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Fatwa CenterMeat of Dhabb (uromastyx) is lawful
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. Please tell me about the authenticity of the regarding hadith. Is it allowed to eat lizards? The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, disliked the idea of eating lizard meat, he did not forbid others to eat it, as is reported in the following story:
“Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed reported that some grilled lizard meat was brought to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and put in front of him. He stretched out his hand to take some, but one of the people present said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, it is lizard meat,’ so he pulled his hand back. Khaalid ibn al-Waleed asked, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, is lizard haram?’ He said, ‘No, but it is not known among my people and I cannot face eating it.’ So Khaalid took some of the lizard meat and ate it, whilst the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) looked on.” (Reported by Al-Bukhaari, 4981, Al-Nisaa'i, 4242, and Abu Dawood, 3300).
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
The hadeeth about Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed 
eating Dhabb in the presence of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is saheeh (sound) and was narrated by both Al-Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas from Khaalid 
. The hadeeth was also narrated by Abu Daawood, Ahmad, and others.
However, it should be noted that the hadeeth does not refer to the lizard that lives in the houses; rather, it refers to the Dhabb lizard, also known as uromastyx, which is a large desert lizard. It is unlawful to eat the meat of the small house lizards and geckos. The Shaafi‘is, Hanbalis, and others relied on this hadeeth to prove the permissibility of eating the meat of the Dhabb lizard. In fact, most of the scholars held that it is lawful to eat it, while only some maintained that it is unlawful or disliked.
Ibn Qudaamah 
wrote:
“It is lawful to eat the meat of the Dhabb lizard according to most of the scholars, including ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, Ibn ‘Abbaas, Abu Sa‘eed, and the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah 
. It has been reported that Abu Sa‘eed said, 'We, the Companions of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, preferred receiving a Dhabb lizard as a gift to a chicken.' It has been narrated that ‘Umar said, 'It would not please me to have a fat chicken in the place of each Dhabb lizard. I wish that every Dhabb lizard's hole had two of them instead of one!' This scholarly view was also held by Maalik, Al-Layth, Ash-Shaafi‘i, and Ibn Al-Munthir.
Abu Haneefah on the other hand, maintained that it is prohibited to consume the flesh of Dhabb lizard. This opinion was cited by Ath-Thawri, relying on the hadeeth stating that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade eating Dhabb lizard. A similar view was reported on the authority of ‘Ali . Moreover, the Dhabb lizard bites; it is similar to a weasel in this regard..."
Sufficient for us as evidence is the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas who said: “Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed and I entered the house of Maymoonah with the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and he was brought a roasted Dhabb lizard. He stretched his hand toward it. Someone said, 'It is a Dhabb lizard, O Messenger of Allaah.' He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, withdrew his hand. Khaalid said, 'Is it unlawful, O Messenger of Allaah?' He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said, 'No, but there were none in my people's land, and I find that I dislike it.' Khaalid added, 'I chewed and ate it while the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was looking.'” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Ibn ‘Abbaas said: 'The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, refrained from eating Dhabb lizards out of disgust, and his Companions ate it at his own table. If it had been unlawful to consume the flesh of Dhabb lizard, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would not have allowed for it to be served at his own table. ‘Umar remarked, 'The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not declare the Dhabb lizard unlawful for consumption; however, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, refrained from eating it out of disgust. Had it been served for me, I would have eaten it.'
In addition, all things are legislatively declared lawful in principle unless proven otherwise by Sharee'ah evidence. Therefore, it is lawful to consume the flesh of Dhabb lizards. It has not been authentically proven that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, declared it prohibited to consume the flesh of Dhabb lizard, nor did he deem it unlawful.” [Al-Mughni]
Allaah knows best.
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