Mahram

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In Islamic sharia legal terminology, a mahram (Arabic محرم, also transcribed mahrim or maharem) is an unmarriageable kin with whom sexual intercourse would be considered incestuous, a punishable taboo. Current usage of the term covers a wider range of people and mostly deals with the practice of hijab.

The plural form of the word in the Arabic language is maharim with long second vowel (Arabic محارم, also transcribed maharem). Sometimes the word is capitalized but there isn't a general consensus that the word should be capitalized like Muslim. (The Arabic alphabet of course has no upper-case vs. lower-case distinction.)

Note that being mahram is a reciprocal condition. When A is mahram to B, B is definitely mahram to A.


[edit] Who is mahram?

Anybody (whom a woman is not allowed to get married to) from opposite sex that have reached puberty is considered as mahram.

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.

  1. husband
  2. permanent or blood mahrams with whom you become mahram by a blood relationship:
    1. father, grandfather, great-grandfather and so on;
    2. brother;
    3. son, grandson, great-grandson;
    4. uncle, parents' uncle, grandparents' uncle and so on;
    5. nephew, grandnephew, great-grandnephew and so on;
  3. in-law mahrams with whom you become mahram by marrying someone:
    1. father-in-law;
    2. son-in-law;
    3. step-father (mother's husband) if their marriage is consummated;
    4. step-son (husband's son) if her marriage is consummated;
  4. radha' or milk-suckling mahrams with whom you become mahram because of being nursed by a woman. When a woman breast feeds an infant that is not her own child for a certain amount of time with certain conditions, she becomes the child's radha' mother and all said about blood mahrams applies here like radha' father/mother, radha' sister/brother, radha' aunt/uncle and so on.

[edit] Some rules regarding mahrams and non-mahrams

  • Theoretically, a woman's Mahrams form the group of allowable escorts for a Muslim woman when she travels.
  • An adopted-brother (adopted-sister) of a woman (man) is not 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 paragraph Who is Mahram? (see 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 not mahram to his/her ex-spouse.
  • One must not stay with a non-mahram in seclusion where none of their mahrams is present (see also proxemics).
  • A radha' sister (brother) is only mahram to the boy (girl) that her (his) mother has breast fed. That means she (he) is not mahram to his (her) other brothers (sisters) unless the mother has fed them separately.
  • If wives of a man each become a radha' mother of a child, all children and all radha' mothers will be mahram to each other.

[edit] See also

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