Quranic root
حرم
ḥ · r · m
The root centers on withholding, barring, and imposing restraint, with a closely related sense of making something inviolable or specially protected.
From this core develop prohibition and unlawfulness, sacredness and protected precincts, entry into a restricted ritual state, deprivation or denial, and several specialized usages involving hardening or being prevented from attaining something.
- Maqāyīs · row 1342
- 5
- Quran-attested forms
- 12
- Quran senses
- 83
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
حَرَّمَ
ḥarrama
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 39 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To forbid, prohibit, or make something unlawful.
Used of divine, legal, or human declarations that place an act, object, or relationship under prohibition. Active and passive Quranic forms express the same lexical relation.
- Lane · entry 14217
- Mufradāt · row 316
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:173word 2
“He has forbidden”
To bar someone from something, making it unavailable or inaccessible to them.
Includes prevention by divine arrangement or force, as well as exclusion from a thing or destination; this is distinct from merely declaring an act unlawful.
- Lane · entry 14217
- Mufradāt · row 316
Selected Quran examples
Quran 28:12word 1
“And We had forbidden”
To make sacred or inviolable.
In Quranic usage this may describe the consecration or protected status of a place or thing, rather than only its legal prohibition.
- Lane · entry 14217
Selected Quran examples
Quran 27:91word 9
“made it sacred”
حَرَام / حَرَم
ḥarām / ḥaram
- Part of speech
- Adjective / noun
- Quran occurrences
- 33 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Forbidden, prohibited, or unlawful.
The adjectival use is the opposite of حَلَال; it can qualify acts, objects, relationships, or provisions declared impermissible.
- Lane · entry 14235
- Mufradāt · row 316
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:59word 11
“unlawful”
Sacred, inviolable, and protected from violation.
Used especially of places, times, and things whose sanctity imposes restrictions on conduct.
- Lane · entry 14235
- Mufradāt · row 316
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:194word 2
“[the] sacred”
In a restricted ritual state, specifically in or entering iḥrām.
A conventional pilgrimage-related use describing a person subject to the prohibitions associated with ḥajj or ʿumrah.
- Lane · entry 14235
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:1word 18
“(are in) Ihram”
A sacred precinct or sanctuary.
The noun حَرَم denotes a protected territory, especially the sacred precinct of Makkah or Madinah; the QAC grouping also contains occurrences conventionally represented by this related noun.
- Lane · entry 14225
Selected Quran examples
Quran 28:57word 12
“a sanctuary”
Decreed or inevitable, as an unavoidable outcome.
This interpretation is explicitly reported for the Quranic expression in 21:95 alongside a competing reading and interpretation meaning “forbidden”; it should not be generalized to every occurrence of حَرَام.
- Lane · entry 14224
- Mufradāt · row 316
Selected Quran examples
Quran 21:95word 1
“And (there is) prohibition”
حُرْمَة
ḥurmah
- Part of speech
- Noun · plural form حُرُمَات
- Quran occurrences
- 2 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Inviolable ordinances, sacred rites, and things whose violation is prohibited.
The plural refers collectively to sacred requirements, protected institutions, rites, and other matters that must be observed and not violated.
- Lane · entry 14227
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:194word 5
“and for all the violations”
Quran 22:30word 4
“(the) sacred rites”
مَحْرُوم
maḥrūm
- Part of speech
- Passive participle
- Quran occurrences
- 4 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Deprived, denied prosperity, or deprived of an expected share of provision.
In Quranic usage it can describe a person lacking the prosperity or increase enjoyed by others, including one whose need is not adequately met, and can describe people deprived of an anticipated yield.
- Lane · entry 14246
- Mufradāt · row 316
Selected Quran examples
Quran 51:19word 5
“and the deprived”
Quran 56:67word 3
“(are) deprived”
مُحَرَّم
muḥarram
- Part of speech
- Passive participle
- Quran occurrences
- 5 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Forbidden or prohibited; made unlawful.
The feminine form مُحَرَّمَة is included as the gendered inflection of this passive participle. The Quranic use describes things or actions placed under prohibition.
- Lane · entry 14245
- Mufradāt · row 316
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:145word 8
“(anything) forbidden”
Quran 5:26word 3
“(will be) forbidden”
Sacred or inviolable.
In the description of the House, the passive participle denotes a place invested with sacredness and protected status, not merely an ordinary legal prohibition.
- Lane · entry 14245
Selected Quran examples
Quran 14:37word 12
“Your Sacred House”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:85مُحَرَّمٌ(was) forbidden
- 2:144ٱلْحَرَامِ ۚAl-Haraam
- 2:149ٱلْحَرَامِ ۖAl-Haraam
- 2:150ٱلْحَرَامِ ۚAl-Haraam
- 2:173حَرَّمَHe has forbidden
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 37 Classical meanings
حَرُمَ
To be or become forbidden, unlawful, sacred, or inviolable.
A Form I intransitive use; the subject itself enters the condition of prohibition or sacred protection.
- Lane · entry 14216
حَرَمَ
To deny, refuse, or withhold something from someone; to deprive them of it.
Includes rendering a person hopeless of attaining a desired thing and the related noun حِرْمَان for deprivation or ill-fatedness.
- Lane · entry 14216
- Lane · entry 14240
حَرِمَ / حِرْمَة
Of a female animal, to desire the male.
Reported especially of ewes, she-goats, female cloven-hoofed animals, she-wolves, and bitches; the same lexical usage is also reported in relation to human males in a traditional report.
- Lane · entry 14216
- Lane · entry 14228
- Lane · entry 14232
حَرِمَ / أَحْرَمَ
To lose in a contest for stakes or wagers.
A specialized gambling and hazard-game usage, describing the one who fails to overcome an opponent.
- Lane · entry 14216
- Lane · entry 14218
حَرِمَ
To persist obstinately, or to contend, litigate, or wrangle.
A reported Form I usage concerning persistence or contentious dispute.
- Lane · entry 14216
مُحَرَّم
Hard or left unsoftened, especially of a whip or hide.
Applied to a whip that has not been softened and to a hide that is untanned, incompletely tanned, or not made supple.
- Lane · entry 14217
- Lane · entry 14245
إِحْرَام
To enter a state of prohibition or sacred restriction, especially by beginning ḥajj or ʿumrah.
The state begins when formerly allowable acts become prohibited, including hunting, sexual intercourse, anointing oneself, and wearing sewn garments; the same verb can describe entering a sacred territory or sacred month.
- Lane · entry 14218
أَحْرَمَ
To refrain from something as though prohibited from doing it.
A construction with عَنْ expressing abstention or avoidance.
- Lane · entry 14218
تَحَرَّمَ
To protect or defend oneself by invoking a bond, companionship, right, or covenant.
The protective means may be a compact, promise of security, companionship, or an acknowledged right.
- Lane · entry 14219
تَحَرَّمَ
To become entitled to reverence, respect, or honor.
A Form V use describing acquisition or possession of a status that warrants respect.
- Lane · entry 14219
اِحْتَرَمَ
To hold someone in reverence, respect, or honor.
A transitive Form VIII use; the passive sense “to be held in respect” is separately reported as a correction to some lexicographical explanations.
- Lane · entry 14220
حُرْم / مُحْرِم
The state of iḥrām, or a person subject to its restrictions.
Includes the pilgrimage state and, by extension, a person protected or restricted by a sacred, ritual, or other binding condition.
- Lane · entry 14223
- Lane · entry 14235
- Lane · entry 14243
إِحْرَام / مُحْرِم
A state or person bound by a prohibition, including the restrictions of fasting or an oath.
These are conventional extensions of the idea that a person is prohibited from acts that would break the fast or violate the oath.
- Lane · entry 14218
- Lane · entry 14243
حُرْمَة / مُحْرِم
A covenant, obligation, protection, or condition of security that must be honored.
Includes a compact or responsibility securing a person or property and the protected status of one who is not to be attacked or harmed.
- Lane · entry 14219
- Lane · entry 14227
- Lane · entry 14243
حُرْمَة
Sanctity, inviolability, or the state of being forbidden or revered.
The singular noun can denote the quality itself as well as a sacred or protected matter; its plural is used for inviolable ordinances and rites.
- Lane · entry 14227
حُرَم / حَرِيم
A protected family, household, wife, or woman under one’s protection.
This is a Classical Arabic social and protective usage, distinct from the Quranic abstract sense of prohibition.
- Lane · entry 14227
- Lane · entry 14238
حُرْمَة
A share, portion, or allotted lot.
A reported synonym of نَصِيبٌ.
- Lane · entry 14227
حَرَم
The sacred territory or protected precinct of Makkah or Madinah.
May denote the territory, the city itself, or the protected limits marked around it; the plural can refer to both sacred territories.
- Lane · entry 14225
حَرِيم
The protected environs or appurtenances of a place, such as the precincts of a well, river, canal, house, or mosque.
The protected area is not to be appropriated by anyone other than the owner or entitled party; it may also denote a place one is obliged to defend.
- Lane · entry 14238
حَرِيم
A partner, copartner, or sharer.
A distinct nominal usage reported without a more specific contextual restriction.
- Lane · entry 14238
حَرِيم
A genuine or sincere friend.
Attested in the expression حَرِيمٌ صَرِيحٌ.
- Lane · entry 14238
حَرِيم
The garment of a person in iḥrām, including garments cast off on entering the sacred territory.
The historical pilgrimage usage includes clothing left aside during circumambulation and clothing associated with entry into the ḥaram.
- Lane · entry 14238
حَرِيمَة
Something eagerly desired or coveted that escapes one’s attainment.
Also used of what the Lord withholds from a person.
- Lane · entry 14239
حَارِم
Denying, refusing, or refusing to give.
A participial noun for one who withholds a thing from another.
- Lane · entry 14240
مَحْرَم
A person related in such a way that marriage with them is unlawful.
Used of a male or female relation whose kinship creates a permanent marriage prohibition.
- Lane · entry 14242
مَحَارِمُ اللَّيْل
The fearful places of the night that a coward regards as forbidden to traverse.
A figurative plural expression referring to dangerous or frightening nocturnal routes.
- Lane · entry 14242
مُحْرِم
A person at peace with another or protected from attack, harm, or seizure.
The protection may arise from sacred status, a covenant, Islam, a sacred place or month, or a reciprocal condition in which neither party may harm the other.
- Lane · entry 14243
مُحَرَّم / شَهْر حَرَام
A sacred month in which fighting is prohibited.
The classical list identifies four sacred months and describes the prohibition on fighting during them, subject to reported historical exceptions.
- Lane · entry 14235
- Lane · entry 14245
مُحَرَّم
Refractory, difficult to control, or insufficiently trained, especially of a camel.
May describe an animal difficult to turn or not yet broken to riding; the feminine form applies to a she-camel.
- Lane · entry 14217
- Lane · entry 14245
حَرُوم
A she-camel that does not conceive when covered.
A specialized animal-breeding term.
- Lane · entry 14237
مُحَرَّم
A rude or unschooled desert Arab, characterized as chaste in speech and unaccustomed to town life.
A reported figurative or social characterization, not a general meaning of the passive participle.
- Lane · entry 14245
مُحَرَّم
The soft part of the nose felt by the hand.
An explicitly marked, uncertainly derived specialized usage.
- Lane · entry 14245
حِرْمِيّ
Relating to the sacred territory; in a historical pilgrimage custom, a protected local associate of a pilgrim or the pilgrim associated with him.
The special custom involved sharing food and clothing during pilgrimage and is distinct from the ordinary nisbah meaning “of the sacred territory.”
- Lane · entry 14233
حَرَامَ اللَّه
An oath-like declaration invoking what is forbidden by God.
Used idiomatically in pledges such as “By the prohibition of God, I will not do it,” and could declare a wife or female slave forbidden without intending divorce or emancipation.
- Lane · entry 14235
اِبْنُ حَرَام
An illegitimate son; by extension, a disingenuous or dishonest person.
A fixed idiomatic expression rather than a productive literal description.
- Lane · entry 14235
مَحْرُوم
According to one reported interpretation, unable to speak.
A rare attributed interpretation of مَحْرُوم, likening the condition to that of a dog or cat; it is not the primary Quranic sense of deprivation.
- Lane · entry 14246
مَحْرُوم
Held in reverence, respect, or honor.
A distinct reported sense of the form, separate from مَحْرُوم meaning deprived.
- Lane · entry 14246
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The QAC HaraAm group contains both حَرَام and occurrences conventionally represented by the related noun حَرَم; these are shown together publicly but distinguished in the senses.
The interpretation of 21:95 has competing readings and explanations: one makes the expression mean inevitable or decreed, while another takes it in the ordinary sense of prohibition.
The Quranic discussion of prohibition distinguishes divine prevention, coercive exclusion, and legal prohibition; these are related uses but not interchangeable in every context.
The form مُحَرَّم occurs as both a masculine and feminine passive participle in the supplied QAC groups; the feminine group is merged as an inflectional variant.