cooked, it must be discarded. And if it is caught alive, then it is recommended to throw it in fresh water so that it changes
The Shaykh : As for what concerns the jalalah. In our view, the chicken is not, by nature, of the type of jalalah that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade regarding its meat. This is because we know that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), chickens were free and roaming, eating from filth and not living in the modern chicken coops found on roads today. Yet they were eaten without being confined, and their eggs were also eaten at that time. What indicates this to us is the hadith narrated by Imam al-Bukhari in his Sahih, from the narration of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him), that some people were with him and he placed chicken food before them. The guest was reluctant to eat with him and mentioned to him that it was a product of filth. Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) argued with him by saying that he had eaten it with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
This indicates to us that this thing which, if we may use the expression, that man found offensive, was eaten by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). It is not reported at all that he himself (peace and blessings be upon him) or any of the Companions used to confine chickens when they wanted to eat them.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, what did you say? Some Muslims.
The questioner : They catch fish.
The Shaykh : Okay, young men?
The questioner : Yes, in places where impurities are discharged. Sometimes, when they open the fish's belly, they find impurities inside. What is the ruling on this fish? Also, what is the ruling on the Jalalah? And what is the validity of the opinions of jurists who state that a chicken or other animal should be confined for such-and-such number of days? May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : As for this type of fish, which is the first time we have heard of it, what we see, and Allah knows best, is that if the taste of impurity appears when it is boiled or cooked in any manner of cooking, then it is not permissible to eat it because the effect of the impurity is apparent in it. It is recommended that if he wants to eat it and is able to purify it in fresh water until its flesh changes and becomes good meat, he should do so. However, if the taste of impurity does not appear in it, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. With the observation that when we want to call something impure, it must be from the known impurities, such as human excrement, for example, or the dung of animals whose meat is not eaten. So this type of fish that you are referring to, it means it lives in any water. We find this strange. It lives in any type of water, even if impurity is seen in the environment,
The questioner : in the valleys, and some seas in Algeria, meaning where humans go
The Shaykh : these channels, the waterways where human waste is discharged. It stands in the back so that... Let's try again. What is its name?
The questioner : I did this, I heard. How is it in Kuwait?
The Shaykh : The ruling, as we mentioned, and its summary is that if it is customary for this type of fish to exhibit the taste of impurity when cooked, it must be discarded. And if it is caught alive, then it is recommended to throw it in fresh water so that it changes
The Shaykh : As for what concerns the jalalah. In our view, the chicken is not, by nature, of the type of jalalah that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade regarding its meat. This is because we know that in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), chickens were free and roaming, eating from filth and not living in the modern chicken coops found on roads today. Yet they were eaten without being confined, and their eggs were also eaten at that time. What indicates this to us is the hadith narrated by Imam al-Bukhari in his Sahih, from the narration of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him), that some people were with him and he placed chicken food before them. The guest was reluctant to eat with him and mentioned to him that it was a product of filth. Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) argued with him by saying that he had eaten it with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
This indicates to us that this thing which, if we may use the expression, that man found offensive, was eaten by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). It is not reported at all that he himself (peace and blessings be upon him) or any of the Companions used to confine chickens when they wanted to eat them.
Source
سلسلة الهدى والنور، المجلس 1297 — d3watuna.com (5:02)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.