Short answer
Sushi can be halal. Raw fish is halal in all four schools, but check three things: shellfish (not eaten in the Hanafi school, with shrimp disputed), mirin or sake in the rice or sauces (rice wines, which are haram), and any meat toppings. Plain rice vinegar, nori, wasabi and fish are fine.
Raw or cooked fish, fish roe and eel are halal. Crab, squid, octopus and other shellfish are makruh tahrimi, shrimp is disputed, and anything made with mirin or sake as an intoxicating drink is haram.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Shrimp, squid and most shellfish in sushi are halal; mirin and sake are still avoided.
- Maliki
- All seafood in sushi is halal; mirin and sake are still avoided.
- Hanbali
- All seafood in sushi is halal; mirin and sake are still avoided.
Explanation
Eating fish raw is not a fiqh problem: fish needs no slaughter, and cooking is not a condition. The question is what else goes into the roll.
- Fish and roe: tuna, salmon, yellowtail, mackerel, eel (unagi) and fish roe are halal.
- Shellfish: crab, squid, octopus, scallop and sea urchin are not eaten by Hanafis. Shrimp is a difference of opinion among Hanafi scholars (see shrimp).
- Imitation crab: usually white fish, but can contain crab extract or mirin.
- Rice seasoning and sauces: sushi rice is seasoned with rice vinegar, which is fine. Some restaurants add mirin, and eel sauce and teriyaki often contain mirin or sake.
- Meat: beef or chicken toppings need to be halal like any other meat.
Mirin is a sweet rice wine. True mirin is an intoxicating drink, so food cooked with it is like food cooked with wine (see cooking with wine). Mirin-style seasonings with little or no alcohol are a lighter case, but check the label. Soy sauce is covered in soy sauce and gochujang.
At a sushi bar, ask whether the rice contains mirin and which sauces have alcohol. Halal-certified sushi restaurants exist in many Western cities and remove the guesswork.
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.
Fish from the sea is lawful.
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:90
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
Rice wines like sake and mirin fall under intoxicants.
Sahih Muslim 2003
Sahih... كل مسكر خمر وكل مسكر حرام ...
"Every intoxicant is khamr, and every intoxicant is forbidden."
Rice wine is khamr even though it is not made from grapes.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Dhaba'ih, on sea animals. Only fish is eaten from the sea; eel is a fish.
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Kitab al-Ashriba. The fatwa position that every intoxicating drink is haram in any amount.
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.