Houri

Houris in paradise, riding camels. From a 15th-century Persian manuscript.

In Islam, a houri (/ˈhʊərri/ or /ˈhəri/;[1] Arabic: حُـورِيَّـة ,حُورِيّ, romanizedḥūriyy, ḥūrīya, lit.'maiden')[Note 1] or hoor al ayn in plural form, refers to maiden women with beautiful eyes who live alongside the Muslim faithful in paradise.[3][4]

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,[2] although the houris are mentioned indirectly several other times, (sometimes as azwāj, lit. companions), and hadith provide a "great deal of later elaboration".[2] 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".[2] According to hadith, faithful women of the Dunya will be superior to houris in paradise.[6]

  1. ^ "houri". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 September 2024. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d Smith & Haddad, Islamic Understanding, 1981: p.164
  3. ^ "Houri" Archived 2021-09-21 at the Wayback Machine. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  4. ^ "Definition of HOURI". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  5. ^ Seyyed Hossein Nasr; Caner K. Dagli; Maria Massi Dakake; Joseph E.B. Lumbard; Mohammed Rustom, eds. (2015). The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-112586-7.
  6. ^ Soysal, Gökhan (2022-03-28). "What Will Women Receive in Paradise for Controlling Their Anger?". SeekersGuidance. Retrieved 2024-11-27.


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