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{{Short description|Muslim's non-marriageable kin in Islamic law}}
{{hatnote group|
{{distinguish|Maharam (disambiguation){{!}}Maharam}}
{{about|a male social role in Islam| adult female escort for unmarried women in Western tradition|Chaperone (social)}}
}}
{{italic title}}
{{Fiqh|etiquette|state=collapsed}}

In [[Islam]], a {{transliteration|ar|'''''mahram'''''}} ({{langx|ar|مَحْرَمٌ}}) is a family member with whom [[marriage in Islam|marriage]] would be considered permanently unlawful (''[[haram]]''). A woman does not need to wear [[hijab]] around her mahram or spouse, and an adult male mahram or husband may escort a woman on a journey, although an escort may not be obligatory.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mahram - Oxford Islamic Studies Online|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1391|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121224443/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1391|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 21, 2021|access-date=2021-01-16|website=www.oxfordislamicstudies.com}}</ref>

==Overview==
===People with whom marriage is prohibited===
* '''permanent''' or '''blood ''mahrams''''' include:
** all direct ancestors
** all direct descendants
** siblings
** siblings of parents, grandparents, and further antecedents
** children and further descendants of siblings
* '''[[Kinship terminology|in-law]] ''mahrams''''' with whom one becomes ''mahram'' by marrying someone:
** all the ancestors of one's spouse
** all the descendants of one's spouse
** all who marry a direct ancestor 
** all who marry a direct descendant (A woman may marry her stepfather, but only if the stepfather has not consummated his marriage to her mother.) 
* [[Rada (fiqh)|''Rada'']] or "'''milk-suckling ''mahrams'''''" with whom one becomes ''mahram'' because of being nursed by the same woman:
** foster mother 
** foster sibling

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 ''rada'' mother. In English these can be referred to as [[milk brother]], milk-mother, and so on. For a man, ''mahram'' women include his mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, aunt, grandaunt, niece, grandniece, his father's wife, his wife's daughter (step-daughter), his daughter-in-law (if previously married to his biological son. She is not ''mahram'' if she was married to his adopted son), his mother-in-law, his ''rada'' mother and ''rada'' sister. According to the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]], "What is forbidden by reason of kinship is forbidden by reason of suckling."<ref>{{Href|bukhari|5110|b=yl}}</ref>

These are considered ''mahram'' because they are mentioned in the [[Quran]] (An-Nisa 22–23):

{{Blockquote
| text=22. Do not marry former wives of your fathers—except what was done previously. It was indeed a shameful, despicable, and evil practice.
23. ˹Also˺ forbidden to you for marriage are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal and maternal aunts, your brother’s daughters, your sister’s daughters, your foster-mothers, your foster-sisters, your mothers-in-law, your stepdaughters under your guardianship if you have consummated marriage with their mothers—but if you have not, then you can marry them—nor the wives of your own sons, nor two sisters together at the same time—except what was done previously. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
| author={{qref|4|22-23|c=y}}
}}

All of the man's female relatives mentioned in these two verses are considered his ''maharim'', because it is unlawful (''haram'') for him to marry them, except the wife's sister, whom he can marry if he divorces her sister, or if his wife dies. The notion of ''mahram'' is reciprocal. All other relatives are considered non-''maharim''.

===Legal escorts of women during journey===
{{See also | Women in Islam#Movement and travel}}
A woman may be legally escorted during a journey by her husband, or by any sane, adult male ''mahram'' by blood, although an escort may not be required, including:
* her father, grandfather or other male ancestor
* her son, grandson or other male descendant
* her brother
* her uncle, great uncle, or uncle from a previous generation
* the son, grandson, or other descendant of her sibling

==Rules==
===Mahram===
A Muslim woman's ''mahrams'' form the group of allowable escorts when she travels.

For a spouse, being ''mahram'' is a permanent condition. That means, for example, that a man will remain ''mahram'' to his ex-mother-in-law after divorcing her daughter.

==See also==
* [[Baligh]]
* [[Chaperone (social)]]—an adult female escort for unmarried girls in Western European tradition, ''dueña'' in Spanish (anglicised ''duenna'').
* [[Cousin marriage]]
* [[Dayyuth]]
* [[Ḥ-R-M]]
* [[Hijab]]
* [[Islamic marital jurisprudence]]
* [[Islamic sexual jurisprudence]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* [https://books.google.com/books?id=vZAwBTUqTa4C&q=Abdul-Rahman%2C+Muhammad+Saed%2C+Islam%3A+Questions+and+Answers+-+Jurisprudence+and+Islamic+Rulings Abdul-Rahman, Muhammad Saed, ''Islam: Questions and Answers - Jurisprudence and Islamic Rulings''], London: MSA Publication Limited, 2007, pp.&nbsp;22–23.
* Packard, Gwen K., ''Coping in an Interfaith Family'', New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 1993, p.&nbsp;11.

{{Incest}}

[[Category:Arabic words and phrases in Sharia]]
[[Category:Human population genetics]]
[[Category:Marriage in Islam]]
[[Category:Kinship and descent]]
[[Category:Modesty in Islam]]
[[Category:Sex segregation and Islam]]