Is Heaven Optimized for Men? - 2

Let me start by a brief summary of the first episode, which is going to help us plan the next steps in our quest. We saw that there are verses in the Quran that tell that the people of the heaven are going to enter there with their spouses. The first and simple issue was the gender related one, and it was solved through the grammatical usage for groups of mixed gender. However, more subtle than this, there are two major discrepancies even without the gender issue. One, there are other verses that present no guarantee of destination due to the spouse (66/10-11), and two, we are explicitly told in the Quran that every individual is responsible of their own.

"That no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; and that man shall have nothing but what he strives for; and that his striving shall soon be seen;" (53/38-40).

To solve this issue, if one claims that these spouses are those that are going to be given as a reward in the heaven, not those from the world, then there are two problems. One, we are told that the people of the heaven are going to enter there with their spouses, whereas the spouses of the heavens are already there. Two, we would think that the men will have female heavenly spouses and the women would have male heavenly spouses. Now let's work out these issues.

The first one is about the initial location of the heavenly spouses can be overcome by stating that the depiction in the verse is about a welcoming ceremony, and the involved people enter the heaven together, which resolves the complication. However, the weak point of this argument is that in the Quran there are verses that indicate the spouses entering together and there are other verses that explicitly tell about the heavenly spouses.

"But those who believe and do righteous deeds - We will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide forever. For them therein are purified spouses, and We will admit them to deepening shade." (4/57)

"There will be bashful maidens untouched by mankind or jinn before." (55/56)

"In them are good and beautiful women - So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny? - Fair ones reserved in pavilions" (55/70-72)

Nevertheless, this is only a weak point, and not necessarily a flaw that disqualifies the idea that the spouses mentioned in the relevant verses (36/56, 43/70) are the heavenly spouses.

The second major issue was that the spouses must have opposite genders. That is, the female dwellers of the heaven must be rewarded with male spouses (other than their husband, if he is there, too), and the male dwellers of the heaven must be rewarded with female spouses (other than their wife, if she is there, too). Now, let's look at the Quran to verify this.

"And with them are women of modest gaze, with lovely eyes," (37/48)

"They will have bashful wives of equal age with them." (38/52)

"So; and We shall join them to fair women with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes." (44/54)

"Indeed, for the righteous is attainment -Gardens and grapevines And voluptuous women of equal age;" (78/31-33)

There are more verses similar to these all mentioning female heavenly spouses. Not a single verse that mentions male heavenly spouses! This finding brings with it several questions or problems. If we think that we have solved the gender issue by the grammatical rule of the Arabic language, how are we going to resolve the gender issue here? Are we going to say that women, too, are going to be rewarded with female spouses? Of course, the lack of verses mentioning male spouses for women does not mean that they are not going to be there. However, when we see so much explanation that focuses on men and not much for women, what are we to think? Are we going to say that Quran's primary addressees are men? And, please don't tell that women don't have sexuality.

If these are not enough to confuse your mind, here is some more food for thought. Putting on ornaments and having too much focus on the garments is a relatively female aspect, rather than male. But when we look at the Quran, we see a sweeping generalization of the dwellers of the heaven in this regard. They are all dressed in jewelry and attractive wears, and they are served by goodlooking male servants.

"Those will have gardens of perpetual residence; beneath them rivers will flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of fine silk and brocade, reclining therein on adorned couches. Excellent is the reward, and good is the resting place." (18/31)

"Indeed, Allah will admit those who believe and do righteous deeds to gardens beneath which rivers flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearl, and their garments therein will be silk." (22/23)

"There will circulate among them [servant] boys [especially] for them, as if they were pearls well-protected." (52/24)

All these point at the fact that we must build new paradigms to make sense of our Creator's words and to comprehend the life in the heaven. Perhaps these new paradigms may help us resolve some other issues facing us in the contemporary global society.