Hanafi ruling on eating snakes

1-8-2017 | IslamWeb

Question:

What is the ruling of Islam according to Imam Abu Hanifah regarding eating snakes?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

According to the Hanafis, it is prohibited to eat snakes because of their foul evil nature. Al-Ikhtiyaar Li-Ta‘leel Al-Mukhtaar reads:

"The creatures that do not have liquid blood, such as flies, wasps, and scorpions, are unlawful for human consumption, except for locusts. The same applies to the rest of the vermin and insects that live above or below the surface of the earth, such as the mouse, gecko, jerboa, porcupine, snake, and the like because all of these creatures fall into the category of Khabaa'ith (foul/evil), and Allah, the Exalted, says (what means): {...and prohibits for them the Khabaa'ith...} [Quran 7:157]."

Allah knows best.