Praise be to Allah.
How many wives will you get in Jannah?
The correct view which is proven in reports narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is the hadith about the two wives of the believer in Paradise, as is proven in Sahih al-Bukhari (3245) and Sahih Muslim (2834) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in a marfu‘ hadith: “Each of them will have two wives.”
Some versions of this hadith specify that these two wives will be from among al-hur al-‘in , whilst other versions mention wives in general terms without specifying.
With regard to any more than that – whether they are wives or concubines – there is a sahih hadith which speaks of that, but it is not unambiguous. There are other hadiths which are clear, but they are not sahih. We will quote them below, in comments from the scholars.
Our aim here is to reach a conclusion based on these hadiths, which is what Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“Undoubtedly the believer will have more than two [wives] in Paradise, because of the report narrated in as-Sahihayn [al-Bukhari (3243) and Muslim (2838)] from Abu ‘Imran al-Jawzi, from Abu Bakr ibn ‘Abdillah ibn Qays, from his father, who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “In Paradise the believer will have a tent made from a single hollowed-out pearl, sixty miles high (or wide), in which the believer will have wives and he will go around among them and they will not see one another.” (Hadi al-Arwah, p. 232)
Number of wives in Paradise from Huris and women of this world
For more information, we will quote here the views of the scholars that we have come across concerning the number of wives that the Muslim will have in Paradise, the summary of which is what we have quoted above, and we do not think that most of the views that we are going to quote contradict it. The difference is that we do not highlight how many of them are from among the women of this world and how many are from among al-hur al-‘in .
- The first view
He will have two wives from among the women of this world, and he will have a number of al-hur al-‘in in addition to that, according to his deeds, without any specific number being mentioned.
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“It is soundly narrated that each man of the people of Paradise will have two wives from among human women, in addition to al-hur al-‘in .” (Majmu‘ al-Fatawa, 6/432)
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“What that means is that these two will be from among the progeny of Adam, and he will have other wives from among al-hur al-‘in , as many as Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, wills.” (Al-Bidayah wa’n-Nihayah, 20/341)
Some scholars added that these two wives are the minimum that a man may have, otherwise the number may be much greater than that.
Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“The words “each of them will have two wives” refer to women of this world. Ahmad narrated via another isnad from Abu Hurayrah a marfu‘ hadith which speaks of the lowest of the people of Paradise in status: “He will have seventy-two wives from among al-hur al-‘in , in addition to his wives from this world.” The isnad of this report includes Shahr ibn Hawshab, concerning whom there were some reservations. Abu Ya‘la said concerning the lengthy hadith of the trumpet which was narrated via another isnad from Abu Hurayrah in a marfu‘ hadith: “A man will come in and see seventy-two wives of those whom Allah will create for him, and two wives from among the progeny of Adam.” At-Tirmidhi narrated it from Abu Sa‘id in a marfu‘ hadith: “The lowest of the people of Paradise in status will have eighty thousand servants and seventy-two wives.” He [at-Tirmidhi] said: It is gharib. According to a hadith that he narrated from al-Miqdam ibn Ma‘di Yakrib: “The martyr will have six characteristics … He will marry seventy-two wives from among al-hir al-‘in.” According to the marfu' hadith of Abu Umamah which was narrated by Ibn Majah and ad-Darimi: “No one will enter Paradise but Allah will give him seventy-two wives from among al-hur al-‘in and seventy-two wives from among the people of this world.” Its isnad is da‘if jiddan (very weak).
Most of what I have come across concerning this matter is what was narrated by Abu’sh-Shaykh in al-‘Azamah and al-Bayhaqi in al-Ba‘th from the marfu‘ hadith of ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa, according to which “a man among the people of Paradise will marry five hundred Huris, or he will be given four thousand virgins and eight thousand previously-married women.” Its isnad includes a narrator who is not named. In at-Tabarani, it is narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that “a man among the people of Paradise will be given one hundred virgins.”
Ibn al-Qayyim said: there is no mention in the sahih hadiths of anything more than two wives, except what is mentioned in the hadith of Abu Musa, that “In Paradise the believer will have a tent made from a single hollowed-out pearl, sixty miles high (or wide), in which the believer will have wives and he will go around among them.”
I say: The last hadith was classed as sahih by ad-Diya.
According to the hadith of Abu Sa‘id in [Sahih] Muslim, which speaks of the lowest of the people of Paradise in status, he says: “Then his two wives will enter upon him.”
What appears to be the case is that what is meant is that the minimum that each of them will have is two wives.” (Fath al-Bari, 6/325)
But other scholars rejected the idea that the additional wives will be women of this world; rather they will be concubines from among al-hur al-‘in only.
However, the words of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) may suggest something different. In the beginning he spoke of two wives from among al-hur al-‘in and anything additional to that will be concubines, the number of which will be in accordance with a person’s deeds, then he concluded that the believer will undoubtedly have more than two wives, but he spoke of this in general terms and did not specify whether they would be two wives from among the women of this world or from among al-hur al-‘in, or something other than that.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“Each man among them will have two wives” – the apparent meaning is that they will be from among al-hur al-‘in.” (Hadi al-Arwah, p. 125)
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said – after quoting the hadiths that we have quoted above from Ibn Hajar about the number of al-hur al-‘in being seventy-two:
“The sahih hadiths only state that each of them will have two wives. There is nothing more than that in the sound reports. If these hadiths are known and recorded, then either what is meant is what each man will have of concubines in addition to those two wives, and in that case their number, whether they are few or many, will be in accordance with their status, like the servants. Or what is meant is that each man will be given the strength to have intercourse with this number, and this will be the meaning of the report. Some of them narrated it with this meaning and said: he will have such and such a number of wives.
At-Tirmidhi narrated in his Jami‘ from Qatadah, from Anas, that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “In Paradise, the believer who will be given such and such strength to have intercourse.” It was said: O Messenger of Allah, will he be able to do that? He said: “He will be given the strength of a hundred men.” This is a sahih hadith. Perhaps the one who narrated “He will be given one hundred virgins” narrated it with this meaning, or perhaps the variation in the number of wives will be in accordance with the variation in their status. And Allah knows best.” (Hadi al-Arwah, p. 157)
- The second view
He will have two wives from among the women of this world, and seventy wives from among al-hur al-‘in. This is the minimum, and there is no maximum limit.
Al-‘Iraqi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“The two wives will be from among the women of this world, and the wives in addition to that will be from among al-hur al-‘in.… From the other reports, it is clear that two wives is the minimum that the inhabitant of Paradise will have from among the women of this world, and the minimum number that he will have from among al-hur al-‘in is seventy. As for more than that, there will be no limit… at-Tirmidhi narrated from Thuwayr ibn Abi Fakhitah that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The lowest of the people of Paradise in status will be one who will look out on his gardens, wives, blessings, servants and concubines, the distance of one thousand years. The dearest of them to Allah will be the one who looks upon His Countenance morning and evening.” (Tarh at-Tathrib fi Sharh at-Taqrib, 8/270)
- The third view
He will have a minimum of two wives from among al-hur al-‘in, and each will have more than that according to his status.
Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“These two wives will be from among al-hur al-‘in. Each man who enters Paradise will inevitably have these two. As for anything more than that, it will be according to their status and deeds. There is no proven report to suggest a particular number in addition to two wives.” (At-Takhwif min an-Nar, p. 268)
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Baz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“Each man will have two wives from among al-hur al-‘in in addition to his wives from this world, and in addition to what he is given of wives from among al-hur al-‘in in the Hereafter. Each of them will have wives from among al-hur al-‘in in addition to what he will have of wives from among the women of this world.” (Durus li’sh-Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Baz, 4/21)
He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
“Each man will be given as many of al-hur al-‘in as Allah wills, in accordance with his righteous deeds and his level of piety. Each one will have two wives from among al-hur al-‘in, apart from what he will be given in addition to that. Each one will have two wives from among al-hur al-‘in, as is well known, but only Allah knows the number that he may be given in addition to that.” (Fatawa Nur ‘ala ad-Darb by Ibn Baz, 4/351).
In conclusion, there is no sound hadith – according to Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Hajar – which specifies the number of al-hur al-‘in that the believer will have in Paradise.
The scholars are agreed that he will have a minimum of two wives, but they differ as to whether they will be from among al-hur al-‘in or from among the women of this world.
And Allah knows best.
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