Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Walter Farley, The Black Stallion (New 

York: Random House Books for Young Readers, 1991); 

David James et al., “The Arabian Horse.” Saudi Aramco 

World 37 (March/April 1986); Jonathan Maslow, “The 

Golden Horses of Turkmenistan.” Saudi Aramco World

48 (May/June 1997): 10–19; David Pinault, Horse of 

Karbala: Muslim Devotional Life in India (New York: 

Palgrave, 2001).

houri

Houris are beautiful wide-eyed virgins who are 

believed to await good Muslims in 

paradise

. They 

are mentioned only four times in the q

Uran

,

which describes them as being pure, modest, and 

like hidden pearls in appearance (Q 55:56; 56:23; 

37:49). Much more is said about them in medieval 

commentaries and stories about 

death

 and the 

aFterliFe

, where they are portrayed in sensuous 

detail, living in luxurious mansions and palaces. 

K  310  

houri

---

Believers, especially pious men and martyrs, are 

promised two, 72, 500, or even thousands of hou-

ris as wives when they enter paradise in reward 

for their virtues and sacrifices. Sufi commentators 

interpret them as symbols of heavenly bliss rather 

than providers of sexual pleasure. Although there 

is no consensus on the issue, some traditions 

hold that believing 

Women

 who go to paradise are 

70,000 times better than the houris and that with 

their youth restored, they will enjoy reunion with 

their faithful husbands. The linkage of paradise 

virgins with 

martyrdom

 on the battlefield dur-

ing 

Jihad

 first occurred in the eighth century and 

was elaborated in the following centuries. It was 

revived in the 20th century by preachers and 

militant Islamic organizations. Radical groups in 

l

ebanon

,  p

alestine

,  i

ran

, and i

raq

 have inter-

woven vivid accounts of heroic death in war and 

descriptions of sensuous rewards in paradise in an 

effort to recruit young men for battle and suicide 

operations against enemies.