ḥalāl and ḥarām set against each other
هَٰذَا حَلَٰلٌ وَهَٰذَا حَرَامٌ
hādhā ḥalālun wa-hādhā ḥarāmun — "This is permitted and this is forbidden"
In the verses given, the roots ḥ-l-l and ḥ-r-m repeatedly appear in the same verse as paired opposites, marking what is loosened/permitted against what is bound/forbidden, whether as verbs, nouns, or the derived pair ḥalāl/ḥarām.
The two roots are repeatedly set against each other within single verses. In (2:275) the contrast is verbal and explicit: wa-aḥalla llāhu l-bayʿa wa-ḥarrama l-ribā — "Allah has made the sale lawful and has made the increase unlawful," a direct refutation of the claim that "the sale is like the increase." (5:96) pairs two passives: "Made lawful for you is the catch of the sea... but forbidden to you is the catch of the land," with the state noun ḥurum marking the condition during which the prohibition holds. (5:87) reverses the direction of the verbs: the addressees are told "do not declare forbidden the wholesome things that Allah has made permissible for you" — the human act of forbidding set against the divine act of permitting. (7:157) gives the same pair as parallel imperfects: the messenger "makes the wholesome things permitted for them and makes the corrupt things forbidden to them." (3:50) and (3:93) show the pair across time: "so that I may loosen for you some of what was made forbidden to you," and "every kind of food had been permitted... except what Israel had declared forbidden upon himself." The nouns ḥalāl and ḥarām appear as a fixed pair in (10:59) — "you have made some of it forbidden and [some] permitted" — and (16:116), where saying "This is permitted and this is forbidden" on the tongues' own description is called fabricating a lie against Allah. The roots also intersect in ritual contexts: (2:196) and (48:25) use maḥill ("place of untying/release") for the offering alongside al-masjid al-ḥarām, and (5:1)–(5:2) set "not making hunting permissible while you are ḥurum" against "when you have come out of restriction, then hunt."
Where it occurs
- 2:196 maḥill, the offering's "place of untying," stands alongside the inviolable place (al-masjid al-ḥarām), the two roots marking release and restriction of ritual states.
- 2:275 The clearest verbal contrast: Allah made the sale lawful (aḥalla) and made the increase unlawful (ḥarrama), against the claim that the two are alike.
- 3:50 The speaker's purpose is to loosen (uḥilla) some of what was made forbidden (ḥurrima) — the pair across a change of dispensation.
- 3:93 All food was ḥillan (permitted) except what Israel ḥarrama upon himself — the pair as noun and verb.
- 4:23 ḥurrimat opens the list of forbidden women, and ḥalāʾil (spouses, from the same root as ḥalāl) is the last category of women within that same forbidden list — the two roots present in one verse, though not obviously set against each other here.
- 5:1 Livestock is made permissible (uḥillat), while hunting must not be made permissible (muḥillī) when the addressees are ḥurum — three forms of the two roots in one verse.
- 5:2 The addressees must not make lawful (tuḥillū) the rites of Allah, the declared month, the offering, the garlanded ones, or those heading for the inviolable house, but may hunt when they have come out of restriction (ḥalaltum).
- 5:87 Human forbidding (tuḥarrimū) is set against Allah's permitting (aḥalla) of the wholesome things.
- 5:96 Two passives in parallel: the sea's catch made lawful (uḥilla), the land's catch forbidden (ḥurrima) while the addressees are ḥurum.
- 7:157 The messenger makes the wholesome permitted (yuḥillu) and the corrupt forbidden (yuḥarrimu) — the pair as parallel imperfects.
- 10:59 The nouns ḥarām and ḥalāl appear as a pair: the addressees have made Allah's provision some forbidden, some permitted, without stated leave.
- 16:116 Saying "This is ḥalāl and this is ḥarām" by the tongue's own description is fabricating a lie against Allah.
- 22:30 Magnifying the ḥurumāt of Allah stands beside the livestock being made lawful (uḥillat) — restriction and permission in one breath.
- 48:25 The addressees were barred from the inviolable place of prostration, and the offering held back from reaching its maḥill (place of release) — the two roots marking the blocked transition.
All Qur'anic expressions