What is a 'hoor' ?

 

This post may not be of interest to non Muslims. It is about a word 'hoor' that appears in the Quran and which has been quite misunderstood by many. 

So non Muslims may skip if you wish. For those of you who believe in Jesus Christ there are four verses here that do mention Jesus Christ. Just for your interest.  

For the Muslim readers I hope you find this useful in some way. I will keep it brief.

I was spending time doing some reading and research about early "Islamic" sources and this word 'hoor' popped up.

This word is found in the Quran and it has been variously translated as the virgins (of paradise), dark eyed maidens and also "white raisins". 

It is a bit of a stretch from virgins to dark eyed maidens all the way to  'white raisins'.

So I did some finger work on the keyboard. This is the age of the Internet. Information and knowledge are really at your fingertips.  The speed with which you can gather information and then process that information to become useful knowledge is only limited by the dexterity of your fingers and your approximate idea of what you wish to search on the Net. You must have an idea of what you want to look for. Because that is the nature of a Google search or a Duck-Duck Go search. Type in a different set of search words and they can show something else. 

Anyway the word hoor and its derivatives appear 13 times in the Quran. So it is not a ONE TIME occurrence. This also means that you can read the many occurrences of this word hoor and its various forms and come to a conclusion about its meaning.  

Here are some of those verses : 

No 1.     Surah 61:14  O you who believe, be Allah's supporters, like when Jesus son of Miryam said to his supporters (hawaariy-yeena), "Who are my helpers towards Allah," the supporters (hawaari-yoona) said, "We are Allah's helpers." Thus, a group from the Children of Israel believed, and another group disbelieved. We helped those who believed against their enemy, until they won.

(Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo koonoo ansara Allahi kama qaala Isa ibnu Maryama lil hawaariy-yeena  man ansaree ila Allahi qala  al-hawariy-yoona  nahnu ansaru Allahi) 

OSTB :  In 61:14 the word hawaariyeen and hawaariyoon (derivatives of hoor) are translated correctly as supporters or companions. Not virgins, raisins or maidens. 

No 2.  Surah   5:111 "Recall that I inspired the supporters (al hawariyyeena): `You shall believe in Me and My messenger.' They said, `We have believed, and bear witness that we are submitters."

(Wa-ith aw-haytu ila al hawariyyeena an aminoo bi wa-birasuli qaloo aamanna wa-ish-had bi-annana muslimoona)

No 3.    Surah   5:112   Recall that the supporters (al hawariyyoona)  said, "O Jesus, son of Miryam, can your Lord send down to us a feast from the sky?" He said, "You should reverence Allah, if you are believers."

(Ith qaala al-hawariy-yoona ya Isa ibna maryama hal yas-ta-tee-u rabbuka an yu-naz-zila alayna ma-idatan minal samaa-i qaala ittaqullaaha in kuntum mu'mineena)

OSTB : Again in the two verses above (5:111-112), the words hawariyoona and hawariyeena are translated correctly as supporters (or companions). Not virgins, raisins or maidens.

No 4.   Surah  3:52  When Jesus sensed their disbelief, he said, "Who are my helpers towards Allah?" The supporters (al-hawariy-yoona) said, "We are Allah's helpers; we believe in Allah, and bear witness that we are submitters."

(Falamma ahassa Isa minhumu al-kufra qaala man ansaree ilallaahi qaala al-hawariy-yoona  nahnu ansaru Allahi aamanna billaahi waish-had bi-anna muslimoona)

OSTB : Again in 3:52 above hawariyoona is translated correctly as supporters (or companions). Not virgins, raisins or maidens.

No 5.  Surah  52:20  They relax on luxurious furnishings, and we match them with beautiful spouses (hoorin).

(Muttaki-na ala sururin mas-foo-fatin wa-zawwaj-naa-hum   bi-hoorin   aynin) 

OSTB : In 52:20 above hoorin is translated as spouses. Not virgins or raisins.

No 6. Surah  44:54  We grant them wonderful spouses (hoorin).

(Kathalika wa-zawwaj-naahum bi-hoorin aynin) 

OSTB : In 44:54 above hoorin  is translated as spouses. Not virgins or raisins.

No 7.  Surah  55:72  

Companions (hoorun) restrained in pavilions

(Hoorun  maqsooratun fil khiyaami)

OSTB :  In 55:72 above hoorun is correctly translated as companions. Not virgins or raisins. 

My comments :  So we see the translators using the words companions, spouses, supporters. Some also say disciples. 

In my opinion 'companion' fits easily into all the above verses. 

For example in Surah  52:20 above : "..and we match them with beautiful spouses (hoorin)."

"we match them" in arabic is "wa-zawwaj-naa-hum".  

Zawj is actually a spouse (husband or wife).

So zawwajnaa-hum actually means "we marry them".  We marry them with beautiful companions (bi-hoorin aynin). 

There is no specific mention of virgins or raisins.  

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.