The 'Hur' - Companion in Heaven

Society Religion & Philosophy
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A few people were asking about the ‘Hur’ in the Qur’an. More popularly known as female virgins. We had a discussion on the subject in a previous post (posted by Roman, last edited on May 2, 11:27 pm). There are some insightful responses there. Here is a repost of my thoughts:

First off we must understand that when we are doing an analysis like this, we are doing one through an understanding of English translations, amongst which scholars disagree on exact meanings of words. I will use Yusuf Ali’s transliteration in this post.

The following Qur’anic verses discuss ** ‘women’ or ‘maidens’ ** for the Righteous in heaven:
**

  1. “And besides them will be * chaste women * ; restraining their glances, with big eyes (of wonder and beauty).” (Qur’an 37:48) * Another translation of the same verse reads: “And with them are those of modest gaze, with lovely eyes.” (Qur’an 37:48). This version is gender-less *

  2. “And besides them will be * chaste women * restraining their glances (Companions) of equal age.” (Qur’an 38:52) * Another translation of the same verse reads: “And with them are those of modest gaze, companions.” (Qur’an 38:52). Again this version is gender-less *

  3. “in them will be * (Maidens), chaste, * restraining their glances, whom no man or Jinn before them has touched.” (Qur’an 55:56) * Another translation of the same verse reads: “Therein are those of modest gaze, whom neither man nor jinn will have touched before them.” (Qur’an 55:56). Again a relatively gender-less translation opposing Ali’s translation of the same verse *
    **

The verses above (according to Ali’s translation) seem to discuss ** women ** in particular, and the reward righteous men will get in heaven. However, other translations differ (as does the second one I’ve posted along side Yusuf Ali above). Furthermore Yusuf Ali’s * tafseer * , indicated in his footnotes, provides further explanation. It would be worthwhile to examine some more verses, before getting to these footnotes. Verses which discuss rewards of ‘Companions’ (neither male or female) for Righteous believers.

The following Qur’anic verses discuss ** Companions ** for the Righteous in heaven:

  1. “Moreover We shall join them to ** Companions ** with beautiful, big and lustrous eyes.” (Qur’an 44:54)

  2. “…and we shall join them to ** Companions ** , with beautiful big and lustrous eyes.” (Qur’an 52:20)

  3. “In them will be fair ( ** Companions ** ), good beautiful…Companions restrained (as to their glances) in (goodly) pavilions…” (Qur’an 55:70, 72)

  4. “And (there will be) ** Companions ** with beautiful, big and lustrous eyes…” (Qur’an 56:22)

  5. “And We have created (their ** Companions ** ) of special creation, and made them virgin pure (and undefiled) - beloved (by nature) - equal in age - for the Companions of the right hand.” (Qur’an 56:35-38)

  6. " ** Companions ** of equal age…" (Qur’an 78:33)

These verses discuss ** companions ** and do not seem to favor one gender over another. Furthermore Yusuf Ali’s * tafseer * may illuminate our discussion. He writes:

"The companions like the scene, the dress, the outlook, and the fruit will be beautiful. There will be life free from all earthly grossness. The ** women as well as the men of * this life * will attain to this indescribable bliss ** " (footnote 4728 to Qur’an 44:54).

Ali refers to this footnote in most of the places in the Qur’an where the * Hur * or ‘Companions’ of the Righteous are mentioned. He further writes,

"** The pronoun in Arabic is in the feminine gender, but lest grosser ideas of sex should intrude, it is made clear that these companions for heavenly society will be of special creation ** - of virginal purity, grace and beauty inspiring and inspired by love, with the question of time and age eliminated. ** * Thus every person among the Righteous * will have the Bliss of Heaven and the Peace of Allah. ** " (footnote 5240 to Qur’an 56:35)

Just because the * Hur * are described in feminine language, doesn’t necessarily mean they are ‘female’. In fact 56:35 discusses them as being of ‘special creation’. Both males and females have feminine characteristics. Beauty and goodness is seen as a ‘female’ characteristic (in particular in the Qur’an with relation to the * Hur * ). This beauty and goodness can also apply to ‘male’ Companions who accompany female believers in heaven.

The Qur’an also states that families will be together, reunited in heaven: “Gardens of Eden, which they enter, along with all who do right of their fathers and their helpmeets and their seed. The angels enter unto them from every gate” (Qur’an 13:23). This verse provides a paradox to the verses regarding the * Hur * . A father enjoying the blissfulness of heaven with virgin creatures, denying his wife the same would be unjust. Allah is definitely not unjust, this is clear in the Qur’an. Equality is a central theme in the Qur’an.

I think this along with Abdullah’s (and others) posts regarding other Qur’anic verses, make it clear that the Righteous believers, regardless of gender, will be rewarded and that males do not have a monopoly on ‘blissful’ happiness, nor are they rewarded with things denied their female counterparts in heaven.

Achtung :wink:

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Thanks

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Achtung - Come on man, what's the bottom line here, are we gonna have sex in heaven or not?

:) :)

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Yes achtung, please tell us about sex because sex is the only topic left on this page to discuss.

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it is a great source of laughter for me, when i see the reaction of people when i claim there will be no sex in heaven. :)
i like to discuss this issue time and again with the molvis and their followers around here, because it is particularly funny to see the diappointment on their face. most of them are just not wanting to believe in it at any cost.

As Achtung has been, as usual, exact and to the point, mild yet very strong, it must be evident that there is NO mention of sex at all.

Dear Roman,
i know it might be a but disappointing to know that you wont have sex in heaven, but you must understand the point in it.

Sex induces pleasure. If sex was pleasureless, none would have been so keen to have it in heaven. right? so sex is desired, because it induces pleasure. now if you get a pleasure by an alternate source, will ther be a need for sex then?

The human mind feels pleasure in sex, because of his instinctive tendency to reproduce. When no such tendency would be, why will there be a pleasure?

You see a women, you get sexually attracted, and you desire sex. When you see a female companion in heaven, you will not get sexually attracted, and therefore will not desire sex.

Imagine your feelings when you see a handsome young man. although you will certainly enjoy his company, and would certainly appreciate his beauty, yet you will not be sexually attracted towards him. ( because you can not mate him to reproduce )

The same will be your feelings towards male and female companions in heaven.

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Sex induces pleasure. If sex was pleasureless, none would have been so keen to
have it in heaven. right? so sex is desired, because it induces pleasure. now if you get a pleasure by an alternate source, will ther be a need for sex then?

By the same token, one may ask why should there be a substitute?. Why not just sex?. Is sex inherently disgusting Mr. Jewels. After all it is created by Allah for our enjoyment. And what if I were to tell you that in Jannat the quality of sex will increase manifold and so would your male prowess to match with it.

Obviously, you can't argue that sex is inherently bad since we all came through this very act unless you claim a direct descension from the heavens. To argue that we will have a better alternative sounds good but are there going to be pleasures of only one single kind. What if sex is one of the pleasures along with others. Why would you eliminate it then in your logic.

The human mind feels pleasure in sex, because of his instinctive tendency to
reproduce. When no such tendency would be, why will there be a pleasure?

Nice theory indeed. By the way, what is the source of this theory?. Are there any Quranic ayaats or ahadith to support this or is it a mere flight of fancy?. Or perhaps, your mullahs had a vision in which their minds were enlightened by this novel idea.

You see a women, you get sexually attracted, and you desire sex. When you see a female companion in heaven, you will not get sexually attracted, and therefore will not desire sex.

Once again a mere conjecture that has no basis whatsoever in the Quran or hadith.

Imagine your feelings when you see a handsome young man. although you will
certainly enjoy his company, and would certainly appreciate his beauty, yet you
will not be sexually attracted towards him. ( because you can not mate him to reproduce )

There is definately something wrong with an individual when he will equate looking at a woman with looking at a man. Is it possible that looking at a beautiful female will induce the same feelings in a person as will looking at a male. Any one believing that should see a shrink.

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Jewels,

What is wrong with sex? Don't you like it? I think it's ok myself. It sounds like my idea of heaven to be honest. People seem to like sex enough down here. I can't imagine why it becomes so bad in Heaven.

But sex is only a small part of it. It's not the be-all and end-all. There is more to life and after-life than that. There is love and honesty as well among other things. Why concentrate on just one aspect? What are you trying to prove?

Quran is our main source of reference but we also have hadith which is quite informative on this subject.

I believe in the hadith because they are narrated by the Sahaba (RA) and were recorded by people who were closer to the source than you or Ghulam Mirza.

Sunnah tells us everything about the Prophet's(saw) speech to how we pray. In Quran it tells us to follow the Prophet's(saw) Sunnah.

Now perhaps sex is not really a part of Jannat, but the sayings of the Prophet(saw) do not really imply that is the case. Are you saying he was misleading us?

Incidentally, we take whatever Allah gives us, whether it is good or bad, and we don't do it for benefit if that is what you are going to come up with. It is not our choice what is in the Quran and Sunnah.

We can't pick and choose according to our desires like some do. Because Allah(swt) is the most High not us.

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Dear i qadeer,

my reply was meant for Roman, and i have certainly already made it clear that i have no problem with you if you follow religion for sexual reward.

As for the koranic evidence, achtung has clealry posted the koranic evidence that there will be NO sex with male and/or female companions in heaven.

if you disbelieve in that, quote koran. but you wont. your job is to sit back, and deny, finding excuses. that is all you have done. i havent seen any discussion by you supporting a koranic verse. all your discussions are usually about finding excuses to deny them.

I have repeatedly told you that i am not discussing this issue with you, and you do not have any evidence of koran and hadith about sex in heaven. Koran talks about ** companions ** and not sexual partners. koran talks about the people of heaven talking to them, yet does not talk of sex with those companions. koran is clear. but what do you care. care they, who read koran. while you look thru translations to deny it.

I have also proved you wrong about physical gifts being provided in the heaven, yet shame is not enough to keep you from starting this discussion again. first bring a reply to that point, then will you deserve to be addresses to.

Your discussion is religiously and scientifically incorrect. so please mind your own business. i am not willing to discuss this issue with you. my reply was meant for roman.

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for those wondering, i'm purposely ignoring mr. extreme.

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To dearest Jewels,
Ouch......

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As usually...thank you achtung for bringing the info together....and it is good to see you here.

ok well sex does sell and makes for interesting convo...i guess.
....we just had 4 posts that discussed sex.... and all under a thread about female virgins.

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AMTH,

The belief of the Ahle Sunnah is that the Hooris are a separate creation by Allah Ta'ala made just for the believers in paradise. they ARE female. they will be exceedingly beautiful--their descriptions can be found in hadith books--our Beloved Prophet alayhisalaatosalaam saw them during his blessed Mir'aj shareef. it is said by the ulama that such is the beauty of the hoor that if one of them were to reveal just her little finger in this world--because of it's radiance--the world would be destroyed!
Allahu akbar!

There WILL be beautiful male companions as well who will be servants of the believers--these are called GHILMAAN.

Will there be sex with the Hooris? I think that the Sunni position is that yes, there will be. Because of all the pleasures of this world, it is the highest and so--as janah is a place of pure pleasure--Allah has created it's equivalent in the Next world too. Also in the hadiths it says that a man of paradise has the sexual strength of 100 earthly men--this suggests that there will be sex. it also says that the virginity of the hooris will be perpetually renewed. Allahu akbar!

wallahu aalam.

btw, i find it amusing that the qadianis are talking of paradise!!!

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Asif,
btw- I continue to find it amazing that you and followers of Fundamentalist extremist Islam, with blood on its hand - blood whose spilling is sanctioned by its extremist scriptures, can dare call itself a religion, let alone dream of Paradise.

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Yea right ASIF. Give me a break !

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Abdul Malick ---excuse me? are you suggesting that the scriptures of Islam are 'extremist'? This is the Quran and Hadith we are talking about here;

and what is this fundamentalist, extremist, islam????

for your information I am Maturidi in aqeedah, Hanafi in fiqh and Naqshbandi in tareeqah---now if that makes me a 'fundamentalist'--then alhamdulillah , I am one.

what is this 'blood' on the hands you speak of? which sunni with these beliefs has spilled innocent blood???

btw, i dont know what your problem is all i did in this thread was describe the classical sunni beliefs about the Houris.

but perhaps it is because i taunted the qadianis that so upset you...

Doesn't the Qur'an say:

The believers are harsh towards the unbelievers and gentle amongst themselves?

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Asif jee... to much sex with hoors..has upseted mr.Abdulmalick sahib...kuch kam gar deege...just kidding yar

dil..dilseeee

[This message has been edited by dilse (edited June 04, 1999).]

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dilse.
mind na kareen :)munday filmaan wekh wekh kay kharaab hoye nay! :)

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Keriyan filman Jewels Sahib?

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merya weera,
hooraan aaliyaan filmaan! ;)