Saturday, August 09, 2014

Humans Over Hooris - Who's Superior?

A lot of women are made to feel jealous of the Hoor al-‘Ayn, and much of it due to the way that male speakers discuss the Hoor of Jannah in contrast to the believing women of this world.

Unfortunately, so much emphasis is given on describing the Hoor al-‘Ayn and their alleged “superiority” to human women, that the lessons shared are in fact contrary to the Sunnah of RasulAllah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) himself.

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) said that:
“Every man in heaven will go to 72 of the creatures of Allah (houris) and 2 of the women of mankind, these two (human, believing) women are superior to the creatures of Allah (houris) with their worshipping (good deeds) they had performed in this world.” [Bayhaqi, al-Bas wa’n-Nushur; Tabari, Tafsir; Abu Yala, Ibn Hajar, Fathu’l-Baari, Tabarani and others]

Umm Salamah (Radiahallahu Anha) narrates that she said to the Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam):
“O Rasûlullah, are the women of this world superior or the hûrs (of Paradise)?”

He replied, “The women of this world will have superiority over the hûrs (houris) just as the outer lining of a garment has superiority over the inner lining.”

Umm Salamah then asked, “O Rasûlullah, what is the reason for this?” He answered, “Because they performed salâh, fasted, and worshipped [Allah]. Allah will put light on their faces and silk on their bodies.
[The human women] will be fair in complexion and will wear green clothing and yellow jewelry. Their incense-burners will be made of pearls and their combs will be of gold. They will say, ‘We are the women who will stay forever and we will never die. We are the women who will always remain in comfort and we will never undergo difficulty.
We are the women who will stay and we will never leave. Listen, we are happy women and we will never become sad. Glad tidings to those men for whom we are and who are for us.’” [Tabrânî]

From these two powerful ahadeeth, it is obvious that contrary to what is commonly taught today, the Sahabah and Sahabiyaat were clearly aware that the believing women of this world are far, far superior to the Hoor al-‘Ayn.

Take a moment and just think about how much time is spent in the Qur’an describing the Hoor al-‘Ayn… think about all the time that men spend talking about the Hoor al-‘Ayn…
Now take that, and multiply it - by 10, by 20… according to one narration, the believing women of this world who enter Jannah will be SEVENTY TIMES MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE HOOR AL-‘AYN.

Whenever Allah describes something in the Qur’an and RasulAllah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) explains it in the Sunnah, it’s always for a reason. Never does Allah or His Messenger belittle or put down Muslim women; to the contrary, the Qur’an and Sunnah are filled with examples of how Muslim women are empowered and honoured, in both this world and the Hereafter.

Unfortunately, however, some Muslims have conveniently chosen those things which they find personally attractive, and created a skewed narrative which has served the purpose of making Muslim women dread - wa’l iyaadhu billaah - even the thought of reading the descriptions of Jannah, because they’ve been subconsciously taught to be jealous of the Hoor al-‘Ayn.

Ladies, remember that it is Allah alone who knows us better than any other human; remember that Allah is the Most Just, the Most Compassionate, and the One Who will reward us beyond our imagination’s comprehension.
As believing women, who will inshaAllah enter Jannah, we will never be shortchanged by the One Who promised us a perfect, eternal reward.

And men, if you’re reading this… just remember that there’s no guarantee that you’re going to enter Jannah anyway. All that time you waste thinking about the Hoor al-‘Ayn and trying to make your wife jealous about them (and joke’s on you anyway, your wife is inshaAllah going to be so much better than them), is time that you could be spending actually doing good deeds and *earning* Jannah to begin with.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was just wondering why is it the believing men have two human wives. Shouldn't each women be the queen. Why should there be another woman who is just as good as her share her husband? It kind of bugs me so I just wanted to gain some insight. jazakallah khayr :)

AnonyMouse said...

One of the reasons behind the believing men having two wives, is that those women who were unmarried in this world, will be married in the Hereafter.

As well, in the Aakhirah, we will never experience jealousy, insecurities, or hurt feelings - and we women will also have everything we could ever want or imagine! Jannah is so incredible, so amazing, that it is far beyond anything we can imagine now... suffice it to say that we will never feel even a shadow of unhappiness, and we women will experience our own unique rewards in there Hereafter, inshaAllah :)

Anonymous said...

Excellent post, may Allah reward you.

Anonymous said...

This is an excellent post. But please help me out on this sister i hope you do. Really do hope.

A man can marry four times if he can be just. Okay, fair enough. But WHY is he also allowed to keep concubines ( can have sexual relations with his slave girls)
I know back then slaves were common and all but even back then?!
Isn't this adultery by law? A man can have sex with as many girls if he has 100 slaves girls then what?!
On the other hand a woman must be loyal to that ONE man and making him angry on even refusal to havee intercourse with him without any valid reason is sinful.

Sorry to sound so explicit that's why im asking you.
So I can ask openly.

Why the male domination and such sexual laws in place...for men ?
Also...
Men to be given 72 Virgins in jannah

Again. Sexual fulfilment of Man. What's wrong with the wife only. And why the sexual rewards in place. Isn't this...male oriented.

AnonyMouse said...

1) Islam came to strictly limit and regulate what was common before the time of Islam. E.g. polygamy used to be unrestricted (sons would 'inherit' their stepmothers! men would have over 100 wives), and Islam set down strict rules and conditions for it.
Finally, the Shari'ah is *perfect* because the Law-giver who sent it down to RasulAllah (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) is perfect, and knows us better than our ownselves.

2) Women have sexual rights in Islam; if her husband does not fulfill her sexually, she has legitimate grounds for divorce.

3) Jannah is perfect - and while there are explicit details for men, Allah - Who created us and knows us best - promised us that we would have *whatever* we want in Jannah, unconditionally, for both genders.

AnonyMouse said...

1) Islam came to strictly limit and regulate what was common before the time of Islam. E.g. polygamy used to be unrestricted (sons would 'inherit' their stepmothers! men would have over 100 wives), and Islam set down strict rules and conditions for it.
Finally, the Shari'ah is *perfect* because the Law-giver who sent it down to RasulAllah (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) is perfect, and knows us better than our ownselves.

2) Women have sexual rights in Islam; if her husband does not fulfill her sexually, she has legitimate grounds for divorce.

3) Jannah is perfect - and while there are explicit details for men, Allah - Who created us and knows us best - promised us that we would have *whatever* we want in Jannah, unconditionally, for both genders.

Anonymous said...

I stand corrected, Thankyou very much jazakAllah. But please shed more light on the issueof concubines. Regards

Anonymous said...

I think the issue of concubines is so hard to imagine because the concept of slavery is so far removed from our reality at present. suffice to say, currently there are many prostitutes, who are considered "free", yet are compelled to have sex who can afford the X dollar amount. in addition, what prostitutes earn is often not nearly enough to sustain them (and their children). on the other hand, a concubine only has sex with her "owner", who is compelled to provide her with food, clothing shelter (the same as his). as far as I know, children born from the union between master and concubine are considered "free", which would be a benefit for the slave/concubine mother. remember, in Islam, a prospective wife can put in her marriage contract that the marriage is annulled should her husband take other wives or concubines. as for the hoors of Jannah, I think of it this way: they didn't choose my husband, and he didn't choose them. when he did have a choice in a partner (in this life) he chose me (and I chose him : )). also, the extent to which men are motivated by the hoors of paradise to "do good deeds", I would say, is in direct proportion to the extent they have to struggle to keep themselves in check with regards to the female species in this life!

Anonymous said...

^Excellent. May Allah reward you :)
I LOVE this blog.
JazakAllah

candy said...

Sometimes I also get the feelings that Anonymous has stated.I mean I can agree to the point that mention of Hoors help men to keep themselves in check but as a female won't you agree that we also like being praised for our beauty by men and being unconditionally loved by a man who considers his wife the most beautiful and spends all his time for her!I mean what if a Jannati woman needs the company of her husband at a time when the husband prefers the Hoors? What if it is the desire of the Jannati woman to have a modest virgin man untouched by any Jinn or human solely for her? Will then Allah even give preference to the man's desire?

AnonyMouse said...

We must always, ultimately keep in mind that in Jannah, there are *no* negative feelings and there is *no* injustice.

We, the human believing women, are ultimately superior to the Hoor al-Ayn - and Allah will give us all that we desire and that we want, *whatever* it is, and will never allow us to feel hurt, sorrow, or jealousy in any way, shape or form.

This is truly a blessing from Allah, and it is up to us to realize that we need to strengthen our emaan to truly believe in His Ultimate Justice.

Naima said...

I have discovered your blog today and am just going through all your blogs. i love reading your blogs, especially this one.

It's funny that i talked with my husband about this topic a year ago and he said along the lines that these suicide bombers leave the women of this world thinking that they will get to heaven and see 72 better looking hoorin, but from your blog not only will they get the wrath of Allah but also they wasted their one life on Earth for hoorin who are not as superior as believing women.

Unknown said...

If a Muslim woman needs the company of her husband when her husband is passing time with hoor, I think that husband will immediately go to his wife from the offsprings of Adom(A.S.) who wants to meet him. Because Muslim woman will be famous for her righteous deeds in the world among all his wives. You can understand this from earthly example. Suppose whom I wanna meet eagerly, is it Hashim Amla, the former number 1 batter in ODI Cricket or is it an unknown person who is not famous at all. Obviously I like to meet Hashim Amla more than to meet that unknown person

Anonymous said...

Salam sister, can you please put the exact hadith number just to confirm its authenticity.

Jazakhallah Khair

Anonymous said...

excuse me but the hadith about women being superior to hours isn't sahih thought and neither is the one talking about men getting 72 hours AND 2 wives. the correct hadith states that every man who enters jannah will get 2 wives from which are hours. 72 hours are only for shahideen. so it's still a question wether hours are superior to women of this earth. and it's also sad that they curse if your husband is unhappy with you. omg atugfir Allah but im finding it hard to believe all of this is fair. may Allah guide me inshallah

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

The hoor ul ayn are much lower in status that women of this world that will enter paradise because:
1) They are the daughters of Adam (AS) and it has been explicitly said in the Quran that Allah has created Mankind as the most superior amongst ALL his creations (this would obviously include the hour ul ayn too).
2)The hour ul ayn will be among the rewards of paradise, whereas the women who enter paradise will be the ones for whom paradise has been created. Hence, the hour ul ain are just curated as rewards whereas women earned their way through righteous deeds to acquire Allah's rewards. So logically speaking, women are more exalted in status than the hour ul ayn.
3) It has been cited in several places that the wives of the believers in this world will be the 'queen' of the hoors her husband gets in paradise.

And Allah knows best.