Where the schools agree, and where they differ
The rulebook behind every verdict
The four Sunni schools of law agree on almost everything about food: pork, blood and intoxicating drink are forbidden, meat must come from Islamic slaughter, and fish and locusts are always halal. The differences are few, and they are real. Halal or Not? shows each school's reading instead of picking one for you.
Hanafi
The most widely followed school: South Asia, Turkey, Central Asia and most British Muslims of Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi heritage. Stricter on seafood, more permissive on rennet and wine vinegar.
Shafi'i
East Africa, Yemen, Malaysia, Indonesia and parts of Egypt. All seafood permitted; stricter on rennet and on wine deliberately made into vinegar.
Maliki
North and West Africa. All seafood permitted, and the most permissive school on insects, including cochineal.
Hanbali
Saudi Arabia and Qatar. All seafood permitted; close to the Shafi'i school on rennet and vinegar.
Where they differ
| Ingredient | Hanafi | Shafi'i | Maliki | Hanbali |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wine vinegar Vinegar is no longer intoxicating. The schools differ on whether deliberately turning wine into vinegar makes it permissible. Malt and cider vinegar are rarely disputed in practice. | Halal | Doubtful | Halal | Doubtful |
| Alcohol (ethanol) on the skin On the skin the question is purity rather than drinking. The schools differ on whether non-grape alcohol is impure. | Halal | Doubtful | Doubtful | Doubtful |
| Alcohol (ethanol) in a medicine Alcohol is used as a solvent or preservative in liquid medicines. Many scholars permit it in medicine when it is not from wine and does not intoxicate (Indonesia's MUI also permits it where needed); stricter scholars use an alcohol-free version where one exists. | Halal | Doubtful | Doubtful | Doubtful |
| Rennet Rennet sets cheese. When it comes from a calf that was not Islamically slaughtered, the schools split. Microbial and vegetarian rennet are halal. | Halal | Haram | Haram | Doubtful |
| Whey Whey is left over from cheese-making, so it depends on the rennet used. Most UK whey is from microbial rennet, but the label rarely says. | Halal | Doubtful | Doubtful | Doubtful |
| Cheese Cheese is only as halal as its rennet. Look for 'suitable for vegetarians'. | Halal | Doubtful | Doubtful | Doubtful |
| Horse meat The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools permit horse meat based on the hadith of Jabir; the Hanafi and Maliki schools have reservations. Slaughter must still be Islamic. | Doubtful | Halal | Doubtful | Halal |
| Prawns and shrimp The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools permit sea creatures that live only in water. The Hanafi school permits only fish, and is split on whether prawns count. | Doubtful | Halal | Halal | Halal |
| Crab, lobster and molluscs The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools take 'the game of the sea is lawful for you' (Qur'an 5:96) to cover creatures that live only in the sea (land crabs, for example, are excluded). The Hanafi school limits it to fish. | Haram | Halal | Halal | Halal |
| Carmine / cochineal (E120) A red colour made from crushed cochineal insects. The Hanafi and Hanbali schools do not permit eating insects other than locusts. The Maliki school is more permissive on insects, and a contemporary Shafi'i-tradition fatwa permits cochineal. | Haram | Doubtful | Doubtful | Haram |
| Carmine / cochineal (CI 75470) on the skin On the skin the question is purity, not eating. Most schools treat insects as pure. Lipstick is partly swallowed, which some scholars treat like food. | Halal | Doubtful | Halal | Halal |
| Edible insects Only locusts are agreed on. The Maliki school permits other insects killed for food; the other three do not. | Haram | Haram | Halal | Haram |
"Doubtful" means the answer turns on something the label does not say (the source of an enzyme, how vinegar was made) or that the school's scholars are themselves divided.
The same in every school
These read the same in all four schools. Many of them turn on what the ingredient was made from, which a label often leaves out: words such as "vegetable", "microbial", "fish" or "halal" clear them, and "pork" or "porcine" makes them haram.
| Ingredient | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pork | Haram | Pork and anything taken from the pig is haram in all four schools (Qur'an 2:173, 5:3). |
| Lard | Haram | Lard is pig fat, haram in all four schools. |
| Cured sausage (chorizo, salami, pepperoni) | Haram | Traditionally made with pork. A halal version names its meat or carries a halal mark. |
| Blood | Haram | Flowing blood is haram in all four schools (Qur'an 6:145). |
| Wine | Haram | Wine is khamr, haram in all four schools, including when used in cooking. |
| Spirits and beer | Haram | Intoxicating drinks are haram in all four schools. |
| Drink-named flavouring | Doubtful | A 'rum flavouring' is usually made without the drink itself, but some are extracted in the spirit. The label does not say which, so it is doubtful until the maker confirms. |
| Fatty or non-drinking alcohol | Halal | Despite the name these are not the intoxicating alcohol in drinks. Cetyl, cetearyl and stearyl alcohol are waxy fats; sugar alcohols are sweeteners. None of them is khamr. |
| Alcohol (ethanol) in food | Doubtful | Added alcohol is usually a solvent for flavour. The majority view treats every intoxicant as khamr. Some fatwa bodies accept ethanol in food when it is not made from khamr and is not harmful (Indonesia's MUI, 2018, which caps finished drinks at under 0.5%); others accept none. |
| Heparin | Haram | Heparin and low-molecular-weight heparins are almost always made from pig intestine. They are permitted by necessity when no suitable alternative exists; ask whether a synthetic alternative (fondaparinux, or tablets such as apixaban or rivaroxaban) suits you. |
| Pancreatin / pancrelipase | Haram | Pancreatic enzyme capsules (for example Creon) are made from pig pancreas. They are permitted by necessity when no alternative exists. |
| Porcine insulin | Haram | Insulin taken from pigs. Human insulin and insulin analogues, made by fermentation, are halal alternatives. |
| Vanilla extract | Doubtful | Pure vanilla extract is made in alcohol (usually around 35%). Vanillin and vanilla flavouring are normally alcohol-free. See the alcohol entry for how the schools treat a trace. |
| Gelatine (formerly E441) | Doubtful | Gelatine comes from pig or cattle skin and bone, or from fish. Pork gelatine is haram; beef gelatine is halal only if the cattle were slaughtered Islamically; fish gelatine is halal. When the source is not named it is doubtful. |
| Collagen | Doubtful | Collagen comes from cattle, pig or fish. Marine collagen is halal; otherwise the source and slaughter need confirming. |
| Mono- and diglycerides and related emulsifiers (E470 to E477, E481 to E483, E491 to E495) | Doubtful | These emulsifiers are made from fatty acids, which can come from plant oils or animal fat, pork included. Most are plant-based today, but unless the label says vegetable origin it is doubtful. |
| Glycerol / glycerin (E422) | Doubtful | Glycerol can be made from plant oil or animal fat. Most food and cosmetic glycerol today is plant-derived, but the label rarely says. |
| Stearic acid and stearates (E570, E470) | Doubtful | Stearic acid can come from plant oil or animal fat. |
| Tallow or suet | Doubtful | Beef or mutton fat. Halal only if the animal was slaughtered Islamically. |
| Bone phosphate or bone char (E542) | Doubtful | Made from animal bone, which may be pig or non-halal cattle. |
| L-cysteine (E920) | Doubtful | A flour improver made from duck feathers, pig bristle or human hair, or by fermentation. Human and pig sources are haram; feathers need halal slaughter; fermented is halal. |
| Flavour enhancers from nucleotides (E627, E631, E635) | Doubtful | Usually made by fermentation today, but can be extracted from meat or fish. Doubtful until the maker confirms. |
| Pepsin | Doubtful | A digestive enzyme usually taken from pig stomach. |
| Keratin | Doubtful | Taken from hooves, horns, feathers or wool. Source and slaughter decide it. |
| Placenta | Doubtful | Human placenta is not permissible. Animal placenta is doubtful: it depends on the animal and its slaughter, and many scholars avoid it. |
| Enzymes (source not stated) | Doubtful | Enzymes can be animal (rennet, pepsin, lipase) or microbial. In bread they are almost always microbial; in cheese they are often animal rennet. The label does not say which. |
| Meat or poultry | Doubtful | Meat from a permissible animal is halal only if it was slaughtered Islamically. A product without a halal mark does not tell you. |
| Flavour or seasoning named after meat or seafood | Doubtful | A flavour named after meat or seafood (for example 'prawn cocktail' or 'smoky bacon' seasoning) is often made from yeast, vegetables and flavourings with no animal in it, but sometimes contains real meat extract. A vegetarian or halal mark settles it. |
| Locusts | Halal | Locusts are halal in all four schools by explicit hadith. |
| Shellac (E904) | Halal | A glaze secreted by the lac insect, not the insect itself. Most certifiers accept it, as they do honey; Indonesia's MUI accepts it provided insect remains are filtered out. A few strict consumers avoid it. |
UK certifiers
The Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) accepts no stunning before slaughter. The Halal Food Authority (HFA) accepts reversible stunning where the animal is still alive at the moment of slaughter. Both are halal marks; which one you trust is your call.
This page summarises the positions commonly reported for each school. Scholars within a school do not always agree, and local fatwa bodies differ. It is information, not a fatwa.