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What is the ruling on eating turtles and hyenas?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The correct view among scholars is the permissibility of eating the turtle, whether it is sea or land, due to the generality of Allah's saying: (Eat of what is in the earth lawful and good) and (He has already explained to you what He has forbidden to you), and He did not specify the prohibition of the turtle.

As for the hyena, the correct view among scholars is its permissibility to eat, based on what Ahmad, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, and At-Tirmidhi narrated from Jabir ibn Abdullah that he was asked about the hyena, and he ordered its consumption, saying: "Yes. I heard it from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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