حور
Ḥūr
Topic
The “wide-eyed” companions promised in Paradise; the Quran also promises pure spouses to all believers.
What it means
The Quran describes “ḥūr ʿīn” (44:54, 52:20, 56:22), companions of modest gaze whom no man or jinn has touched (55:56). It also promises “pure spouses” to all who believe (2:25, 3:15, 4:57) and says that the believers will enter Paradise “and their wives” (36:56, 43:70). The number seventy-two does not appear in the Quran, but in a single report in al-Tirmidhi.
Often misunderstood as
That a suicide attacker earns seventy-two virgins.
What the sources say
Muslim scholars have said that the texts apply to all believers, men and women, whom God will join with spouses suited to them, and that the images of the afterlife are described in terms familiar to people. The Prophet said that suicide leads to Hell. Scholars have broadly condemned the use of the idea as a reward for violence. A theory that the word means “white grapes” in Syriac is not accepted by most scholars.