Short answer
No, not in the Hanafi school, which allows only fish from the water, and alligators and crocodiles are reptiles, not fish. The Shafi'i and Hanbali schools also forbid crocodile, because it lives on land and in water and has fangs. Only the Maliki school allows it.
Alligator and crocodile are not halal (makruh tahrimi, treated as forbidden). They are not fish, and the school forbids every water animal other than fish and every reptile among the creeping things counted as khaba'ith (repulsive things).
Other madhhabs
- Maliki
- Allows alligator and crocodile, since the school treats every animal that lives in water as lawful game of the sea.
Explanation
Alligator meat is sold in Louisiana and Florida as fried bites, sausage and gumbo, and crocodile is on menus in Australia and parts of Africa. It is often described as tasting like chicken, which makes people wonder whether it can be treated like chicken. In the Hanafi school it cannot.
The Hanafi reasoning has two parts. From the water, only fish is eaten, based on the hadith that names fish and locusts as the two lawful dead animals and the Quran's ban on khaba'ith. On land, reptiles such as snakes, lizards and crocodiles are counted among the creeping things that people of sound nature find repulsive. An alligator fails on both counts.
Most other scholars reach the same answer by a different road. The Shafi'i books list the crocodile with the frog and the snake as animals that live on land and in water and are not eaten, and the Hanbalis exclude the crocodile from sea game because it has fangs and preys on people. Only the Maliki school, which allows nearly every water animal, permits it.
Two related points:
- Alligator leather is a separate question. In the Hanafi school the tanned skin of any animal except the pig is pure, so a crocodile skin belt or bag can be worn and prayed in.
- Restaurants: gator bites are often fried in shared oil with other items, so even the side dishes need checking.
See also what seafood is halal and snake meat.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-A'raaf 7:157
ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ ٱلرَّسُولَ ٱلنَّبِىَّ ٱلْأُمِّىَّ ٱلَّذِى يَجِدُونَهُۥ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِى ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ وَٱلْإِنجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُم بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَىٰهُمْ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْخَبَٰٓئِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَٱلْأَغْلَٰلَ ٱلَّتِى كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِهِۦ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلنُّورَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ مَعَهُۥٓ ۙ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ ﴿١٥٧﴾
Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful.
The basis for forbidding animals counted as repulsive (khaba'ith).
Sunan Ibn Majah 3314
Graded sahih... أحلت لنا ميتتان ودمان ...
"Two dead things and two bloods have been made lawful for us."
The two dead things are fish and locusts, the Hanafi basis for allowing only fish from the water.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Dhaba'ih, on what may and may not be eaten. Only fish is eaten from the water; creeping things are not eaten.
- Minhaj al-Talibin, Kitab al-At'ima. Animals that live on land and in water, such as the crocodile, are not eaten.
- 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.