Haram (site)

Another meaning of the word which was used in the past but has since fallen out of use, include an "inviolable/protected zone," referring to an area in which the number of residing families was limited, attributed to the idea of carrying capacity and early forms of nature reserves, and to the prayer hall of the mosque.

The harams were typically positioned to ensure access to parkland and nature (which were given another name, hima), to restrict urban sprawl, protect water-courses and watersheds and oases.

This idea probably arises from two different obligations of the Muslim to respect the ijmaʿ (consensus of neighbors within Islam) and practice Khilafah (Stewardship of nature under Allah).

The two sites whose Islamic sanctity are unchallengeably the highest of all are Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca (which is called Ḥaraman Āminan (حَرَمًا آمِنًا, "Sanctuary (which is) Secure") in the Quran (28:57;[5] 29:67[6]), and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, so the Arabic dual form al-ḥaramān (ٱلْحَرَمَان) or al-ḥaramayn (ٱلْحَرَمَيْن) refers to these two places,[7] both of which are in the Hejazi[8] region of the Arabian Peninsula.

[9][10] In addition, the term ḥaram is commonly used to refer to certain other holy sites, such as the Masjid Al-Aqsa (ٱلْحَرَم ٱلشَّرِيْف, Al-Ḥaram Ash-Sharīf) in Jerusalem — though over the protests of some, such as Ibn Taymiyyah, who declared that the only places which could be legitimately called "ḥaram" were Mecca, Medina, and probably also the valley of Wajj in Taif, thus rejecting other places like Hebron and even Jerusalem.