What is a mahram, and who is my mahram?

A mahram is someone of the opposite sex whom you are permanently forbidden to marry because of a close tie. There are three ties: blood (nasab), marriage (musaharah) and nursing (rada). Cousins, in-laws such as a brother-in-law, and adopted children are not mahram. Your spouse is not called a mahram, but is closer than one.

The word

Mahram comes from haram, forbidden or sacred. A mahram is one marriage to whom is forbidden forever, and that very fact makes it safe to be close to them. The plural is maharim. The South Asian spelling is mehram, and a non-mahram is na-mahram.

حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَٰتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ وَأَخَوَٰتُكُمْ وَعَمَّٰتُكُمْ وَخَٰلَٰتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُ ٱلْأَخِ وَبَنَاتُ ٱلْأُخْتِ وَأُمَّهَٰتُكُمُ ٱلَّٰتِىٓ أَرْضَعْنَكُمْ وَأَخَوَٰتُكُم مِّنَ ٱلرَّضَٰعَةِ وَأُمَّهَٰتُ نِسَآئِكُمْ وَرَبَٰٓئِبُكُمُ ٱلَّٰتِى فِى حُجُورِكُم مِّن نِّسَآئِكُمُ ٱلَّٰتِى دَخَلْتُم بِهِنَّ فَإِن لَّمْ تَكُونُوا۟ دَخَلْتُم بِهِنَّ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَحَلَٰٓئِلُ أَبْنَآئِكُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ مِنْ أَصْلَٰبِكُمْ وَأَن تَجْمَعُوا۟ بَيْنَ ٱلْأُخْتَيْنِ إِلَّا مَا قَدْ سَلَفَ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا ﴿٢٣﴾

Hurrimat 'alaikum umma haatukum wa bannaatukum wa akhawaatukum wa 'ammaatukum wa khaalaatukum wa banaatul akhi wa banaatul ukhti wa ummahaatu kumul laateee arda' nakum wa akhawaatukum minarradaa'ati wa ummahaatu nisaaa'ikum wa rabaaa'i bukumul laatee fee hujoorikum min nisaaa'ikumul laatee dakhaltum bihinna Fa il lam takoonoo dakhaltum bihina falaa junaaha 'alaikum wa halaaa'ilu abnaaa'ikumul lazeena min aslaabikum wa an tajma'oo bainal ukhtaini illaa maa qad salaf; innallaaha kaana Ghafoorar Raheema

Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters, your [milk] mothers who nursed you, your sisters through nursing, your wives' mothers, and your step-daughters under your guardianship [born] of your wives unto whom you have gone in. But if you have not gone in unto them, there is no sin upon you. And [also prohibited are] the wives of your sons who are from your [own] loins, and that you take [in marriage] two sisters simultaneously, except for what has already occurred. Indeed, Allah is ever Forgiving and Merciful.

Quran 4:23 · Sahih International · Read in Surah An-Nisa

The verse before it adds the father's wife (4:22), and 24:31 lists the men in front of whom a woman may show her adornment: her husband, father, father-in-law, sons, stepsons, brothers and nephews.

The full list

For a woman, these men are her mahram or not:

For a man, these women are his mahram or not:

A mahram by marriage stays mahram for life. Your mother-in-law is still your mahram after a divorce or your wife's death. But the in-laws who are only forbidden while you are married, such as a wife's sister, never become mahram.

Mahram by nursing

"What is unlawful by blood is unlawful by nursing" (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Ibn Abbas and Aishah). A child nursed by a woman becomes her milk child, and her husband's, and the child's milk siblings, uncles and aunts follow the same rules as by blood. The tie applies only to the nursed child, not to their brothers and sisters.

What a mahram may do

• See you without hijab. A woman may uncover her hair, neck, arms and lower legs in front of her mahram men, though not the stomach, back or the area from the navel to the knees. See the awrah guide.
• Be alone with you. The Prophet ﷺ said: "No man may be alone with a woman except with a mahram" (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Ibn Abbas).
• Travel with you as your escort. The mahram should be sane, an adult, and trustworthy.
• Greet with a handshake or a hug, where there is no fear of desire.

A woman travelling without a mahram

لَا تُسَافِرِ الْمَرْأَةُ إِلَّا مَعَ ذِي مَحْرَمٍ

"A woman must not travel except with a mahram."

Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Ibn Abbas

Two Hanafi points to know

In the Hanafi school, the prohibition by marriage also comes from unlawful intercourse, and even from touching with desire under strict conditions: the woman's mother and daughters become forbidden to the man. The Shafi'i and Maliki schools do not hold this, and the Hanbali school holds it for intercourse only. The checker above covers ties through a valid nikah only. Second, a non-Muslim relative by blood is still mahram for hijab and seclusion.

The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.

Related terms

• سُنَّةSunnah
• تَقْوَىTaqwa
• دِينDeen and dunya
• فِتْنَةFitnah

1. Quran 4:22-23, 24:31, 33:4-5 and 2:230-232, translation by Sahih International.
2. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Ibn Abbas: nursing; a woman's travel; being alone.
3. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Uqbah ibn Amir: "the in-law is death".
4. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Aishah: the milk father; Sahih Muslim, from Aishah: the five feeds.
5. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, from Abu Hurayrah: not combining a woman with her aunt.
6. Al-Marghinani, al-Hidayah, Kitab al-Nikah (fasl fi al-muharramat) and Kitab al-Rada; Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar. The other madhhabs' positions are summarised from their standard manuals.