Haram (Arabic:حَرَم,romanized: ḥaram,lit. 'sanctuary') is one of several similar words originating from the triliteralSemiticrootḤ-R-M. The word literally means "sanctuary", commonly used byMuslims to refer toAl-Masjid Al-Haram andProphet Mohammad's Mosque.[1] There are certain rules which Muslims within these two areas must follow.
Another meaning of the word which was used in the past but has since fallen out of use, include an "inviolable/protected zone", referring to an area in which the number of residing families was limited, attributed to the idea ofcarrying capacity and early forms ofnature reserves, and to the prayer hall of the mosque.
TheArabic language has two separate words,ḥaram (حَرَم) andḥarām (حَرَام) both derived from the sametriliteralSemitic rootḤ-R-M. Both of these words can mean "forbidden" and/or "sacred"[2]: 471 in a general way, but each has also developed some specialized meanings (ḥarām most often means "forbidden by law"[3]). A third related word derived from the same root, that isḥarīm (حَرِيْم), most directly corresponds to English "harem". This article covers the wordḥaram (with short vowels in the singular form).
As used in Islamic urban planning, the wordḥaram means "inviolate zone", an important aspect ofurban planning inMuslimcivilization. Such protected areas were sanctuaries, or places where contending parties could settle disputes peacefully. Towns were usually built near a river which provided drinking and domestic water (upstream) and carried away waste and sewage (downstream). Muslims claim to have introduced the idea ofcarrying capacity, and clearly sometimes did limit the number of families in any given town. The harams were typically positioned to ensure access to parkland and nature (which were given another name,hima), to restricturban sprawl, protect water-courses andwatersheds andoases. In this respect the rules strongly resembled modernzoning laws, with the same purposes.
The distinction betweenharam andhima is thought by some modern scholars to have been necessary due to a different means of deciding which regions were to have restrictions - the selection of haram was considered to be more up to the community while the selection of hima had more to do with natural characteristics of the region, which were considered to be best respected byjurists. This idea probably arises from two different obligations of the Muslim to respect theijmaʿ (consensus of neighbors within Islam) and practiceKhilafah (Stewardship of nature under Allah). It may or may not reflect actual means of decision making historically. As a protected and inviolate zone,haram is also employed referring to the consecrated space in a mosque where rituals and prayer take place: it is the prayer hall.[4]
Ḥaram can also mean a site of high sanctity. The two sites whose Islamic sanctity are unchallengeably the highest of all areAl-Masjid al-Haram inMecca (which is calledḤaraman Āminan (حَرَمًا آمِنًا, "Sanctuary (which is) Secure") in theQuran (28:57;[5] 29:67[6]), andthe Prophet's Mosque inMedina, so the Arabicdual formal-ḥaramān (ٱلْحَرَمَان) oral-ḥaramayn (ٱلْحَرَمَيْن) refers to these two places,[7] both of which are in theHejazi[8] region of theArabian Peninsula. Since1986, the Saudi monarchy has disclaimed all royal titles except "Custodian of the Two Holy Sanctuaries" or "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" (خَادِم ٱلْحَرَمَيْن ٱلشَّرِيْفَيْن,Khādim al-Ḥaramayn ash-Sharīfayn).[9][10]
In addition, the termḥaram is commonly used to refer to certain other holy sites, such as theMasjid Al-Aqsa (ٱلْحَرَم ٱلشَّرِيْف,Al-Ḥaram Ash-Sharīf) inJerusalem — though over the protests of some, such asIbn Taymiyyah, who declared that the only places which could be legitimately called "ḥaram" were Mecca, Medina, and probably also the valley of Wajj inTaif, thus rejecting other places likeHebron and even Jerusalem.[11] In fact, one of the Islamic names of Jerusalem,thālith al-ḥaramayn (ثَالِث ٱلْحَرَمَيْن, literally "the third of the two holy places") resolves the tension between the unchallengeable pre-eminence of Mecca and Medina versus the desire to recognize Jerusalem as having a special status in Islam in a somewhat paradoxical manner.[citation needed] Jerusalem, being home toMasjid Al-Aqsa (one of the fewmosques that arementioned by name in the Quran,[12] and consequently one of themost important mosques) is normally seen as being holy in its own right.[13]