Is the belief about the 72 virgins literal or metaphorical?

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim - In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Hello. Well, I am a Muslim woman so perhaps that gives me a bit of a different perspective. Yes, there will be "Hoor al-Ayn" in Jannah. They will be a separate creation of Allah, not humans, but like a human woman in most respects, and beautiful and chaste and only with eyes for their husbands in Jannah. How do I, a Muslim woman with a normal amount of jealousy, deal with that?

Well, first of all, we have to undertand that Jannah (Paradise) is a place that no one has seen and no one can grasp. It will be a place of ultimate beauty and purity and grace, and any descriptions we have of it fall short because the vocabulary of this world is inadequate to describe it, just as it is impossible for a man who is blind and deaf to give an adequate description of an elephant a mile away.

Also, OUR natures will be changed and purified when we are in Jannah. Our bodies will be resurrected, yes, but we will not have excretion; we will not urinate, or defacate or have nasal secretions or anything base or unclean. Our bodies will be pure and our intentions will be pure. There will be no ugly lust, only pure enjoyment of sexual pleasure. We cannot imagine what that will be like because right now we are shackled to this world and not purified yet. There will be no jealousy, no envy, no hatred. Can you imagine such a thing? No, it's impossible to think that way, but it will happen because Allah will cleanse us, body and soul.

So, imagine I'm in Jannah (may Allah make it so). My husband was a Muslim as well and Allah granted both of us Jannah. We were pleased with each other in the world and we are happy to be together in Jannah. According to Allah's promise, each of us has our own separate mansion in Jannah, so we as indivduals have our reward and are not "tied together" in Jannah. Now, imagine that, though we still enjoy purified marital relations in Jannah, we are not always together. Perhaps I am in my mansion praising Allah and doing something. My husband is feeling like he would like to enjoy some sexual pleasure. In the world, I as a Muslim wife would respond to the call of my husband for marital relations even if I'm at the oven baking bread. But now, there is no servitude in Jannah so I am free to come and go as I please. If I happen to be otherwise occupied, well, this is Jannah so my husband is going to get what HE wants, right? So he can go to one of his "wives" from among the Hoor al-Ayn. He might have one or more than one. Allah knows best. He can enjoy purified wonderful sexual relations with her so that he is not deprived, because Jannah is not a place of deprivation, and I can enjoy my time doing whatever I'm doing because Jannah is not a place of servitude. I do not envy the Hoor al-Ayn because she is a creature different from me, not a complex human being but rather a creature of comfort. When my husband wants an intellectual discussion and wants to be with those he loves the most, he will be with me, not with her. That is my understanding and of course Allah knows best.

I think the most important thing and the hardest thing to do is to divorce your worldly hangups and realize that Jannah is a pure place, and sex in this world is a pale shadow of the purified sexual relations we will enjoy in Jannah.

I pray that Allah guides you to that which is best in this world and the next. Ameen.

Fi Aman Allah,

Nancy Umm Abdel Hamid

I learned in religion class back when I was a freshman in high school that the Muslim religion says nothing about getting 72 virgins if one were to commit suicide while killing others in the name of Jihad. Many Muslims say that they have nothing to do with the terrorist belief and that the terrorists distort the religion. For example, in the Middle Eastern News, they say that Christians are evil because they show this one guy kill abortion doctors in the name of Jesus. But, we all know that that killer was just crazy, not a representative of Christianity as a whole. So, 72 virgins is something the people who distort the Muslim religion believe.

Good question, the thing is though the 72 virgin concept popped up here in the usa, it wasnt originally part of Islam. I think its probably literal, but may be metaphorical also.

There is a referrence to beautiful maidens being in Paradise. However, there is no reference to a specific number or that they will be at the beck and call of suicide bombers! There is controversy as to whether it is literal or metaphorical.

The number 72 does not appear literally in the Koran. More exactly, it appears the following:

Sura 78:31 "As for the righteous, they shall surely triumph. Theirs shall be gardens and vineyards, and high-bosomed virgins for companions: a truly overflowing cup."

Sura 37:40-48 "...They will sit with bashful, dark-eyed virgins, as chaste as the sheltered eggs of ostriches."

Sura 44:51-55 "...Yes and We shall wed them to dark-eyed houris. (beautiful virgins)"

Sura 52:17-20 "...They shall recline on couches ranged in rows. To dark-eyed houris (virgins) we shall wed them..."

Sura 55:56-57 "In them will be bashful virgins neither man nor Jinn will have touched before. Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny ?"

Sura 55:57-58 "Virgins as fair as corals and rubies. Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny ?"

Sura 56:7-40 "...We created the houris (the beautiful women) and made them virgins, loving companions for those on the right hand.. "

Sura 55:70-77 "In each there shall be virgins chaste and fair... Dark eyed virgins sheltered in their tents whom neither man nor Jinn will have touched before."

It is a fact that (male) true Muslims believe in an unending orgy of sex and food in their Islamic heaven, all that reserved for the mujaydeen.

By the way, the Koran is generally interpreted literally by the Muslim jurist schools. It is interpreted as the unerring word of Allah.

They base their beliefs in the ahadith, the sayings of Mohamed, too. In there, the orgy is more explicit.

And what about the spirituality of the virgins? Perhaps the wrong questions are asked in this regard.

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i dont know man...however it should be interpreted, its interpreted that literally 72 ''hot'' virgin are gonna be waiting for them in heaven...ridiculous of any religious person to think that heaven(if it even exists) would have sex in it...

not to mention i dont know about the next guy...but i'd hip-slam my way through 72 virgins in no time...then whats to do with the rest of eternity...

Islam says you get whatever you want so....... if you want 72,000 virgins that is what you will get.

There is no reference to only 72.

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Well, I think the reward has to be pretty enticing to convince someone to turn themselves into a walking bomb....