Houri (Heavenly Virgin): Difference between revisions

[[Image:72-houris.jpg|right|thumb|250px|An artist impression of the 72 virgins.]]

Orthodox Muslim theologians such as [[al-Ghazali]] (1058 - 1111 CE) and al-Ash'ari (874 - 935 CE) have discussed the Houris as being rewards and pleasures found in heaven. Al-Ghazali, in particular, refers to a hadith that describes heaven as a [[Slavery|slave]] market where there will be "no buy and sale, but... If any man will wish to have sexual intercourse with a woman, he will do at once."<ref>"''Ali reported that the Apostle of Allah said, "There is in Paradise a market wherein there will be no buying or selling, but will consist of men and women. When a man desires a beauty, he will have intercourse with them.''" - Mishkat al-Masabih (edited by Maulana Fazlul Karim), Vol. 4, p. 172, No. 34</ref><ref name="Religious_Sciences3">{{cite web|url=http://www.nderf.org/islamic_views_death.htm |title=Ihya Uloom Ed-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) Vol. 4 |author=Al Ghazzali|quote=A man asked the Prophet : 0 Prophet of God, will the inmates of Paradise have sexual intercourse ? He said: Anybody among them will be given sexual strength of seven, persons among you. The Prophet said : An inmate of Paradise will have five hundred hurs, four thousand unmarried women and eight thousand widowed women. Each of them will keep embracing him for the duration of his whole worldly life time. He also said: There will be markets in Paradise in which there will be no buy and sale, but there will be men and women. If any man will wish to have sexual intercourse with a woman, he will do at once. The Hurs will sing in Paradise on divine purity and praise-we are most beautiful Hurs and we are for the honoured husbands.|series=Death and Subsequent Events 430 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.nderf.org/islamic_views_death.htm&date=2012-12-03 |archivedate=2012-12-03 |deadurl=no}}</ref> The same hadith is quoted by Ibn Kathir, in his [[Tafsir|Qur'anic Commentary]], the Tafsir ibn Kathir<ref>[http://www.islam-universe.com/tafsir_ibn_kathir/55.51771.html These two gardens are lower, in virtue and in status than the two before them, as supported in the Qur'an]</ref>. The houris are also described graphically by Qur'anic commentator and polymath, Al-Suyuti (died 1505), who, echoing a [[Sahih]] [[hadith]]<ref name="SP 4828">Shaykh Gibril Haddad - [http://www.webcitation.org/64zXNO08I How Many Wives Will The Believers Have In Paradise?] - SunniPath, Question ID:4828, July 3, 2005</ref> from Ibn Majah,<ref name="Ibn Majah 39">"''Abu Umama narrated: "The Messenger of God said, 'Everyone that God admits into paradise will be married to 72 wives; two of them are houris and seventy of his inheritance of the [female] dwellers of hell. All of them will have libidinous sex organs and he will have an ever-erect penis.' ''" - Sunan Ibn Majah, Zuhd (Book of Abstinence) 39</ref> wrote that the perpetual virgins will all "have appetizing vaginas", and that the "penis of the Elected never softens. The erection is eternal."<ref name="Al-Suyuti">"''Each time we sleep with a Houri we find her virgin. Besides, the penis of the Elected never softens. The erection is eternal; the sensation that you feel each time you make love is utterly delicious and out of this world and were you to experience it in this world you would faint. Each chosen one [i.e. Muslim] will marry seventy [sic] houris, besides the women he married on earth, and all will have appetizing vaginas.''" - Al-Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur'an, p. 351</ref>

Qur'an 78:31-33</ref> Although it is frequently alleged that the hadiths regarding the houris are [[List of Fabricated Hadith|da`if]] (weak)<ref name=":0" /> or few (and even singular) in number, such narrations are in fact found in many hadith collections with varying levels of authenticity, including several that earn a grade of [[hasan]] (good) and [[sahih]] (authentic).<ref name=":0" />

Another narration in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, another of the six major hadith collections,<ref name="VIRH" /> states that the smallest reward for the people of heaven is an abode housing seventy-two houris.<ref>"''It was mentioned by Daraj Ibn Abi Hatim, that Abu al-Haytham 'Adullah Ibn Wahb narrated from Abu Sa'id al-Khudhri, who heard the Prophet Muhammad PBUH saying, 'The smallest reward for the people of Heaven is an abode where there are eighty thousand servants and seventy-two houri, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine and ruby, as wide as the distance from al-Jabiyyah to San'a.''" - Al-Tirmidhi, Vol. 4, Ch. 21, No. 2687</ref> Although it is frequently argued that this hadith is da'if (weak)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2007/03/04/debunking-the-suicide-for-72-virgins-myth/ |title=Debunking the ‘Suicide for 72 Virgins’ Myth |publisher=TheUglyTruth |author=Nashid Abdul-Khalliq |date=March 4, 2007 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2007/03/04/debunking-the-suicide-for-72-virgins-myth/&date=2012-02-20 |archivedate=2012-02-20 |deadurl=no}}</ref>, it has been graded hasan and sahih by renowned scholars of hadith,<ref name="SP 4828" /> meaning this hadith is hasan (good), since it has several chains of transmitters, and also sahih (authentic), as the chains are all declared authentic by Imam Tirmidhi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sunnah.org/history/Scholars/imam_tirmidhi.htm |title=Imam Tirmidhi (209 - 279 H) |publisher=As-Sunnah Foundation of America |author= |date=February 20, 2012 |quote= |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.sunnah.org/history/Scholars/imam_tirmidhi.htm&date=2012-02-20 |archivedate=2012-02-20 |deadurl=no}}</ref>

Although suicide is clearly forbidden in Islam<ref>''"Do not kill yourselves. Verily, Allah is merciful to you. And, whoever does that, out of animosity and , We shall burn him in a Fire. And that is easy for Allah."'' Qur'an, 4:29-30</ref>, the matter of deliberate/pre-meditated [[Martyr|martyrdom]] in battle (e.g. suicide bombing) has, as is typical with [[Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)|legal rulings]], left Islamic scholars divided.

The Quran states that all Muslim males, not only martyrs, will be rewarded with virgins.<ref name="q56_36">"''Then We have made them virgins''" - {{Quran|56|36}}</ref> However, the Quran does also mention that those who [[The Meaning of Qatal|fight]] in the way of Allah ([[jihad]]) and get killed will be given a "great reward",<ref name="Sura4 74">"''Let those (believers) Who sell the life of this world for the hereafter fight in the cause of Allah and whoso fights in the cause of Allah, - and is slain or gets victory, We shall bestow on him a great reward.''" - {{Quran|4|74}}</ref> and there exist hasan (good) hadith<ref name="QA 8511" /> which refer to the 72 virgins as one of the "seven blessings from Allah" to the martyr.<ref name="alMiqdaam" /> This has lead to the 72 virgins concept being widely used as a way to entice martyrdom.  

This phenomena can be witnessed in Palestine, where the actions of a mother who sends her son to die as a martyr is sometimes seen as "marrying him off",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=565 |title=The model Palestinian mother sends her son to die as Martyr, thereby marrying him off |publisher=Al-Hayat Al-Jadida |author= |date=January 8, 2012 |quote= |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=565&date=2012-02-21 |archivedate=2012-02-21 |deadurl=no}}</ref> and where the concept is used in Friday sermons and [[music]] videos, both airing on official television.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=565 |title=72 wives await the Martyrs for Allah: Six rewards quoted in Hamas TV sermon |publisher=Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas) |author= |date=January 1, 2010 |quote= |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=565&date=2012-02-21 |archivedate=2012-02-21 |deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=565 |title=Beautiful virgins await Muslim Martyrs in Paradise |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=565&date=2012-02-21 |archivedate=2012-02-21 |deadurl=no}} - Palestinian TV (Fatah), February 7, 2010 (1 min)</ref> It has even been used in the United Kingdom, where, in one event, Muslim teens were told to train with Kalashnikov rifles with the promise that the would receive 72 virgins in heaven if they died as religious martyrs.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2687797.stm British martyrs 'promised 72 virgins'] - BBC News, January 23, 2003</ref>

==Modern views==

===White Rasins===

The Quran describes the physical characteristics of the houris in many places, such as, large eyes,<ref name="Sura56_22" /> big breasts,<ref name="Sura78_33" /> chaste,<ref name="Sura55_56" /> and restraining their glances.<ref name="Sura55_56" /> The Quran further states that men will be wed to these houri.<ref name="Sura 44 54" /> These relevant verses suggest that Luxenberg's "white rasins" theory is in error.  

[[Category:Supernatural beings]]

[[Category:Criticism of Islam]]