Editing Haram (site) (section)

==In Islam==

===Protected zone===
{{see also|Hima (disambiguation)|carrying capacity|drainage basin}}
[[File:Great Mosque of Kairouan prayer hall.jpg|thumb|310px|Haram or prayer hall of the [[Mosque of Uqba|Great Mosque of Kairouan]] (also called the Mosque of Uqba) which is located in the historic city of [[Kairouan]] in [[Tunisia]], [[North Africa]]]]

As used in Islamic urban planning, the word ''ḥaram'' means "inviolate zone", an important aspect of [[urban planning]] in [[Muslims|Muslim]] [[civilization]]. Such protected areas were sanctuaries, or places where contending parties could settle disputes peacefully. Towns were usually built near a river which provided drinking and domestic water (upstream) and carried away waste and sewage (downstream). Muslims claim to have introduced the idea of [[carrying capacity]], and clearly sometimes did limit the number of families in any given town. The harams were typically positioned to ensure access to parkland and nature (which were given another name, [[hima (environmental protection)|hima]]), to restrict [[urban sprawl]], protect water-courses and [[drainage basin|watershed]]s and [[oasis|oases]]. In this respect the rules strongly resembled modern [[zoning laws]], with the same purposes.

The distinction between ''haram'' and ''hima'' is thought by some modern scholars to have been necessary due to a different means of deciding which regions were to have restrictions - the selection of haram was considered to be more up to the community while the selection of hima had more to do with natural characteristics of the region, which were considered to be best respected by [[jurist]]s. This idea probably arises from two different obligations of the Muslim to respect the ''[[ijma]]ʿ'' (consensus of neighbors within Islam) and practice ''[[Caliph|Khilafah]]'' (Stewardship of nature under Allah). It may or may not reflect actual means of decision making historically. As a protected and inviolate zone, ''haram'' is also employed referring to the consecrated space in a mosque where rituals and prayer take place: it is the prayer hall.<ref>Henri Stierlin and Anne Stierlin, ''Islam: Early architecture from Baghdad to Córdoba'', [[Taschen]], 1996, p. 235</ref>

===Holy site===
{{Redirect|Haramain|the high-speed railway|Haramain high-speed railway}}{{see also|Al-Mash‘ar Al-Ḥarām}}

''Ḥaram'' can also mean a site of high sanctity. The two sites whose Islamic sanctity are unchallengeably the highest of all are ''Al-[[Masjid al-Haram]]'' in [[Mecca]] (which is called ''[[List of characters and names mentioned in the Quran#Locations|Ḥaraman Āminan]]'' ({{lang|ar|حَرَمًا آمِنًا}}, "Sanctuary (which is) Secure") in the [[Quran]] (28:57;<ref>{{qref|28|3-86|b=y}}</ref> 29:67<ref>{{qref|29|67|b=y}}</ref>), and [[Al-Masjid an-Nabawi|the Prophet's Mosque]] in [[Medina]], so the Arabic [[Dual (grammatical number)|dual form]] ''al-ḥaramān'' ({{lang|ar|ٱلْحَرَمَان}}) or ''al-ḥaramayn'' ({{lang|ar|ٱلْحَرَمَيْن}}) refers to these two places,<ref name="Emecun, Islamansiklopedisi">[http://www.islamansiklopedisi.info/dia/pdf/c36/c360276.pdf Freidun Emecen, Selim I, TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi, Vol.36, p.413-414.] (In [[Turkish language|Turkish]])</ref> both of which are in the [[Hejaz]]i<ref name="MWGD2001">{{cite book |title=Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary |page=479 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Co_VIPIJerIC&pg=PA479 |year=2001 |isbn=0-87779-546-0 |access-date=2013-03-17|last1= Hopkins|first1= Daniel J.|author2= 편집부|publisher=Merriam-Webster }}</ref> region of the [[Arabian Peninsula]]. Since [[Fahd of Saudi Arabia#Islamic activities|1986, the Saudi monarchy]] has disclaimed all royal titles except "Custodian of the Two Holy Sanctuaries" or "[[Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques]]" ({{lang|ar|خَادِم ٱلْحَرَمَيْن ٱلشَّرِيْفَيْن}}, {{transliteration|ar|ALA|Khādim al-Ḥaramayn ash-Sharīfayn}}).<ref name="Emjap">{{cite web |work=The Saudi Embassy in Tokyo, Japan |title=Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz |url=http://www.saudiembassy.or.jp/En/SA/custodian2.htm |access-date=April 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110120070401/http://www.saudiembassy.or.jp/En/SA/custodian2.htm |archive-date=January 20, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="ArabNews2015">{{cite web |last=Fakkar |first=Galal |title=Story behind the king's title |url=http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/695351 |website=[[Arab News]] |location=[[Jeddah]] |date=27 January 2015 |access-date=27 June 2016}}</ref>

In addition, the term ''ḥaram'' is commonly used to refer to certain other holy sites, such as the [[Temple Mount|Masjid Al-Aqsa]] ({{lang|ar|ٱلْحَرَم ٱلشَّرِيْف}}, {{transliteration|ar|ALA|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.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Muslim Iconoclast (Ibn Taymiyyeh) on the 'Merits' of Jerusalem and Palestine |first=Charles D. |last=Matthews |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=56 |date=1935 |issue=1 |pages=1–21|doi=10.2307/593879 |jstor=593879 }} Includes Arabic text of manuscript of Ibn Taymiyya's short work {{lang|ar|قَاعِدَة فِي زِيَارَة بَيْت ٱلْمَقْدِس}} [''{{Transliteration|ar|Qa'ida fi Ziyarat Bayt-il-Maqdis}}''].</ref> In fact, one of the Islamic names of Jerusalem, ''thālith al-ḥaramayn'' ({{lang|ar|ثَالِث ٱلْحَرَمَيْن}}, literally "the third of the two holy places") resolves the tension between the unchallengeable pre-eminence of Mecca and Medina versus the desire to recognize Jerusalem as having a special status in Islam in a somewhat paradoxical manner.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} Jerusalem, being home to [[Temple Mount|Masjid Al-Aqsa]] (one of the few [[mosque]]s that are [[List of mosques that are mentioned by name in the Quran|mentioned by name]] in the Quran,<ref>{{qref|17|1-7|b=y}}</ref> and consequently one of the [[Holiest sites in Islam|most important mosques]]) is normally seen as being holy in its own right.<ref name="Michigan C 1986">{{cite book |author=Michigan Consortium for Medieval and Early Modern Studies |editor1=Goss, V. P. |editor2=Bornstein, C. V. |title=The Meeting of Two Worlds: Cultural Exchange Between East and West During the Period of the Crusades |publisher=Medieval Institute Publications, Western Michigan University |volume=21 |page=208 |isbn=0918720583 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p44kAQAAMAAJ |year=1986}}</ref>