Peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you. As for what follows: Is it permissible to eat snails?

Insects are divided into two categories: those with circulating blood (vertebrates) and those without. Scholars have three opinions regarding the permissibility of eating insects (excluding locusts, dabb lizards, and worms):

1. Hanafi school: All insects are forbidden to eat because they are considered impure (khaba'ith). 2. Maliki school: All insects are permissible to eat for those whom they do not harm, provided they are ritually slaughtered (dhaka). If an insect has circulating blood, it is slaughtered by cutting the throat. If it does not have circulating blood (like the land snail), it is slaughtered by methods that hasten its death, along with the pronouncement of God's name and intention. 3. Shafi'i and Hanbali schools: They differentiate, prohibiting some types while permitting others. The Shafi'is permit some insects due to their resemblance to the dabb lizard or because they are not considered impure. The Hanbalis, however, differ with them regarding the hedgehog and the weasel, and they have two narrations concerning the wabar (hyrax) and the jerboa.

Maliki jurists permit eating land snails for those whom they do not harm, provided they are ritually slaughtered like locusts, which is the view held by Malik. Ibn Hazm, however, held the view that eating land snails and all insects is forbidden, arguing that ritual slaughter (dhaka) can only be performed on the throat or chest, and anything that cannot be ritually slaughtered in this manner is forbidden.