Which Women Will Enter Jannah?
Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Shall I inform you which woman will enter Paradise?” The Sahaba replied: “Yes, most certainly.” Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “The woman who has children, is lovable, when she becomes angry the husband consoles and comforts her, and when the husband becomes angry she says that as long as you do not become pleased with me, I will not even apply surmah (antimony) to my eyes.” [Tibrani]
The love between husband and wife offends Shaitan more than anything else. If husbands and wives are to care for each other and strive to maintain a peaceful and loving environment in the house, every Muslim household can become a model of Jannah. All kinds of quarrels and arguments will cease, and the misfortune of divorce will not prevail. Children brought up in such environments will be an example of piety, discipline, love, and sympathy. May Allah make every Muslim house a model of Jannah.
If the hearts of both spouses are united, there can be no greater bounty, and if there are differences between them (Allah forbid), there can be no greater calamity.
The Superiority of the Women of Paradise over the Hoor al Ayn
Umm Salamah (radi Allahu anha) narrates that she said to Prophet Muhammad (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam): “O Rasul Allah, are the women of this world superior or the hoors (of Paradise)?”
He (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) replied, “The (mominah) women of this world will have superiority over the hoors just as the outer lining of a garment has superiority over the inner lining.”
Umm Salamah (radi Allahu anha) then asked, “O Rasul Allah, what is the reason for this?”
He answered, “Because they performed salah, fasted, and worshiped [Allah]. Allah will put light on their faces and silk on their bodies. [The human mominah] will be fair in complexion and will wear green clothing and yellow jewelry. Their incense-burners will be made of pearls, and their combs will be of gold. They will say, ‘We are the women who will stay forever, and we will never die. We are the women who will always remain in comfort, and we will never undergo difficulty. We are the women who will stay, and we will never leave. Listen, we are happy women and we will never become sad. Glad tidings to those men for whom we are and who are for us.'” [Tabrani]
As beautiful as the hoors of Jannah are, sincere & practicing Muslim women of this world will be far superior to them in Jannah. To imagine how wonderful those women will be who make it to Jannah, we only need to see how hoors have been described and then realize that they are of poor quality when compared to the fineness of the righteous women who Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) puts in Jannah.
From the Quran and hadith literature, we learn that “a hoor is a most beautiful young woman with a transparent body. The marrow of her bones is visible, like the interior lines of pearls and rubies. She looks like red wine in a white glass.” [Tirmidhi]
A hoor has big, beautiful eyes with black irises and intense white scleras. She is a woman characterized by modesty and flexing glances; she never looks at any man except her husband. She feels grateful for being his wife and is always reconciled with him. A hoor is young, immortal, and does not age. She is free of animosity and speaks softly. “She is of white color and free from routine physical disabilities such as menstruation, menopause, urinal and offal discharge, childbearing and the related pollution.” [Tirmidhi]
Having been brought up in luxury, she is a luxury herself. “If a hoor looked down from her abode in Heaven onto earth, the whole distance between Heaven and earth would fill with light and fragrance. Her face is more radiant than a mirror, and one can see one’s image in her cheek.” [Mishkat]
When a man turns his face away from her, she becomes 70 times more beautiful. If she were to spit in the salty water of the seven oceans, then the oceans would turn sweeter than honey.
However, sincere & practicing Muslim women will not feel jealous of the hoors as they will be far superior to the hoors in every way. Righteous women who enter Paradise, regardless of the age they died or how they looked on earth, will be made much more beautiful than the hoors of Jannah. A hoor is one of the delights of Paradise. She has only been created in Paradise for the sake of someone else. Believing women will be themselves deserving of great rewards and will be given these rewards in Jannah. This hadith tells us that the reason for the superiority of Muslim women over hoors is the acts of worship and obedience that they performed in this world.