The sacred sanctuary (haram)

الحرم

The sanctuary (haram) in the technical sense is Mecca and its surroundings; the name is also used for Medina and its surroundings. Mecca's sanctuary has boundaries measured in miles from several directions, reckoned from the Black Stone. ^{1 2 3} Its sanctity rests on the Qur'an and the Sunna. A pilgrim who enters it for hajj or umra must take ihram at the station; one who passes a station without ihram owes a sacrifice; a traveller from outside who enters for another purpose must, according to the majority, take ihram. ⁴ By consensus a non-Muslim may not settle there, though the Hanafis do not bar a protected non-Muslim from entering. ^{5 6} Fighting in the sanctuary is lawful only in reply to attack, and the jurists differ on fighting unbelievers or rebels who do not begin the fight. ^{6 7} It is forbidden to cut moist plants that people do not cultivate, with idhkhir excepted, and the liability differs between a sheep and a cow by the size of the tree; hunting land game in the sanctuary is forbidden, while the crow, the kite, the scorpion, the snake, the rat and the rabid dog may be killed. ^{8 9 10 11 12} Removing the soil or stones of the sanctuary is forbidden by the Shafi'is and disliked by the Hanbalis; renting its houses is disputed. ^{12 13 14} Other rules: a found object is kept and announced forever according to the Shafi'is; it is recommended to wash on entering; a man is held to account for an evil intention there; living there is recommended by the majority; there is no tamattu' or qiran for the people of Mecca; the offering may be sacrificed within the sanctuary; and the blood-money is sometimes raised there. ^{15 16 17 18 19 20} Medina's sanctuary, for the majority, lies between Thawr and 'Ir; its game and trees are protected for the Shafi'is, Malikis and Hanbalis, though the majority impose no penalty for them, while the Hanafis hold that Medina has no sanctuary but an honour. ^{20 21 22}