The existence of mermaids is often debated. However, it turns out that the story of this mythical creature has been written in Islamic books by the ancient scholars.
Each book has different terms to refer to this mythical creature, which is half-human and half-fish. One of them, Imam Az-Zarqani, in his book Ajwibah Az-Zarqani, referred to the mermaid as admiyatul bahr or sea human.
Unlike Kitab Hayah Al-Hayawaan Jilid 1 compiled by Kamaluddin Muhammad bin Musa Ad Damiri, which discusses various unique and rare animals in the world that may be extinct, one of which is the mermaid. The book, which was written by the Egyptian scholar of the Shafi'i school of thought, refers to the mermaid as insanul ma' and syaikhul bahr as the term for the male mermaid.
The existence of mermaids is described in this book, which is said to be in the Sea of Syria at certain times. Here's a translation of the description of mermaids in Kitab Hayaah Al-Hayawan Jilid 1 page 46, as published by Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Al-Qur'an (STIQ) Isy Karima.
"Manusia laut is a creature that resembles humans but has a tail. Al-Qazwaini said: 'Someone brought one of these animals in our time with the shape we mentioned.' And it is said: Indeed, in the Sea of Syria at certain times, there is an animal that resembles a human form, and he has a white beard, they call it 'Syaikh Al-Bahr.' If seen by humans, they will rejoice."
In addition, one of the books that discusses the Shafi'i Mazhab fiqh, Kitab Hasyiyah Al-Bujairimi Jilid 4 or Tuhfah Al-Habib 'Alaa Syarh Al-Khatiib, also mentioned the physical characteristics of mermaids. One of the characteristics mentioned by Sheikh Sulaiman bin Muhammad bin Umar Al-Syaf'i in this book is that they have long, flowing, chestnut hair.
"Banaat Ar-Ruum is a fish in the sea that resembles a woman. She has long flowing hair. The color tends to be brownish, has a vagina and breasts. They can talk but cannot be understood. They laugh and giggle. Sometimes these fish are caught by sailors and then married and returned to the sea," reads the translation of the book.
As for the issue of the classification of mermaids as humans or animals, Imam Az-Zarqani in his book Ajwibah Az-Zarqani states that mermaids are classified as animals, so it is forbidden to marry them, and they will gather together with other animals as dust in the hereafter.
"Sea fairies are classified as animals, so they cannot be married. And if they are mated, then the perpetrator must be punished with ta'dib/ta'ziir (a punishment that is not hadd because of an act of immorality and criminality). And sea fairies on the Day of Judgment will become dust like other animals," reads the description of Imam Az-Zarqani.
According to the website of the Faculty of Adab & Humanities at UIN Bandung, one of the contemporary scholars, Ibn Uthaymeen, also permits eating mermaids because they belong to the category of sea creatures. His explanation is based on the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad SAW about the sea which says, "Its water is pure and its creatures are lawful." (Narrated by Abu Daud, An Nasa'i, At Tirmidzi, and Ibn Majah)
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