Debunking the ‘Suicide for 72 Virgins’ Myth

Originally Posted by Troberg

My guess on the issue is that it's a simple misunderstanding of what's just common sense: having 72 wives will drive you to suicide.

Aesop's Fables has a lesson about the perils of having even two wives:

IN the old days, when men were allowed to have many wives a middle-aged Man had one wife that was old and one that was young; each loved him very much, and desired to see him like herself. Now the Man’s hair was turning grey, which the young Wife did not like, as it made him look too old for her husband. So every night she used to comb his hair and pick out the white ones. But the elder Wife saw her husband growing grey with great pleasure, for she did not like to be mistaken for his mother. So every morning she used to arrange his hair and pick out as many of the black ones as she could. The consequence was the Man soon found himself entirely bald.
“YIELD TO ALL AND YOU WILL SOON HAVE NOTHING TO YIELD.”

Let's begin with where houri exist. Houris are in paradise. People don't have corporeal bodies in paradise, so what then is the meaning of a virgin in that place? My wife is a native Arab speaker from Morocco and she informs me that a houri is like a fairy or an angel. Nothing to do with a virgin. When I read my daughter fairy tales I don't refer to the good virgin! It's the good fairy.

The quote is from a Hadith collection from Tirmidi. Of the six most commonly quoted collections, his ranks sixth in the respect it is accorded. Most Muslims have never read it, and had never heard the quote prior to 9/11.

[Silas Sparkhammer]

Originally Posted by andak01

Let's begin with where houri exist. Houris are in paradise. People don't have corporeal bodies in paradise, so what then is the meaning of a virgin in that place? . . .

There are many different interpretatons of paradise, and some of them do involve physical bodies. Some involve wine, food, and feminine companionship (not necessarily sexual.)

One problem is that surrounding scripture proper are many layers of tradition, myth, and fable.

Silas