Mahram

A relative you may never marry, and before whom the rules of covering are relaxed.

Also written · Mehram · Muhram · Maharim · Mahrem · Mahram relative · Na mahram · Ghair mahram · non mahram · ghayr mahram · unmarriageable kin · forbidden to marry · chaperone

The meaning

What Mahram means in Islam

The Qur'an lists them: parents, children, siblings, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, along with relations formed by marriage such as a mother in law, and milk relations formed by nursing in infancy. The familiar phrase about travelling with a mahram refers to this same category, together with the husband. A cousin is not a mahram, which surprises many people, and neither is a brother in law.

Evidence · Qur’an · Stated directly in the Qur’an

Read beside it

Words that sit beside it

NikahThe Islamic marriage contract, formed by offer, acceptance, witnesses and a mahr.نِكاح
Rada'ahMilk kinship: breastfeeding in infancy creates the same marriage bars that birth creates.رَضاعة
'AwrahThe part of the body that must be covered, which varies by person and by setting.عَوْرة
HijabThe covering a Muslim woman wears in public, most often a headscarf with modest clothing.حِجاب