This is a response to Rachel's post about a mistranslation when reading the Qu'ran. In some cases, the word is said to mean 72 virgins await to satisfy a man, and in other cases, it means 72 grapes will satisfy. Rachel asked her cousin what he thought. See more here...
http://butisthechocolatereallygone.blogspot.com/2012/04/grapesor-virgins-maybe-both.html
When this was first brought up in class, I was totally taken back! Virgins could be mistranslated for grapes...really? I did some quick research on Google, and there's actually a lot of commentary about it!
The experts are leaning more towards the translation to mean grapes, but the word is mistranslated between languages.
in Aramaic, the word "hur" means "white grape/raisin," and in Arabic, "houri" means virgin.
Whatever it is is described as being full grown and swelling, which could be referring to a woman's chest, or the fruit itself.
But, I was thinking...this was a culture who often disposed of their babies if they were female. I always believed that heaven was a place for resting souls, so if the children were disposed of after birth, they would certainly be virgins, and given time, they become the desirable women. It's all just a theory, though.
To me, the translation leads to very different things, but I can see how each would be desirable for an Islamic man.
If your cousin ever gets a chance to see the word in context and can clarify, do let me know though! I'm intrigued.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2004/08/06/2003181944
I also posted a piece on the "72 Virgins" concept! Check it out if you'd like:
ReplyDeletehttp://feeney05.blogspot.com/2012/04/raisined-idea.html
Although I'm always a bit skeptical when using Wikipedia as a source, that information seems to debunk the theory! Thanks, Feeney!!
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