Is rennet halal?
Rennet curdles milk: most cheeses depend on it. It can be animal (from the stomach of young ruminants), microbial or plant-based. The schools do not rule on it the same way.
Below are the app's encyclopedia entries exactly as Tayib shows them: the four schools' reading, the explanation, the texts and the sources. Tayib informs, it does not certify — for your personal situation, ask a qualified scholar.
Is rennet halal?
Rennet: the schools differ in Tayib (Hanafi — halal, Maliki — doubtful, Shafi‘i — doubtful, Hanbali — doubtful). Animal rennet comes from the stomach of young ruminants, such as calves. If the animal is not ritually slaughtered, Abu Hanifa considers it pure; the other schools consider it doubtful. Microbial or plant rennet resolves the question.
- 01.
In the shop, when "Rennet" appears on the ingredient list.
- 02.
When the label leaves out an ingredient's origin and you want to know what is missing.
- 03.
When someone says "it's halal" or "it's haram" with no source, and you want the argument.
3 entries · rennet
Main entry firstRennet
coagulant, origin needs clarification
Animal rennet comes from the stomach of young ruminants, such as calves. If the animal is not ritually slaughtered, Abu Hanifa considers it pure; the other schools consider it doubtful. Microbial or plant rennet resolves the question.
Animal or coagulating enzyme needing clarification
enzyme origin needs clarification
Pepsin, lipase of unspecified origin, coagulants and enzymes declared to be animal-derived still need checking. In cheese or a curdled dairy product, generic enzymes also retain this reservation: their name does not document their origin or the rennet. A microbial or plant origin explicitly attached to the enzyme may resolve this question. A coagulant identified as citric acid or a mineral salt is not an unspecified animal enzyme. Named rennet retains its own entry and readings.
Enzymes outside cheese or curdled dairy contexts
presumption of lawfulness outside dairy coagulation
By the owner’s decision, Tayib applies the presumption of lawfulness to generic enzymes outside cheese or curdled dairy contexts, notably in bread, juices, biscuits and lactose-free milk. According to EFSA, most industrial food enzymes are obtained through the fermentation of microorganisms; this does not certify the origin of the particular product. The note is informative. Coagulants, lipase, pepsin and any declared animal origin remain subject to separate analysis; the reservation is retained in cheese or curdled dairy contexts. Enzyme: origin unspecified, presumed lawful outside cheese or curdled dairy contexts
5 institutional opinions
Shown apart from the schoolsPermitted for rennet from a lawful species
International Islamic Fiqh Academy (OIC)
Cheese made with rennet from a permitted animal is halal; cheese made with pork rennet is haram.
« cheese made from abomasum-rennet of permissible living animals is halal , whereas cheese made from abomasum-rennet of pigs is haram . »
Resolution 225
Permitted except for pork rennet
Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah (Egypt's Dar Al-Ifta)
Cheese made with animal rennet is lawful as long as the rennet does not come from pigs, since the rennet is chemically transformed and slaughter by the People of the Book is accepted.
« there is nothing wrong in eating the cheese you mention as long as the rennet is not derived from pigs, but from calves or other animals which are lawful for a Muslim to eat. »
Fatwa no. 9411, 05 May 2015
Non-zabiha rennet: majority prohibition
International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA, OIC)
Pork rennet is forbidden; rennet from a lawful, ritually slaughtered animal is pure; rennet from an animal not ritually slaughtered is considered impure by the majority of participants; rennet produced through genetic engineering is permitted.
« If rennet is extracted from a dead animal that has not been slaughtered in accordance with Shariah, most of the participants are of the opinion that it is impure and not permissible »
Resolution No. 210 (6/22) page, Kuwait 2015
Permitted, even non-zabiha
Darul Qasim – Iftā' Department (Glendale Heights, IL, USA)
According to the dominant Hanafi opinion (Abu Hanifa), rennet from a lawful animal is permitted regardless of how it was slaughtered; only known pork rennet makes the product unlawful.
« Hence, the consumption of rennet is allowed, when it is derived from a lawful animal regardless of how the animal was slaughtered. »
Fatwa ID# DI00030, December 18, 2018
Whey follows the rennet’s status
Darul Qasim – Iftā' Department (Glendale Heights, IL, USA)
Whey follows the status of the rennet: it is lawful if the cheese from which it comes was made with lawful rennet.
« If certain cheese is made from any of the above permissible (ḥalāl) rennet sources, its whey will be permissible (ḥalāl) to consume. »
Fatwa ID# DI00030, December 18, 2018
What people often ask
Abu Hanifa considers rennet taken from an animal not ritually slaughtered to be pure, because it is not itself living (like milk). For the other schools, it is part of the dead animal and takes its status. Hence Tayib’s rule: microbial or plant rennet resolves the question.
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