In
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
ic
shariaSharia is an Arabic word meaning ‘way’ or ‘path’. In Arabic, the collocation ‘Šarīʿat Allāh’ is traditionally used not only by Muslims, but also Christians and Jews, sometimes translating expressions such as Torat Elōhīm [תורת אלוהים] or ‘ho nómos toû theoû' '’...
legal terminology, a
mahram (Arabic محرم, also transliterated
mahrim or
maharem) is an unmarriageable kin with whom
sexual intercourseSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which the male reproductive organ enters the female reproductive tract. The two entities may be of opposite sexes or not, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
would be considered
incestIncest is any sexual activity between close relatives irrespective of the ages of the participants and irrespective of their consent, that is illegal or socially taboo. The type of sexual activity and the nature of the relationship between persons that constitutes a breach of law or social taboo...
uous, a punishable
tabooA taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and forbidden. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. The term comes from the Tongan language, and appears in many Polynesian cultures...
. Current usage of the term covers a wider range of people and mostly deals with the
dress code practice of hijabThis list of types of sartorial hijab indexes styles of clothing found in predominantly Muslim societies commonly associated with the word hijab...
.
The plural form of the word in the
Arabic languageArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
is
maharim with long second vowel (Arabic محارم, also transliterated
maharem).
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Mahram' Start a new discussion about 'Mahram' Answer questions from other users |
In
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
ic
shariaSharia is an Arabic word meaning ‘way’ or ‘path’. In Arabic, the collocation ‘Šarīʿat Allāh’ is traditionally used not only by Muslims, but also Christians and Jews, sometimes translating expressions such as Torat Elōhīm [תורת אלוהים] or ‘ho nómos toû theoû' '’...
legal terminology, a
mahram (Arabic محرم, also transliterated
mahrim or
maharem) is an unmarriageable kin with whom
sexual intercourseSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which the male reproductive organ enters the female reproductive tract. The two entities may be of opposite sexes or not, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
would be considered
incestIncest is any sexual activity between close relatives irrespective of the ages of the participants and irrespective of their consent, that is illegal or socially taboo. The type of sexual activity and the nature of the relationship between persons that constitutes a breach of law or social taboo...
uous, a punishable
tabooA taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and forbidden. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society. The term comes from the Tongan language, and appears in many Polynesian cultures...
. Current usage of the term covers a wider range of people and mostly deals with the
dress code practice of hijabThis list of types of sartorial hijab indexes styles of clothing found in predominantly Muslim societies commonly associated with the word hijab...
.
The plural form of the word in the
Arabic languageArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
is
maharim with long second vowel (Arabic محارم, also transliterated
maharem). Sometimes the word is capitalized but there isn't a general consensus that the word should be capitalized like
Muslim. (The
Arabic alphabetThe Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing several languages of Asia and Africa, such as Arabic and Urdu. After the Latin alphabet, it is the second-most widely used alphabet around the world....
has no upper-case vs. lower-case distinction.)
Being mahram is a reciprocal condition. If
A is mahram to
B,
B is definitely mahram to
A.
Who is mahram?
Anyone whom a Muslim is not allowed to marry is
mahram, if they are of the opposite sex and have reached
pubertyPuberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body becomes an adult body capable of reproduction. Puberty is initiated by hormone signals from the brain to the gonads . In response, the gonads produce a variety of hormones that stimulate the growth, function, or transformation of...
. A partial list of what is considered a "mahram" can be found in Surah 24, Ayah 31, of the Quran.
A woman's opposite-sex
mahrams fall into four categories (three categories in the strict-sense definition that does not count one's spouse). Note that
mahrams for a man can be derived in a similar manner.
- permanent or blood mahrams with whom one is mahram by a blood relationship:
- father, grandfather, great-grandfather and so on;
- brother;
- son, grandson, great-grandson;
- uncle, parents' uncle, grandparents' uncle and so on;
- nephew, grandnephew, great-grandnephew and so on;
- in-law mahrams with whom one becomes mahram by marrying someone:
- father-in-law;
- son-in-law;
- stepfather (mother's husband) if their marriage is consummated;
- stepson (husband's son) if her marriage is consummated;
- rada
Radā or ridā'a is a technical term from Islamic jurisprudence meaning "the suckling which produces the legal impediment to marriage of foster-kinship". The term derives from the infinitive noun of the Arabic word radi'a or rada'a...
or milk-suckling mahrams with whom you become mahram because of being nursed by the same woman. When a woman acts as a wetnurse (that is, she breast feeds an infant that is not her own child) for a certain amount of time under certain conditions, she becomes the child's radaRadā or ridā'a is a technical term from Islamic jurisprudence meaning "the suckling which produces the legal impediment to marriage of foster-kinship". The term derives from the infinitive noun of the Arabic word radi'a or rada'a...
mother and all said about blood mahrams applies here, like rada father/mother, rada sister/brother, rada aunt/uncle and so on. In English these can be referred to as milk brother, milk-mother, etc. (See also breastfeeding fatwa.)
- Although Muslims are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims, they are not considered as mahram to them; as maharem for Muslim women are allowed to see Muslim women without Hijab and are also allowed to accompany them to Haj. Non-Muslims are not allowed to do same with Muslim women, that's why, even though they're not allowed to marry them, they don't qualify as maharem.
Some rules regarding mahrams and ghayr mahrams (non-mahrams)
- Theoretically, a Muslim woman's mahrams form the group of allowable escorts when she travels.
- An adopted brother (adopted sister) of a woman (man) is ghayr mahram to her (him) and they can marry each other. The term "adopted" means those children who are adopted by one's parents for the purpose of providing shelter and upbringing and who do not fall under the relationships outlined under the section "Who is Mahram?" above.
- Except for the spouse, being mahram is a permanent condition. That means, for example, a man will remain mahram to his ex-mother-in-law after divorcing her daughter. One is ghayr mahram to one's ex-spouse.
- One must not stay with a ghayr mahram in seclusion where none of their mahrams is present (see also proxemics
The term proxemics was introduced by anthropologist Edward T. Hall in 1966. Proxemics is the study of set measurable distances between people as they interact...
).
- A rada sister (brother) is only mahram to the boy (girl) that her (his) mother has breast fed. That means she (he) is ghayr mahram to his (her) other brothers (sisters) unless the mother has fed them separately.
- If wives of a man each become a rada mother of a child, all children and all rada mothers will be mahram to each other.
See also
- Ḥ-R-M
- Islamic marital jurisprudence
In Islamic law , marriage is a legal bond and social contract between a man and a woman. There are two types of marriages mentioned in the Qur'an * the nikah in verse 4:4* the nikah mut‘ah in verse 4:24...
- Cousin couple
A cousin couple is a pair of cousins who are involved in a romantic or sexual relationship. In some jurisdictions and cultures, such marriages are legal, accepted, or even actively encouraged, while in others cousin-cousin relationships are regarded as incest and marriages are prohibited...
- Prohibited degree of kinship
The prohibited degree of kinship refers to a degree of consanguinity below which sexual interrelationships are regarded as incestuous. Inbreeding is a taboo across all cultures worldwide, but the line at which a relationship is considered incestuous varies...