Haram
Haram names an act Islamic law forbids with full binding force, answerable for doing it without excuse and rewarded for leaving it.
What it means for me: Haram is a serious word, so it deserves care before you use it. Calling something haram without knowledge hands out a judgment that belongs to evidence alone, not to opinion or mood.
Example: A relative asks whether a deal is haram, and you are not sure. The honest answer is, 'I do not know — ask someone qualified,' not a guess dressed up as certainty.
Do not confuse with: Makruh, the disliked. Makruh carries no sin for doing it; haram does, which is why the two words are never interchangeable in a careful answer.
If scholars differ: Jurists agree a prohibition needs real evidence to stand — nobody may declare something haram from opinion alone. Disagreement usually concerns whether that evidence is established, or how it applies to a given case, not the category itself. See why we should never say halal or haram without knowledge.
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See the term in context
Is earning a living from working in a winery for 35 years in France considered permissible (halal) or forbidden (haram), and is the retirement pension resulting from it permissible or forbidden?
Allah has forbidden alcohol (khamr). His Messenger, peace be upon him, cursed ten categories of people associated with alcohol. The worker in an alcohol factory is considered one who presses grapes (for alcohol), and…
Why is it necessary to enter into a state of Ihram for Umrah from Al-Taneem after Hajj, even though the person performing Tamattu' enters into Ihram for Hajj from Makkah? And is Makkah alone a sanctuary (haram), or is Medina also a sanctuary?
Those residing in Mecca or staying there for Hajj enter into ihram from Mecca itself. As for a resident of Mecca who intends to perform Umrah, they must go out to the nearest point in the hill (area outside the Haram),…
What is the ruling on uttering "haram, haram, haram" in relation to divorce? Is expiation (kaffarah) obligatory for someone who swore by it if his son leaves the house without consulting him? And is it permissible to give the expiation in cash?
The phrase "haram, haram, haram of divorce, if your son leaves the house without consulting me, he will not enter it again" is ambiguous. The ruling on swearing by the word "haram" depends on the intention of the one…
Questions that use it
Is reporting violations and irregularities related to tax evasion in a company considered haram, especially given the opinions that consider taxes haram?
What is the ruling on giving the value of the ransom for shaving the hair during Ihram to six needy persons outside the Haram, and is that sufficient?
What is the ruling on saying to my father, "It is haram and by divorce I will not ride with you in this car," knowing that it is not his property?