Short answer
It depends on the source. Collagen supplements are made from the skin, bones or scales of cattle, pigs, chickens or fish. Marine (fish) collagen is halal. Porcine collagen is haram, and in the Deobandi Hanafi position bovine or chicken collagen is halal only if the animals were slaughtered by zabiha. Halal-certified collagen avoids the doubt.
Collagen follows its source, like gelatin: pig-derived collagen is haram, and collagen from cattle or poultry not slaughtered by zabiha is avoided, because breaking it down is not treated as a full transformation (istihala). Fish collagen is halal.
Other madhhabs
- Maliki
- Some Maliki scholars hold that processing turns collagen and gelatin into a new substance and allow them whatever the source.
Explanation
Collagen is the main protein in skin, bone and connective tissue. Collagen peptides, or hydrolysed collagen, are made by breaking down hides, bones or fish skin and scales into a fine powder for drinks, gummies and capsules. Gelatin is partly broken-down collagen, so the two raise the same question.
- Bovine collagen: usually from the hides of cattle slaughtered without Islamic slaughter. Halal only if certified.
- Porcine collagen: from pigs. Haram.
- Marine collagen: from fish skin and scales. Halal, since fish needs no slaughter.
- Chicken collagen: often from cartilage. Halal only if certified.
- Vegan collagen boosters: plant vitamins and amino acids, not real collagen. Halal.
The Hanafi school accepts that a substance which fully changes becomes something new. Deobandi scholars hold that turning hide and bone into collagen or gelatin is not such a change: the material stays the same protein. So its ruling follows the animal. Some scholars, especially in the Maliki school, see the processing as a real transformation.
Collagen creams and serums raise the same source question, so marine or plant-based options are the simple choice. If you used collagen before you knew, there is no sin. See is gelatin halal and gummies.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-An'aam 6:145
قُل لَّآ أَجِدُ فِى مَآ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ مُحَرَّمًا عَلَىٰ طَاعِمٍۢ يَطْعَمُهُۥٓ إِلَّآ أَن يَكُونَ مَيْتَةً أَوْ دَمًۭا مَّسْفُوحًا أَوْ لَحْمَ خِنزِيرٍۢ فَإِنَّهُۥ رِجْسٌ أَوْ فِسْقًا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ بِهِۦ ۚ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍۢ وَلَا عَادٍۢ فَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ ﴿١٤٥﴾
Say, "I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden to one who would eat it unless it be a dead animal or blood spilled out or the flesh of swine - for indeed, it is impure - or it be [that slaughtered in] disobedience, dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful."
Pork and what comes from it are forbidden.
Sahih al-Bukhari 52
Sahih... الحلال بين والحرام بين وبينهما مشبهات ...
"The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters."
Supports choosing collagen of a clear halal source.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Taharah, chapter on impurities, on transformation (inqilab al-'ayn). A substance that fully changes into another takes a new ruling.
- Mukhtasar Khalil with al-Sharh al-Kabir, Bab al-Taharah, on transformed impurities. The Maliki position on transformation.
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.