ḥaram
ḥaram, in Islam, a sacred place or territory. The principal ḥarams are in Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, and, for the Shiʿah, Karbalāʾ (Iraq). At Mecca the ḥaram encompasses the territory traversed by pilgrims engaged in the hajj (great pilgrimage) and ʿumra (lesser pilgrimage), including the Kaʿba and Al-Ḥaram Mosque, Ṣafā and Marwā, Minā, and the plain of ʿArafāt. Medina’s ḥaram contains the Prophet’s mosque-tomb. Jerusalem’s “noble ḥaram” (al-ḥaram al-sharīf) consists of the area of the Temple Mount where Al-Aqṣā Mosque and the Dome of the Rock stand. At Karbalāʾ the mosque-tomb of al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī (died 680), the third imam, is the foremost ḥaram. In general, any mosque or shrine can be considered to possess a ḥaram.
Such sacred places are regarded as focal points of divine blessing, usually mediated by a holy man or woman. According to the Hadith, Mecca’s ḥaram was consecrated when God created heaven and earth. Muhammad was remembered to have declared that he had sacralized Medina just as Abraham had once sacralized Mecca. Ḥarams are “forbidden” areas set apart from the mundane human landscape by codes for ritualized behaviour, which include bans on bloodshed, violence, uprooting trees, sexual activity, menstruating women, elimination of bodily wastes, offensive behavior, and, especially in Mecca and Medina, non-Muslims. Unlike in ancient Near Eastern temples and pre-Islamic Arabian sanctuaries, sacrifices are conducted in areas removed from the main centres of worship. In Mecca they are conducted near Minā, in a valley between the Al-Ḥaram Mosque and ʿArafāt. Ḥaram visitors are expected to observe rules of ritual purity, remove shoes, cross the threshold with the right foot first, and salute the shrine upon entrance. Hajj rites require the most complex procedures for attaining the holy state known as iḥrām before entering Mecca’s precincts. Because of the holiness of such locations, God is believed to multiply rewards for virtuous acts in them just as he multiplies punishments for transgressions. Moreover, burial in or near a ḥaram earns the deceased blessings in the afterlife.
Ḥaram territories are not necessarily enclosed by distinctive architecture. However, core ḥaram sites and mosques are usually delimited by monumental features such as enclosure walls, arcades, ceremonial gateways, minarets, qibla niches (miḥrābs), and domes. There may also be elaborate displays of Qurʾanic calligraphy and geometric decorations in stone, stucco, brick, or adobe. In more mundane contexts ḥaram has been used to denote the inviolability of a house, a man’s wife, and even a secular university.
