Ruling on the death of aquatic animals such as fish in water

F38Chapter of Waters

Ruling on the death of aquatic animals such as fish in water

Does water become impure when an aquatic animal such as a fish dies in it?

Hanafi

Water is not made impure by the death of what lives in water, such as fish and crabs; its purifying power remains and its use is not disliked.

Reference: Al-Hidāyah — Radd al-Muḥtār — Marāqī al-Falāḥ

Maliki

An aquatic animal such as a fish is pure both alive and dead, so water is not made impure by its dying in it and stays tahur, removing hadath.

Reference: Al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr — Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī — Minaḥ al-Jalīl

Shāfiʿī

The carcass of a creature that lives only in water, such as a fish, is pure, so it does not make the water impure and purification with it remains valid.

Reference: Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn — Al-Majmūʿ — Mughnī al-Muḥtāj

Hanbali

Water is not made impure by the death of an animal that lives in water, such as a fish and its like; its purifying power remains and its use is not disliked.

Reference: Zād al-Mustaqniʿ — Kashshāf al-Qināʿ — Al-Inṣāf