Haramayn (from , dual form of ''

haram ''Haram'' (; ) is an Arabic term meaning 'taboo'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowledge; or, in direct cont ...

'', meaning "The Two Sanctuaries"), is the traditional Islamic appellation of the two holiest cities of Islam,

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

and

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. It may also refer to: *

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

during the Mamluk and Ottoman eras, echoing their status as holy sites for Palestinian Muslims *

Al-Juwayni Dhia' ul-Dīn 'Abd al-Malik ibn Yūsuf al-Juwaynī al-Shafi'ī (, 17 February 102820 August 1085; 419–478 AH) was a Persian Sunni scholar famous for being the foremost leading jurisconsult, legal theoretician and Islamic theologian of his ...

(1028–1085), Sunni Shafi'i hadith and

Kalam ''Ilm al-kalam'' or ''ilm al-lahut'', often shortened to ''kalam'', is the scholastic, speculative, or rational study of Islamic theology ('' aqida''). It can also be defined as the science that studies the fundamental doctrines of Islamic fai ...

scholar *

al-Haramain Foundation Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (; AHIF) was a charity foundation, based in Saudi Arabia. Under various names it had branches in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Comoros, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakis ...

(or al-Haramayn Foundation), a charity foundation based in Saudi Arabia, alleged by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to have "direct links" with Osama bin Laden *

Haramain High Speed Railway The Haramain High Speed Railway (, , abbreviated HHR), is a passenger railway serving the Mecca and Medina provinces in western Saudi Arabia. The main line directly connects the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina (collectively known as the ...

, Saudi Arabia's high-speed rail system linking Mecca and Medina. * Bayn al-Haramayn, the area between Imam Husayn shrine and al-Abbas Shrine in Karbala

See also