Halal Halal Halal (; "", "permissible"), also spelled hallal or halaal, refers to what is permissible or lawful in traditional Islamic law. It is frequently applied to permissible food and drinks. In the Quran, the word "halal" is contrasted with "haram" (forbidden). In Islamic jurisprudence, this binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification known as "the five decisions": mandatory, recommended, neutral, reprehensible, and forbidden. Islamic jurists disagree on whether the term "halal" covers the first three or the first four of these categories. In recent times, Islamic movements seeking to mobilize the masses and authors writing for a popular
Herem (censure) Herem (censure) Herem (, also Romanized "chērem, ḥērem") is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is a form of shunning and is similar to "vitandus" "excommunication" in the Catholic Church. Cognate terms in other Semitic languages include the Arabic terms "ḥarām" "forbidden, taboo, off-limits, or immoral" and haram "set apart, sanctuary", and the Ge'ez word "ʿirm" "accursed". Arguably the most famous case of a herem is that of Baruch Spinoza, the seventeenth century philosopher. Other famous subjects of a herem were early Russian communists Leon