Short answer
Yes. Harmful creatures such as mosquitoes, flies, ants that bite, cockroaches, scorpions, snakes and rats may be killed in ihram and in the Haram with no penalty. Two things are different in the Hanafi school: lice from your own body, and locusts, which require a small charity. Hunting land animals is forbidden.
Insects are not game, so killing them carries no penalty, and harmful ones may be killed. Killing or throwing away lice from one's own body or clothes requires a little charity: something for one, a handful of food for two or three, half a sa' for more. A locust counts as game, so killing one requires a small charity such as a date.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Killing lice is disliked; giving something in charity for it is recommended, not required.
Explanation
The Prophet ﷺ said five creatures are harmful and may be killed even in the Haram: the crow, the kite, the scorpion, the mouse and the vicious dog. Scholars extend this to anything that attacks or harms, such as snakes, mosquitoes and wasps. What ihram forbids is hunting land game, as the Quran says.
- Mosquitoes, flies, ants, cockroaches, bedbugs: no penalty. Still, do not kill harmless creatures for no reason.
- Lice: Ka'b ibn Ujrah's head was full of lice in ihram, and he was told to shave and pay a ransom. Killing lice is part of removing dirt from the body, so the Hanafis require a small charity for it.
- Locusts: Umar ruled that a date is better than a locust, so a small charity is due.
- Land animals and birds: hunting, killing, or helping someone hunt is forbidden; the penalty is the animal's value, judged by two fair people.
- Fish: sea game is allowed.
In the Haram itself the same rules on game apply even to people not in ihram. For plants in the Haram, see cutting plants in the Haram. For the general ruling on killing insects outside ihram, see killing insects.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:95
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَقْتُلُوا۟ ٱلصَّيْدَ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُمٌۭ ۚ وَمَن قَتَلَهُۥ مِنكُم مُّتَعَمِّدًۭا فَجَزَآءٌۭ مِّثْلُ مَا قَتَلَ مِنَ ٱلنَّعَمِ يَحْكُمُ بِهِۦ ذَوَا عَدْلٍۢ مِّنكُمْ هَدْيًۢا بَٰلِغَ ٱلْكَعْبَةِ أَوْ كَفَّٰرَةٌۭ طَعَامُ مَسَٰكِينَ أَوْ عَدْلُ ذَٰلِكَ صِيَامًۭا لِّيَذُوقَ وَبَالَ أَمْرِهِۦ ۗ عَفَا ٱللَّهُ عَمَّا سَلَفَ ۚ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَيَنتَقِمُ ٱللَّهُ مِنْهُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌۭ ذُو ٱنتِقَامٍ ﴿٩٥﴾
O you who have believed, do not kill game while you are in the state of ihram. And whoever of you kills it intentionally - the penalty is an equivalent from sacrificial animals to what he killed, as judged by two just men among you as an offering [to Allah] delivered to the Ka'bah, or an expiation: the feeding of needy people or the equivalent of that in fasting, that he may taste the consequence of his deed. Allah has pardoned what is past; but whoever returns [to violation], then Allah will take retribution from him. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Owner of Retribution.
Hunting land game is forbidden in ihram.
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.
Sea game is allowed.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1829
Sahih... خمس من الدواب كلهن فاسق يقتلهن في الحرم ...
"Five creatures are all harmful and may be killed in the Haram."
Harmful creatures may be killed in ihram and the Haram.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Hajj, bab al-jinayat, fasl on game. Insects are not game; harmful creatures may be killed; lice and locusts need charity.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Manasik, chapter on game. The amounts for one, two or three lice and for more.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Hajj, on what a muhrim may kill. The Shafi'i view on lice.
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.