One of the great blessings that Allah (swt) has given to his pious and believing servants is that of paradise and all of the many things that are contained within it. Of course the pleasure and satisfaction of Allah (swt) with these servants is the highest and greatest of rewards that anyone could have (this is something that the Quran tells us, although many of us might not be able to comprehend it now). The only way to be granted entrance into heaven is through the good actions that we do and the beliefs that we hold; the better our actions and the more pure our beliefs, the higher our status will be in the next world. There are no differences whatsoever in regards to men or women in this matter and everyone is free to reach the highest status and position possible. Allah (swt) has said: “And whoever does good, whether male or female, and he is a believer, shall enter paradise, in which they shall be given sustenance without measure.”[1]

Paradise isn’t a place of accountability or test; if it was then there would have to be another heaven and hell in order to reward those who passed that second test and this would continue ad infinitum; while heaven and its many blessings have been made as the result of the faith and the good works of the people in this very world. From the verses of the Holy Quran and the traditions it is understood that whatever the people of paradise wish for will be granted to them[2], and one of these things will be that of Hurul ‘In that will be given to the men of paradise.

Hur is the plural of Howra’ and takes the meaning of a woman whose whiteness of the eye is extremely white and the blackness of her eyes is extremely dark. Another meaning is that of a woman who has very black eyes that are like the eyes of a deer. The word ‘In is the plural of Ainaa’, which means very large eyes; apparently Hurul ‘In are a creation different than the woman of this world.[3] Allah (swt) has said about them: “We will give them in marriage to the Hurul ‘In”[4] According to the majority of commentators, marriage doesn’t take on the same meaning that is commonly used in this world; so here the giving of an Hurul ‘In as a gift is what is meant.[5]

One of the characteristics of Hurul ‘In that has been mentioned in the Holy Quran and certain hadiths is that they do not have more than one spouse. Speaking about these characteristics, Allah (swt) has said: “And no person before them (before the person who is in paradise) has ever touched them (Huris), from either men or jinn.”[6]

In interpretation of the term “Qaseraatal tharf” which has been mentioned in the beginning of this verse, the late Ayatollah Majlisi has mentioned: “This means that there are spouses whose glances are only for their husbands and are inclined to no one but their husbands.”[7]

As for the question of whether the women of this world will have something similar to Huris, it can be said that whatever the people of paradise desire will be made ready for them, but they will not desire multiple husbands. Just like the pious and pure women of this world don’t look at other than their husbands, in heaven, which is the home of pure people, there will be no desire for multiple husbands.

According to a tradition from Imam Sadiq (A) he was once asked about marriage of men and women in heaven and he responded: “If the status of the woman is higher and she wishes to marry her earthly husband then she can select him (but the man cannot select her) and he will become her spouse, but if the status of the man is higher then he can select his wife (here the wife doesn’t have such a right) and in this case the woman will become one of the man’s spouses”[8], but the man would be her only spouse; this matter has also been pointed to in other hadiths.

Likewise, in some hadiths it has been narrated from the Holy Prophet (S) where he said: “If a woman has two husbands in this world then in the next world she can select the better of the two (based on his akhlaq).[9] The Prophet (pbuh) never mentiones that she can select both, all he says is that she will select the better of the two.

Another point to mention is that in paradise there will be a special class of servants called ‘Ghilman’ and these are for both men and women without differentiation.

The Holy Quran has says concerning this matter: “Around them will be youth for serving them that resemble pearls in beauty”.[10]

The apparent meaning of this verse is that these handsome youth are created especially for serving the people of paradise.