The Beauty of the Houri

Know about the book -

The Beauty of the Houri is written by Associate Professor of History Nerina Rustomji and published by Oxford University Press, USA. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 0190249358 (ISBN 10) and 9780190249359 (ISBN 13).

"The fascination with the houri, the pure female of Islamic paradise, began long before September 11, 2001. Beauty of the Houri: Heavenly Virgins, Earthly Jihad, and the Feminine Models of Islam demonstrates how the ambiguous reward of the houri, mentioned in the Qur an and developed in Islamic theological writings, has gained a distinctive place in English and French literature from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century and in digital material in the twenty-first century. The houri had multiple functions in Islamic texts that ranged from caretaker to pure companion to entertainment. French, English, and American writers used the houri to critique Islam and Muslim societies while also adopting the houri as a model of feminine beauty. Unlike earlier texts that presented different forms of the houri or universalized the houri for all women, writings about the houri after September 11th offer contradictory messages about Islam. In the twenty-first century, the image of the houri symbolizes a reward for violence and the possibility of gender parity. As a cosmic figure that inspires enduring questions about the promise of paradise and the idealized feminine form, the houri has a singular past and potential for future interpretation"--