Short answer
Gelatin is halal when it comes from fish or from a halal animal slaughtered by zabiha. In the Hanafi fatwa position of Deobandi institutions, gelatin from pigs or from non-zabiha animals is not halal, because its making does not fully change the substance. Some scholars, especially in the Maliki school, hold that processing transforms it and allow it.
Pork gelatin is haram. Gelatin from cattle not slaughtered by zabiha is also avoided, because Deobandi scholars hold that turning hides and bones into gelatin is not a complete transformation (istihala). Fish gelatin, halal-certified bovine gelatin, and plant gels like agar and pectin are halal.
Other madhhabs
- Maliki
- Transformation (istihala) purifies widely in the Maliki school, so some Maliki scholars hold that gelatin is a new substance and allow it whatever its source.
Explanation
Gelatin is a protein made by boiling the skins and bones of animals, mostly pigs and cattle, and sometimes fish. It is in gummy sweets, marshmallows, jelly, some yoghurts and desserts, frosted cereals and many medicine capsules. On labels it may appear as gelatine or E441.
The Hanafi school accepts that a substance which fully changes into a new one takes a new ruling: wine that becomes vinegar is pure, for example. The question is whether gelatin is such a change. Deobandi scholars hold that it is not: gelatin is extracted from the collagen already in the skin and bone, and stays the same kind of material. So its ruling follows its source.
Some scholars and fiqh councils, and many Maliki scholars, see the chemical processing as a real transformation and allow gelatin from any source. That view exists, but it is not the Hanafi fatwa position, and the safer choice is clear.
- Halal: fish gelatin, halal-certified beef gelatin, agar, pectin, carrageenan.
- Not halal (Hanafi): pork gelatin, and gelatin from non-zabiha animals.
- Unknown source: avoid it, or ask the maker.
For medicine capsules where no alternative exists, the rules of necessity can apply; ask a mufti and your pharmacist. Check products with the halal food checker.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:173
إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍۢ وَلَا عَادٍۢ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ ﴿١٧٣﴾
He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
Pork and carrion are forbidden, and so are products made from them.
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 is impure, so its derivatives keep that ruling unless truly transformed.
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."
Guides how to treat gelatin of unknown 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 becomes pure.
- Mukhtasar Khalil with al-Sharh al-Kabir, Bab al-Taharah, on transformed impurities. The Maliki position on transformation.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. 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.