What does « Barrier / To separate » mean in the Quran?

Discover the meaning of the word Barrier / To separate (حجز) in the Quran, with 2 verses in which it appears, and a detailed explanation from Al-Raghib al-Asfahani's Mufradat fi gharib al-Qur'an.

حجز

Barrier / To separate

Root: ح - ج - ز

Jurisprudence (fiqh) 2 verses

Updated on 29 May 2026 at 7:00 AM

📖 3 min read

Definition of Barrier / To separate

Al-hajz: preventing between two things by a separation.

One says 'hajaza baynahumâ' (he separated between them).

Allah says: 'And We have placed between them a barrier (hâjiz)' (Al-Kahf: 94).

The separation protects some from others.

Barrier / To separate in the Quran (2)

Meccan: 2 Medinan: 0

Distribution of verses by surah

An-Naml 1

Al-Haqqa 1

Surah An-Naml : 61 Meccan

﴿أَمَّن جَعَلَ ٱلْأَرْضَ قَرَارًا وَجَعَلَ خِلَٰلَهَآ أَنْهَٰرًا وَجَعَلَ لَهَا رَوَٰسِىَ وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَ ٱلْبَحْرَيْنِ حَاجِزًا أَءِلَٰهٌ مَّعَ ٱللَّهِ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾

Is He [not best] who made the earth a stable ground and placed within it rivers and made for it firmly set mountains and placed between the two seas a barrier? Is there a deity with Allah? [No], but most of them do not know.

Surah Al-Haqqa : 47 Meccan

﴿فَمَا مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حَٰجِزِينَ﴾

And there is no one of you who could prevent [Us] from him.