Islamic Fiqh > Foods and drinks > Eating the forbidden out of necessity (darura)
The necessity rule: what the Quran permits when life is at stake, its limits (the necessary, not the surplus) and its modern application.
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Updated on 07 September 2026 at 3:44 PM
The rule of necessity (darura) rests on the repeated Quranic verse: « whoever is compelled, neither transgressing nor exceeding, no sin is upon him » (al-Baqara 173). The encyclopedia fixes its scope and limits.
All the scholars agree that the forbidden becomes lawful for whoever fears destruction of his life from hunger or thirst, to the measure of what wards off death: carrion, blood, pork, what was slaughtered for other than Allah. The lawfulness holds during the state of compulsion (Ibn Abd al-Barr) and ends with it.
Two dead creatures and two bloods have been made lawful to us: the two dead creatures are the fish and the locust.reported from the Prophet and cited by the encyclopedia from al-Mughni
The locust, for its part, is lawful without necessity, by consensus recorded by Ibn Qudama, based on Ibn Abi Awfa: « we went on seven expeditions with the Messenger of Allah eating locusts » (al-Bukhari).
All the schools agree that the permission stops beyond satiation: taking surplus is no longer covered by compulsion. Malik reports the soundest teaching: whoever is compelled eats his fill and makes provision, then returns the rest if he finds means of living.
Ibn Abd al-Barr adds a social consequence: whoever knows a person in danger of death and holds what can hold his breath must not let him die; if he is alone, it falls to him alone; if several are present, the charge weighs on the group that night. Likewise, eating another's field under compulsion is lawful: the majority teaches that no indemnity is due for what saved a life, a divergent view asking for compensation.
Darura is assessed case by case and ceases as soon as the danger recedes; its frame here is the one the Quran fixed: the necessary, without transgression or excess.