Insects (hasharat)

الحشرات

Insects (hasharat) are the small creatures of the earth and its vermin; some say the earth's vermin without venom. ¹ On eating them there are two views: the Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis forbid all except the locust, the Shafi'is and Hanbalis permit the lizard and similar small animals, and the Malikis permit all except the pig, while some Malikis forbid them. ^{1 2 3} Creatures with blood must be slaughtered before eating; the locust needs no slaughter according to the majority, but the Malikis require it. ⁴ Killing insects is neither enjoined nor forbidden in general: the harmful ones, such as the five vermin, the snake, the gecko and the mouse, may be killed, while the Shafi'is forbid killing the Solomonic ant, the bee and the frog. ^{5 6 7} The Hanafis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis do not count insects as game for the pilgrim in ihram, and the Malikis allow killing a harmful one to remove the harm. ^{7 8}