Short answer
Not in the Hanafi school, which allows only fish from the sea, so octopus, squid (calamari) and cuttlefish are makruh tahrimi (treated as forbidden). The Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools allow them as sea animals. Followers of those schools may eat them, and Hanafis should not criticise them.
Octopus, squid and cuttlefish are water animals that are not fish, so they are makruh tahrimi and are not eaten. The same applies to dishes and sauces made from them, such as calamari, takoyaki and squid ink pasta.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Octopus and squid are halal, since animals that live only in the sea are lawful whatever their shape.
- Maliki
- All sea animals are halal, including octopus and squid.
- Hanbali
- Octopus and squid are halal; the sea creatures excluded are the frog, the crocodile and the snake.
Explanation
Octopus and squid are cephalopods, molluscs related to snails and clams. They have no backbone, fins or scales, so no one counts them as fish. That is why the answer depends on your school.
The Quran makes the game of the sea lawful. The majority read that as every animal that lives only in the sea. The Hanafis read it with the ban on khaba'ith (repulsive things) and the hadith that names fish and locusts as the lawful dead animals, and conclude that only fish is meant from the water.
Where they show up: calamari rings and fried squid, sushi (tako and ika), Spanish pulpo, Korean nakji, Japanese takoyaki, squid ink in pasta and rice, seafood mixes, and some fish stocks. For a Hanafi, squid ink takes the ruling of the squid.
If you follow another school, octopus and squid are halal for you without slaughter. If you are a Hanafi eating with friends who follow another school, keep to your school and leave them to theirs. 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 by the majority as all sea animals and by the Hanafis as fish.
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 ban on khaba'ith, part of the Hanafi reasoning.
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.
Sunan Abi Dawud 83
Graded sahih... هو الطهور ماؤه الحل ميتته ...
"Its water is pure and its dead are lawful."
Sea animals that die are lawful; the majority apply it to all sea animals.
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.