“What’s With All the Virgins?” — A Question From My Non-Muslim Mom

“What’s with all the virgins?” my Catholic mom asked after I told her I was converting to Islam.

That’s a good question. Are 72 virgins part of the Muslim starter pack when we get to heaven? As a woman, do I get stuck for eternity with 72 virgin males who don’t know what they’re doing? That’s certainly a topic many Muslims and Non-Muslims are curious about.

In Islam, the main source for understanding the religion is the Quran (a book containing the direct uncontested word of God). The Quran is a comprehensive guide to life. Its verses don’t contradict one another. It presents a simple, straight forward path toward following God.

A secondary source is the hadith literature (sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad). There are thousands of hadith. Some hadith are judged to be more authentic than others due to a chain of weak or reliable narrators. However, even some authentic hadith have come under scrutiny for contradicting other authentic hadith.

In terms of the hadith on the issue of the virgins in paradise, many also contradict each other. There are numerous debates among the scholars about the truth of this matter (Islamqa).

Therefore, for anyone who isn’t a scholar, it’s probably easier just to analyze the Quran’s message.