Houri Explained

In Islam, a houri (or ;[1] ar|حُـورِيَّـة,حُورِيّ|ḥūriyy, ḥūrīya|maiden) or hoor al ayn in plural form, refers to maiden women with beautiful eyes who live alongside the Muslim faithful in paradise.[2] [3]

They are described as the same age as the men in paradise. Since hadith states people will be aged 30–33 lunar years in heaven, this translates to 29–32 Gregorian solar years.

The term "houris" is used four times in the Quran,[4] although the houris are mentioned indirectly several other times, (sometimes as azwāj, lit. companions), and hadith provide a "great deal of later elaboration". Muslim scholars differ as to whether they refer to the believing women of this world or a separate creation, with the majority opting for the latter.[5]

Houris have been said to have "captured the imagination of Muslims and non-Muslims alike". According to hadith, faithful women of the Dunya will be superior to houris in paradise.[6]

Etymology

In classical Arabic usage, the word (ar|حُور) is the plural of both (ar|أحْوَر) (masculine) and (ar|حَوْراء) (feminine)[7] which can be translated as "having eyes with an intense contrast of white and black".[8]

The word "houri" entered several European languages in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Arthur Jeffery and other scholars suggests an Iranian origin for the term, proposing the origins of the word to be the Middle Persian hū̆rust 'well grown.'

Descriptions

The houris are mentioned in several passages of the Quran, always in plural form, but only mentioned directly four times. No specific number is ever given in the Quran for the number of houris accompanying each believer.

Quranic description

In the tafsirs and commentaries on the Quran, Houris are described as:

It is thought that the four verses specifically mentioning Houri were all "probably" 'revealed' at "the end of the first Meccan period".[36]

Hadith description

Details of descriptions of houri (or ḥūr), in hadith collections differ, but one summary (by Smith & Haddad) states:

they are generally said to be composed of saffron from the feet to the knees, musk from the knees to the breast, amber from the breast to the neck, and camphor from the neck to the head.[37] Working often with multiples of seven, the traditionalists have described them as wearing seventy to 70,000 gowns, through which even the marrow of their bones can be seen because of the fineness of their flesh, reclining on seventy couches of red hyacinth encrusted with rubies and jewels, and the like. The ḥūr do not sleep, do not get pregnant, do not menstruate, spit, or blow their noses, and are never sick.[38]
In hadith, Houris have been described as "transparent to the marrow of their bones",[39] "eternally young",[40] "hairless except the eyebrows and the head", "pure" and "beautiful". Sunni hadith scholars also relate a number of sayings of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad in which the houris are mentioned.

Characteristics

Meaning of the term kawa'ib

Verse Q.78:33 describes Houri with the noun ka'ib, translated as "with swelling breasts"[41] by several translators—like Arberry, Palmer, Rodwell and Sale (it is also translated as "buxom" or "full bosomed").[42] At least two Islamic Fatwa sites (islamweb.net and islamqa.info) have attacked the use of these translations by those who "criticize the Quran",[43] or who "seek to make Islam appear to be a religion of sex and desire".[44]

Ibn Kathir, in his tafsir, writes that kawa'ib has been interpreted to refer to "fully developed" or "round breasts ... they meant by this that the breasts of these girls will be fully rounded and not sagging, because they will be virgins."[45] Similarly, the authoritative Arabic–English Lexicon of Edward William Lane defines the word ka'ib as "A girl whose breasts are beginning to swell, or become prominent, or protuberant or having swelling, prominent, or protuberant, breasts."[46]

However, M. A. S. Abdel Haleem and others point out that the description here refers in classical usage to the young age rather than emphasizing the women's physical features.[47] [48] Others, such as Abdullah Yusuf Ali, translate ka'ib as "companions",[49] with Muhammad Asad interpreting the term as being allegorical.[50]

Reference to "72 virgins"

The Sunni hadith scholar Al-Tirmidhi quotes Muhammad as having said:However, others object that the narration granting all men seventy-two wives has a weak chain of narrators.[51]

Another hadith, also in Jami at-Tirmidhi and deemed "good and sound" (hasan sahih) gives this reward specifically for the martyr:(This hadith is sometimes erroneously attributed to the Quran.)[52] [53]

Sexual intercourse in Paradise

In the Quran, there is no overt mention of sexual intercourse in Paradise. However, it is alluded to in hadiths, tafsirs[54] [55] and Islamic commentaries.[56] [57] [58] [59]

Houri, age

The virgins of paradise "they will be of one age, thirty-three years old," according to Ibn Kathir (as reported by Ad-Dahhak aka Ibn Abi Asim), based on his interpretation of the word Atrab (ar|أَتْرَابًا) in Q.56:37).[60]

However, another interpretation of Atrab (in Q.56:37 and also Q.78:33) by Muhammad Haleen, describes Houri "as being of similar age to their companions".[61] An Islamic Books pamphlet also states Houri will "have the same age as their husbands so that they can relate to each other better", but also adds that they will "never become old";[62] (Translations of Q.56:37 and Q.78:33—for example by Mustafa Khattab's the Clear Quran and by Pickthall—often include the phrase "equal age" but do not specify what the houris are of equal age to.)

On the other hand, the houris were created "without the process of birth", according to a classical Sunni interpretation of Q.56:35 in Tafsir al-Jalalayn, so that the heavenly virgins have no birthday or age in the earthly sense.

Other sources, including a tafsir of Ibn Kathir, (see above) emphasize the purpose of the use of kawa'ib in verse Q.78:33 "is to highlight the woman’s youthfulness", though she is an adult, she "has reached the age when she begins to menstruate";[63] and that she is of the age of "young girls when their breasts are beginning to appear". At least one person (M Faroof Malik) translates ar|قَـٰصِرَٰتُ ٱلطَّرْفِ in verse Q.55:56 as "bashful virgins".[64]

Quranic commentators

Sunni sources mention that like all men and women of Paradise, the houris do not experience urination, defecation or menstruation.[65]

Ibn Kathir states that jinns will have female jinn companions in Paradise.[66]

Contemporary

According to Smith and Haddad, if there is any generalization that can be made of "contemporary attitudes" toward the nature of the hereafter, including Houri, it is that it is "beyond human comprehension ... beyond time", that the Quran only "alluded to analogously".[67]

Imam Reza

According to 8th Shia Imam, Imam Reza, the heavenly spouses are created of dirt (Creation of life from clay) and saffron.[68]

Gender and identity

It has traditionally been believed that the houris are beautiful women who are promised as a reward to believing men,[69] with numerous hadith and Quranic exegetes describing them as such.[70] In recent years, however, some have argued that the term ḥūr refers both to pure men and pure women (it being the plural term for both the masculine and feminine forms which refer to whiteness) and the belief that the term houris only refers to females who are in paradise is a misconception.

The Quran uses feminine as well as gender-neutral adjectives to describe houris,[71] [72] [73] by describing them with the indefinite adjective, which some have taken to imply that certain passages are referring to both male and female companions.[74] In addition, the use of masculine pronouns for the houris' companions does not imply that this companionship is restricted to men, as the masculine form encompasses the female in classical and Quranic Arabic—thus functioning as an all-gender including default form—and is used in the Quran to address all humanity and all the believers in general.[75] [76] [77]

In The Message of The Qur'an, Muhammad Asad describes the usage of the term ḥūr in the verses 44:54 and 56:22, arguing that "the noun ḥūr—rendered by me as 'companions pure'—is a plural of both aḥwār (masc.) and ḥawrā (fem.)... hence, the compound expression ḥūr ʿīn signifies, approximately, 'pure beings, most beautiful of eye'."[78] [79]

Annemarie Schimmel says that the Quranic description of the houris should be viewed in a context of love: "every pious man who lives according to God's order will enter Paradise where rivers of milk and honey flow in cool, fragrant gardens and virgin beloveds await home".[80]

Relation to earthly women

Regarding the eschatological status of this-worldly women vis-à-vis the houris, scholars have maintained that righteous women of this life are of a higher station than the houris. Sunni theologian Aḥmad al-Ṣāwī (d. 1825), in his commentary on Ahmad al-Dardir's work, states, "The sound position is that the women of this world will be seventy thousand times better than the dark-eyed maidens (ḥūr ʿīn)."[81] Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar Baḥraq (d.1524) mentions in his didactic primer for children that "Adamic women are better than the dark-eyed maidens due to their prayer, fasting, and devotions."[82]

Other authorities appear to indicate that houris themselves are the women of this world resurrected in new form, with Razi commenting that among the houris mentioned in the Quran will also be "[even] those toothless old women of yours whom God will resurrect as new beings".[83] [84] Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari mentions that all righteous women, however old and decayed they may have been on earth, will be resurrected as virginal maidens and will, like their male counterparts, remain eternally young in paradise.[85] Modernist scholar Muḥammad ʿAbduh states "the women of the Garden are the good believers [''al-mu'mināt al-ṣalihāt''] known in the Qur'an as al-ḥūr al-ʿayn, (although he also makes a distinction between earthly women and houri).[86]

Verses that are thought to refer to women from earth in paradise (Q.2:25, 3:15, and 4:57) talk of "purified companions" [''azwāj muṭahhara''], which distinguishes them from ḥūr, who are by definition "pure rather than purified".

Symbolism

Muhammad Asad believes that the references to houris and other depictions of paradise should be understood as allegorical rather than literal, citing the "impossibility of man's really 'imagining' paradise". In support of this view he quotes Quran verse 32:17[87] and a hadith found in Bukhari and Muslim.[88]

Shi'ite philosopher Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai mentions that the most important fact of the description of the houris is that good deeds performed by believers are re-compensated by the houris, who are the physical manifestations of ideal forms that will not fade away over time and who will serve as faithful companions to those whom they accompany.[89]

According to Islamic scholar Javed Ahmad Ghamidi the houri is just an adjective used to describe beauty of women from this world, who would be given a new beautiful appearance in afterlife.

Similarities to Zoroastrianism

The houri has been said to resemble afterlife figures in Zoroastrianism narratives:

The Zoroastrian text, Hadhoxt Nask, describes the fate of a soul after death. The soul of the righteous spends three nights near the corpse, and at the end of the third night, the soul sees its own religion (daena) in the form of a beautiful damsel, a lovely fifteen year-old virgin; thanks to good actions she has grown beautiful; they then ascend heaven together.[90]

See also

References

Notes

  1. 30 September 2024.
  2. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/houris "Houri"
  3. Web site: Definition of HOURI . 2024-11-17 . www.merriam-webster.com . en.
  4. [Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 1981]
  5. Book: The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary . 2015 . HarperCollins . 978-0-06-112586-7 . Seyyed Hossein Nasr . . . Caner K. Dagli . Maria Massi Dakake . Joseph E.B. Lumbard . Mohammed Rustom.
  6. Web site: Soysal . Gökhan . 2022-03-28 . What Will Women Receive in Paradise for Controlling Their Anger? . 2024-11-27 . SeekersGuidance . en-US.
  7. see Lane's Lexicon, p. 666 and Hans Wehr, p. 247
  8. Wehr's Arabic-English Dictionary, 1960.
  9. Web site: Quran 37:48 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  10. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir As-Saaffat . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  11. Web site: Quran 38:52 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  12. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Saad . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  13. Web site: Quran 44:54 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  14. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Ad-Dukhan . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  15. Web site: Quran 52:20 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  16. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir At-Tur . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  17. Web site: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Rahman, Arabic English, HTMl, PDF, Free Download . 2022-08-28 . Quran4u.com.
  18. Web site: Quran 55:56 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  19. Web site: al-Jalalayn . TafsirAr-Rahman . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  20. Web site: Surah Ar-Rahman - 56 .
  21. Web site: Ayah ar-Rahman (The Beneficent, The Mercy Giving, The Merciful) 55:58 . www.islamawakened.com.
  22. Web site: Quran 55:72 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  23. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Ar-Rahman . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  24. Web site: Quran 55:74 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  25. Web site: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Waqiah, Arabic English, HTMl, PDF, Free Download . 2022-08-28 . Quran4u.com.
  26. Web site: Quran 56:8 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  27. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Ar-Al-Waqi'a . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  28. Web site: Al-Waqi'ah 56:8, (translation, Dr., Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran) . 2 July 2022 . Quran.com.
  29. Web site: Quran 56:22 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  30. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Al-Waqi'a . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  31. Web site: Quran 56:35 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  32. Web site: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Naba, Arabic English, HTMl, PDF, Free Download . 2022-08-28 . Quran4u.com.
  33. Web site: Quran 78:31 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  34. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir An-Naba' . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  35. Web site: AboeIsmail . 2019-03-12 . Surah 44: ad-Dukhan . 2022-10-14 . QuranOnline.net . en.
  36. [Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 1981]
  37. Kitāb aḥwāl al-qiyāma, p. 111. References to the general description of the ḥūr are abundant in the collections of traditions; see, for example, the summary and numerous citations of Ṣoubḥi El-Ṣaleḥ, La Vie Future selon le Coran. Paris: Librarie Philosophique J. Vrin, 1971, p.25. quoted in Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.164
  38. La Vie Future selon le Coran, p.39. quoted in Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.164
  39. Abu Isa Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Vol. 2.
  40. Abu Isa Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, hadith: 5638
  41. ns.
  42. Web site: Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning of Q.78:33 . 2 July 2022 . Islam Awakened.
  43. Web site: 29 January 2013 . Meaning of in verse 66:12 and in 78:33 . 2 July 2022 . Islamweb.net.
  44. Web site: 26 October 2016 . The description of the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyniyn is a lie and is a fabrication against the texts #243879 . 2 July 2022 . Islam Question and Answer.
  45. Book: Ibn Kathir . Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Abridged, Volume 10 Surat At-Tagabun to the end of the Qur'an . 333–334.
  46. http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/22_k/112_kEb.html كعب
  47. Book: Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel . Muhammad Abdel Haleem . Understanding the Qur'an: Themes and Style . I.B Tauris . 2011 . 9781845117894 . 235 . Paradise in the Qur'an . limited.
  48. Web site: 29 April 2013 . Do the words of Allah, 'And full-breasted maidens of equal age (wa kawaa'ib atraaban)' describe the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyn? . 18 February 2020 . IslamQA.
  49. Abdullah Yusuf Ali: The Meanings of the Illustrious Qur'an, Alminar Books, Houston, TX, 1997
  50. Book: Asad, M. . Muhammad Asad . . 2003 . (Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah, ayah 38. "As regards my rendering of kawa’ib as 'splendid companions', it is to be remembered that the term ... from which it is derived has many meanings ... one of these meanings is 'prominence', 'eminence' or 'glory' (Lisan al-Arab) ... If we bear in mind that the Qur'anic descriptions of the blessings of paradise are always allegorical, we realize that in the above context the term kawa’ib can have no other meaning than 'glorious [or splendid] beings'."
  51. Salahuddin Yusuf, Riyadhus Salihin, commentary on Nawawi, Chapter 372, Dar-us-Salam Publications (1999),,
  52. News: Warraq . Ibn . January 12, 2002 . Virgins? What virgins? . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130622000632/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/jan/12/books.guardianreview5 . June 22, 2013 . The Guardian . London.
  53. Book: Anjali Nirmal . Urban Terrorism: Myths and Realities . 2009 . Pointer Publishers . 978-8171325986 . 33.
  54. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir ibn Kathir (Quranic Commentary), "The Reward of Those on the Right After", [Chapter (Surah) Al-Waqiah (That Which Must Come To Pass)(56):35–36], Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2000,
  55. Web site: 30 August 2000 . Will men in Paradise have intercourse with al-hoor aliyn? . 28 January 2020 . IslamQA.
  56. Web site: Imam Muhammad Ibn Majah . Volume 5:37 Book of Zuhd 4337 . 14 March 2020 . Muflihun.com.
  57. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Yā Sīn . 14 March 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  58. Book: Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab . Sexuality in Islam . 2008 . . 9780415426008 . 75–76.
  59. Book: Abdul-Rahman, Muhammad Saed . Islam: Questions and Answers: Basic Tenets of Faith: Belief (Part 2) . 2003 . MSA Publication Ltd . 1861790864 . 415–419.
  60. Web site: Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English) Surah Al Waqiah. The Reward of Those on the Right After. أَتْرَابًا (Atrab) . 4 July 2022 . Quran Translation / Tafsir.
  61. Book: Abdel Haleem . Muhammad . Understanding the Quran; Themes and Styles . 1999 . I.B. Tauris . 99 . 4 July 2022.
  62. Book: Al-Hoor-al-Hayn, Women of Paradise . n.d. . Islamic Books . 4 July 2022.
  63. Web site: Saalih al-Munajjid . Muhammad (Supervisor) . Do the words of Allah, "And full-breasted maidens of equal age (wa kawaa'ib atraaban)" describe the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyn? . 4 July 2022 . Islam Question and Answer.
  64. Web site: Quran 55:65 . 4 July 2022 . Islam Awakened.
  65. [Al-Ghazali|Al Ghazzali]
  66. Book: Ismail ibn Kathir . Ibn Kathir . . 2000 . The Reward of Those on the Right After.
  67. [Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 1981]
  68. Web site: 4 January 2012 . حوریان بهشتی فقط برای مردان؟! .
  69. Web site: 9 June 2011 . Are all 'houris' female? . 22 April 2019 . Dawn.com.
  70. Web site: Question 10053. Will men in Paradise have intercourse with al-hoor aliyn? . 6 August 2020 . Islam Question and Answer.
  71. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  72. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  73. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  74. Book: Asad, M. . The Message of the Quran, Surah 56:22 [8] . The noun hur—rendered by me as companions pure—is a plural of both ahwar (masc.) and hawra' (fem.).
  75. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  76. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  77. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  78. Book: Ibid The Message of the Quran by M. Asad, Surah 56:22 note [8].
  79. Book: Ibid The Message of the Quran by M. Asad, Surah 44:54 note [30] . For the rendering of hur 'in as 'companions pure, most beautiful of eye', see surah, notes [8] and [13]. It is to be noted that the noun zawj (lit., 'a pair' or – according to the context – 'one of a pair') applies to either of the two sexes, as does the transitive verb zawaja, 'he paired' or 'joined', i.e., one person with another..
  80. Annemarie Schimmel, Islam: An Introduction, p. 13, "Muhammad"
  81. Book: al-Ṣāwī, Aḥmad . Ḥashiyat ʿAlā Sharḥ al-Kharīdat al-Bahīyah . 1947 . Maṭbaʿat Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī wa Awlāduh . Cairo . 67 . An Annotative Commentary Upon "The Resplendent Pearl" . والصحيح: أنّ نساء الدنيا يكنّ أفضل من الحور العين بسبعين ألف ضعف. . composed 1813.
  82. Book: Bahraq al-Yamanī, Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar . Ḥilyat al-Banāt wa'l-Banīn wa Zīnat al-Dunyā wa'l-Dīn . 1996 . Dār al-Ḥāwī . 129 . The Splendour of Girls and Boys and the Adornment of This Life and the Next . والنّساء الآدميّات أفضل من الحور العين بصلاتهنّ وصيامهنّ وعبادتهنّ. . composed 15th-16th century.
  83. Book: Asad, M. . Muhammad Asad . . 2003 . Al-Hasan, quoted by Razi in his comments on 44:54 . (Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah, ayah 22.
  84. Book: Ismail ibn Kathir . Ibn Kathir . . 2000 . The Reward of Those on the Right After . (Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah ayat 35–36.
  85. Book: Asad, M. . Muhammad Asad . . 2003 . (Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah, ayat 35–36.
  86. [Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 1981]
  87. ns.
  88. https://archive.org/stream/TheMessageOfTheQuran_20140419/55877864-54484011-Message-of-Quran-Muhammad-Asad-Islam-Translation_djvu.txt ""what is kept hidden for them [by way] of a joy of the eyes", i.e., of blissful delights, irrespective of whether seen, heard or felt. The expression "what is kept hidden for them" clearly alludes to the unknowable - and, therefore, only allegorically describable - quality of life in the hereafter. The impossibility of man's really "imagining" paradise has been summed up by the Prophet in the well-authenticated hadith; "God says: 'I have readied for My righteous servants what no eye has ever seen, and no ear has ever heard, and no heart of man has ever conceived'" (Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah; also Tirmidhi). This hadith has always been regarded by the Companions as the Prophet's own comment on the above verse'(cf. Fath al-Bari VIII, 418 f.). "
  89. [Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai]
  90. [Houri#iWWINaM1995|Ibn Warraq, ''Why I Am Not a Muslim'', 1995]

Citations

  1. 30 September 2024.
  2. http://www.dictionary.com/browse/houris "Houri"
  3. Web site: Definition of HOURI . 2024-11-17 . www.merriam-webster.com . en.
  4. [Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 1981]
  5. Book: The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary . 2015 . HarperCollins . 978-0-06-112586-7 . Seyyed Hossein Nasr . . . Caner K. Dagli . Maria Massi Dakake . Joseph E.B. Lumbard . Mohammed Rustom.
  6. Web site: Soysal . Gökhan . 2022-03-28 . What Will Women Receive in Paradise for Controlling Their Anger? . 2024-11-27 . SeekersGuidance . en-US.
  7. see Lane's Lexicon, p. 666 and Hans Wehr, p. 247
  8. Wehr's Arabic-English Dictionary, 1960.
  9. Web site: Quran 37:48 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  10. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir As-Saaffat . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  11. Web site: Quran 38:52 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  12. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Saad . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  13. Web site: Quran 44:54 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  14. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Ad-Dukhan . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  15. Web site: Quran 52:20 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  16. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir At-Tur . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  17. Web site: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Rahman, Arabic English, HTMl, PDF, Free Download . 2022-08-28 . Quran4u.com.
  18. Web site: Quran 55:56 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  19. Web site: al-Jalalayn . TafsirAr-Rahman . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  20. Web site: Surah Ar-Rahman - 56 .
  21. Web site: Ayah ar-Rahman (The Beneficent, The Mercy Giving, The Merciful) 55:58 . www.islamawakened.com.
  22. Web site: Quran 55:72 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  23. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Ar-Rahman . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  24. Web site: Quran 55:74 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  25. Web site: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Waqiah, Arabic English, HTMl, PDF, Free Download . 2022-08-28 . Quran4u.com.
  26. Web site: Quran 56:8 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  27. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Ar-Al-Waqi'a . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  28. Web site: Al-Waqi'ah 56:8, (translation, Dr., Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran) . 2 July 2022 . Quran.com.
  29. Web site: Quran 56:22 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  30. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Al-Waqi'a . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  31. Web site: Quran 56:35 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  32. Web site: Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Naba, Arabic English, HTMl, PDF, Free Download . 2022-08-28 . Quran4u.com.
  33. Web site: Quran 78:31 . 29 April 2020 . Islam Awakened.
  34. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir An-Naba' . 30 April 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  35. Web site: AboeIsmail . 2019-03-12 . Surah 44: ad-Dukhan . 2022-10-14 . QuranOnline.net . en.
  36. [Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 1981]
  37. Kitāb aḥwāl al-qiyāma, p. 111. References to the general description of the ḥūr are abundant in the collections of traditions; see, for example, the summary and numerous citations of Ṣoubḥi El-Ṣaleḥ, La Vie Future selon le Coran. Paris: Librarie Philosophique J. Vrin, 1971, p.25. quoted in Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.164
  38. La Vie Future selon le Coran, p.39. quoted in Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.164
  39. Abu Isa Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Vol. 2.
  40. Abu Isa Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, hadith: 5638
  41. ns.
  42. Web site: Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning of Q.78:33 . 2 July 2022 . Islam Awakened.
  43. Web site: 29 January 2013 . Meaning of in verse 66:12 and in 78:33 . 2 July 2022 . Islamweb.net.
  44. Web site: 26 October 2016 . The description of the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyniyn is a lie and is a fabrication against the texts #243879 . 2 July 2022 . Islam Question and Answer.
  45. Book: Ibn Kathir . Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Abridged, Volume 10 Surat At-Tagabun to the end of the Qur'an . 333–334.
  46. http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/22_k/112_kEb.html كعب
  47. Book: Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel . Muhammad Abdel Haleem . Understanding the Qur'an: Themes and Style . I.B Tauris . 2011 . 9781845117894 . 235 . Paradise in the Qur'an . limited.
  48. Web site: 29 April 2013 . Do the words of Allah, 'And full-breasted maidens of equal age (wa kawaa'ib atraaban)' describe the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyn? . 18 February 2020 . IslamQA.
  49. Abdullah Yusuf Ali: The Meanings of the Illustrious Qur'an, Alminar Books, Houston, TX, 1997
  50. Book: Asad, M. . Muhammad Asad . . 2003 . (Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah, ayah 38. "As regards my rendering of kawa’ib as 'splendid companions', it is to be remembered that the term ... from which it is derived has many meanings ... one of these meanings is 'prominence', 'eminence' or 'glory' (Lisan al-Arab) ... If we bear in mind that the Qur'anic descriptions of the blessings of paradise are always allegorical, we realize that in the above context the term kawa’ib can have no other meaning than 'glorious [or splendid] beings'."
  51. Salahuddin Yusuf, Riyadhus Salihin, commentary on Nawawi, Chapter 372, Dar-us-Salam Publications (1999),,
  52. News: Warraq . Ibn . January 12, 2002 . Virgins? What virgins? . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130622000632/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/jan/12/books.guardianreview5 . June 22, 2013 . The Guardian . London.
  53. Book: Anjali Nirmal . Urban Terrorism: Myths and Realities . 2009 . Pointer Publishers . 978-8171325986 . 33.
  54. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir ibn Kathir (Quranic Commentary), "The Reward of Those on the Right After", [Chapter (Surah) Al-Waqiah (That Which Must Come To Pass)(56):35–36], Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2000,
  55. Web site: 30 August 2000 . Will men in Paradise have intercourse with al-hoor aliyn? . 28 January 2020 . IslamQA.
  56. Web site: Imam Muhammad Ibn Majah . Volume 5:37 Book of Zuhd 4337 . 14 March 2020 . Muflihun.com.
  57. Web site: al-Jalalayn . Tafsir Yā Sīn . 14 March 2020 . Tafsir al-Jalalayn.
  58. Book: Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab . Sexuality in Islam . 2008 . . 9780415426008 . 75–76.
  59. Book: Abdul-Rahman, Muhammad Saed . Islam: Questions and Answers: Basic Tenets of Faith: Belief (Part 2) . 2003 . MSA Publication Ltd . 1861790864 . 415–419.
  60. Web site: Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English) Surah Al Waqiah. The Reward of Those on the Right After. أَتْرَابًا (Atrab) . 4 July 2022 . Quran Translation / Tafsir.
  61. Book: Abdel Haleem . Muhammad . Understanding the Quran; Themes and Styles . 1999 . I.B. Tauris . 99 . 4 July 2022.
  62. Book: Al-Hoor-al-Hayn, Women of Paradise . n.d. . Islamic Books . 4 July 2022.
  63. Web site: Saalih al-Munajjid . Muhammad (Supervisor) . Do the words of Allah, "And full-breasted maidens of equal age (wa kawaa'ib atraaban)" describe the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyn? . 4 July 2022 . Islam Question and Answer.
  64. Web site: Quran 55:65 . 4 July 2022 . Islam Awakened.
  65. [Al-Ghazali|Al Ghazzali]
  66. Book: Ismail ibn Kathir . Ibn Kathir . . 2000 . The Reward of Those on the Right After.
  67. [Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 1981]
  68. Web site: 4 January 2012 . حوریان بهشتی فقط برای مردان؟! .
  69. Web site: 9 June 2011 . Are all 'houris' female? . 22 April 2019 . Dawn.com.
  70. Web site: Question 10053. Will men in Paradise have intercourse with al-hoor aliyn? . 6 August 2020 . Islam Question and Answer.
  71. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  72. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  73. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  74. Book: Asad, M. . The Message of the Quran, Surah 56:22 [8] . The noun hur—rendered by me as companions pure—is a plural of both ahwar (masc.) and hawra' (fem.).
  75. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  76. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  77. Web site: The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran . corpus.quran.com.
  78. Book: Ibid The Message of the Quran by M. Asad, Surah 56:22 note [8].
  79. Book: Ibid The Message of the Quran by M. Asad, Surah 44:54 note [30] . For the rendering of hur 'in as 'companions pure, most beautiful of eye', see surah, notes [8] and [13]. It is to be noted that the noun zawj (lit., 'a pair' or – according to the context – 'one of a pair') applies to either of the two sexes, as does the transitive verb zawaja, 'he paired' or 'joined', i.e., one person with another..
  80. Annemarie Schimmel, Islam: An Introduction, p. 13, "Muhammad"
  81. Book: al-Ṣāwī, Aḥmad . Ḥashiyat ʿAlā Sharḥ al-Kharīdat al-Bahīyah . 1947 . Maṭbaʿat Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī wa Awlāduh . Cairo . 67 . An Annotative Commentary Upon "The Resplendent Pearl" . والصحيح: أنّ نساء الدنيا يكنّ أفضل من الحور العين بسبعين ألف ضعف. . composed 1813.
  82. Book: Bahraq al-Yamanī, Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar . Ḥilyat al-Banāt wa'l-Banīn wa Zīnat al-Dunyā wa'l-Dīn . 1996 . Dār al-Ḥāwī . 129 . The Splendour of Girls and Boys and the Adornment of This Life and the Next . والنّساء الآدميّات أفضل من الحور العين بصلاتهنّ وصيامهنّ وعبادتهنّ. . composed 15th-16th century.
  83. Book: Asad, M. . Muhammad Asad . . 2003 . Al-Hasan, quoted by Razi in his comments on 44:54 . (Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah, ayah 22.
  84. Book: Ismail ibn Kathir . Ibn Kathir . . 2000 . The Reward of Those on the Right After . (Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah ayat 35–36.
  85. Book: Asad, M. . Muhammad Asad . . 2003 . (Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah, ayat 35–36.
  86. [Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'', 1981]
  87. ns.
  88. https://archive.org/stream/TheMessageOfTheQuran_20140419/55877864-54484011-Message-of-Quran-Muhammad-Asad-Islam-Translation_djvu.txt ""what is kept hidden for them [by way] of a joy of the eyes", i.e., of blissful delights, irrespective of whether seen, heard or felt. The expression "what is kept hidden for them" clearly alludes to the unknowable - and, therefore, only allegorically describable - quality of life in the hereafter. The impossibility of man's really "imagining" paradise has been summed up by the Prophet in the well-authenticated hadith; "God says: 'I have readied for My righteous servants what no eye has ever seen, and no ear has ever heard, and no heart of man has ever conceived'" (Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah; also Tirmidhi). This hadith has always been regarded by the Companions as the Prophet's own comment on the above verse'(cf. Fath al-Bari VIII, 418 f.). "
  89. [Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai]
  90. [Houri#iWWINaM1995|Ibn Warraq, ''Why I Am Not a Muslim'', 1995]

Bibliography

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