Short answer
Not in the Hanafi school, which allows only fish from the sea, so oysters, mussels, clams, scallops and cockles are makruh tahrimi (treated as forbidden). The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools allow them, since they hold sea animals lawful. Followers of those schools may eat them.
Oysters, mussels, clams, scallops and other shellfish are water animals that are not fish, so they are makruh tahrimi and are not eaten, nor are stocks and sauces made from them.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Oysters and other shellfish that live only in the sea are halal.
- Maliki
- All sea animals are halal, oysters and mussels included.
- Hanbali
- Oysters and other shellfish are halal.
Explanation
Oysters, mussels, clams, scallops and cockles are bivalves: molluscs inside two hinged shells. Oysters are often eaten raw, while mussels and clams are usually steamed.
The Hanafi school reads the Quran's permission for sea game together with the ban on khaba'ith (repulsive things) and the hadith that names fish as the lawful dead of the sea. It concludes that only fish is eaten from the water. The other three schools read the verse as covering all sea animals, so for them oysters are halal without slaughter.
Places a Hanafi should watch:
- raw oyster bars and seafood platters;
- moules frites, paella, seafood chowder and spaghetti with clams;
- scallops in sushi and frozen seafood mixes;
- oyster sauce in Chinese and Thai stir-fries.
Pearls are a different matter. They are not food, and the Quran mentions ornaments taken from the sea as a blessing, so wearing pearls is fine. For the wider picture see what seafood is halal and crab and lobster.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:96
أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ صَيْدُ ٱلْبَحْرِ وَطَعَامُهُۥ مَتَٰعًۭا لَّكُمْ وَلِلسَّيَّارَةِ ۖ وَحُرِّمَ عَلَيْكُمْ صَيْدُ ٱلْبَرِّ مَا دُمْتُمْ حُرُمًۭا ۗ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِىٓ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ ﴿٩٦﴾
Lawful to you is game from the sea and its food as provision for you and the travelers, but forbidden to you is game from the land as long as you are in the state of ihram. And fear Allah to whom you will be gathered.
The verse on sea game, read differently by the schools.
Quran, Surah An-Nahl 16:14
وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى سَخَّرَ ٱلْبَحْرَ لِتَأْكُلُوا۟ مِنْهُ لَحْمًۭا طَرِيًّۭا وَتَسْتَخْرِجُوا۟ مِنْهُ حِلْيَةًۭ تَلْبَسُونَهَا وَتَرَى ٱلْفُلْكَ مَوَاخِرَ فِيهِ وَلِتَبْتَغُوا۟ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿١٤﴾
And it is He who subjected the sea for you to eat from it tender meat and to extract from it ornaments which you wear. And you see the ships plowing through it, and [He subjected it] that you may seek of His bounty; and perhaps you will be grateful.
Pearls and other sea ornaments are a blessing to wear.
Sunan Ibn Majah 3314
Graded sahih... أحلت لنا ميتتان ودمان ...
"Two dead things and two bloods have been made lawful for us."
Names fish and locusts as the lawful dead, the Hanafi basis for allowing only fish.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Dhaba'ih, on water animals. Nothing from the water is eaten except fish.
- Minhaj al-Talibin, Kitab al-At'ima. Animals that live only in the sea are lawful.
- al-Mughni (Ibn Qudama), Kitab al-At'ima. Sea animals are lawful except the frog, the crocodile and the snake.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.