HOOR

1.
Hoor mentioned in the Qur’an
The word hoor occurs in the Qur’an in no less
than four different places:
(1) In Surah Dukhan chapter 44, verse 54
"....Moreover, We shall join them to
companions with beautiful, big and lustrous
eyes."
[Ad-Dukhan 44:54]
(2) In Surah Al-Tur chapter 52 verse 20
"...And We shall join them to companions,
with beautiful, big and lustrous eyes."
[At-Tur 52:20]
(3) In Surah Rahman chapter 55 verse 72
"Companions restrained (as to their glances),
in goodly pavilions."
[Ar-Rehman 55:72]
(4) In Surah Al-Waqiah chapter 56 verse 22
"And (there will be) companions with
beautiful, big and lustrous eyes."
[Al-Waqiah 56:22]
2.
Hoor Translated as Beautiful Maidens
Many translators of the Qur’an have
translated the word hoor as ‘beautiful
maidens’ especially in the Urdu translations. If
hoor means ‘beautiful maidens’ or girls, then
they are meant only for the men. Hence, what
will the women get if they enter Paradise?
3.
Meaning of Hoor
The word hoor is actually the plural of ahwar
(applicable to man) and of haura (applicable
to woman) and signifies a person having eyes
characterized by hauar a special quality
bestowed upon a good soul, male or female in
paradise and it denotes the intense whiteness
of the white part of the spiritual eye.
The Qur’an describes in several other verses
that in paradise you will have azwaj which
mean a pair or spouse or companion which
means you will have spouses or companions
pure and holy (mutaharratun means pure,
holy).
"But give glad tidings to those who believe and
work righteousness, that their portion is
gardens, beneath which rivers flow. Every time
they are fed with fruits therefrom, they say:
"Why, this is what we were fed with before",
for they are given things in similitude; and
they have therein companions pure (and holy);
and they abide therein (forever)".
[Al-Baqarah 2:25]
"But those who believe and do deeds of
righteousness, We shall soon admit to
Gardens, with rivers flowing beneath – their
eternal home; therein shall they have
companions pure and holy: we shall admit
them to shades, cool and ever deepening".
[An-Nisa 4:57]
Therefore the word hoor has no specific
gender. Mohammad Asad has translated the
word hoor as spouse and Abdullah Yusuf Ali
as companion. Therefore according to some
scholars a man in paradise will have a hoor
that is a beautiful maiden with beautiful big
and lustrous eyes and a woman in paradise
will get a man with beautiful big and lustrous
eyes.
4. Women will get something exceptional in
Paradise
Many scholars say that in context, the word
hoor used in the Qur’an refers only to ladies
since gents are addressed. A reply that would
be accepted by all types of people would
rather be the answer given in the Hadith when
a similar question was posed that if a man
gets a hoor, a beautiful Maiden in Paradise,
then what will the women get? The reply was
that the women will get that which the heart
has not desired for, the ear hasn’t heard off
and the eye hasn’t seen, indicating that even
the women will get something exceptional in
Paradise.