permitted and what is forbidden originates from
God. According to the Quran, for example, among
the things God forbids people to eat are pork,
carrion, blood, and food offered to other gods (Q
2:173). With respect to family law, it was forbid-
den to marry members of the immediate family
or their spouses (Q 4:22–24). On the other hand,
Muslim men were permitted to marry women
of the people oF the book—mainly Jews and
Christians (Q 5:5). Muslim jurists later refined
the absolute division between halal and haram by
devising a five-fold scale of categories (ahkam) to
classify all human activities: wajib/fard (required),
mandub (recommended), mubah (permitted),
makruh (disapproved), and haram (forbidden).
The Ulama have often differed and debated among
themselves about how to classify specific acts
according to these categories. Acts classified as
haram were those that could be punished. These
included adultery, theft, highway robbery, apos-
tasy, idolatry, consumption of alcohol, and mur-
der. Usury, gambling, and making money related
to illicit activities and substances have also often
been classified as haram. Some Muslims regard
listening to mUsic and dancing as forbidden activi-
ties, while some may merely disapprove of them,
regard them as neutral, or see them as permis-
sible according to the context. In the modern era,
debating what is lawful and unlawful has become
one of the foremost aspects of Muslim religious
life, one in which more Muslims are participating
now than ever before. These debates range from
basic questions about owning pets and how to
dress to more complex ethical and moral issues
such as abortion, euthanasia, and warfare.
See also crime and pUnishment; Food and
drink; harem; sUicide.
Further reading: Laleh Bakhtiar, Encyclopedia of Islamic
Law: A Compendium of the Major Schools (Chicago: ABC
International Group, 1996); Juan E. Campo, The Other
Sides of Paradise: Explorations into the Religious Mean-
ings of Domestic Space in Islam (Columbia: University
of South Carolina Press, 1991); Yusuf al-Qaradawi, The
Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam (Al-halal wal-haram fi
al-Islam). Translated by Kamal El-Helbawi, M. Moinud-
din Siddiqui, and Syed Shukry (Indianapolis: American
Trust Publications, 1960).harem (Arabic: harim and haram)
A harem is a separate quarters for Women in a
palace or upper-class house. It is also a way of
referring to the women, particularly when they are
a man’s legal wives, concubines, female servants,
and other attendants. The word itself is a render-
ing in Western languages of the Arabic harim
(a sacred or forbidden place or woman) and its
synonym, haram. The harem is also known as a
zenana in Persian and Indian contexts and as a
seraglio, an Italian version of a Turkish word for
palace (sarai).
Although often associated with the Islamic
religion and society, the history of the harem is
complex and varied, going back to the pre-Islamic
times of the ancient Mesopotamians, Persians,
and Greeks. The subordination of women to their
fathers, husbands, and masters appears to have
been a long-standing aspect of the patriarchal
organization of these societies, particularly among
rulers and other elites. By veiling his womenfolk
and keeping them in seclusion, a man could
demonstrate his wealth, status, and power. Dur-
ing the first millennium b.c.e., Assyrian kings
are thought to have had special quarters in their
palaces for women and concubines, and the wives
of nobles were required to wear veils in public.
The Achaemenid and Sassanian dynasties of Per-
sia (sixth century b.c.e. to seventh century c.e.)
were renowned for the size of their harems. For
example, Darius III (380–330 b.c.e.) was said to
have had one with nearly 400 women. aleXander
the great (356–323 b.c.e.), the Macedonian con-
queror, defeated Darius in battle and took control
of his harem as well as his empire in 333 b.c.e.
Royal harems are thought to have become even
larger in the days of the Sassanians, who ruled
Persia and Iraq for several centuries before theharem 291 J