This post is a reply to Bashir Goth’s article in which he linked to my post about Fair and Lovely’s TV commercials
First of all, I’d like to say that the title itself is really interesting, the article is more about sexualizing women everywhere than Islam and white skin; Goth talked about African women, women in commercials, TV shows and on run-ways so what’s with the title? And what else is Islam blamed for? That was cheap marketing to me.
Men in general not just Arab and African have come to measure beauty based on what they see on television. As a matter of fact, even women’s perception of beauty has changed to reflect what the globalized mass-media put on display for all of us to copy.
I’m not sure what does Islam have to do with men’s perceptions of sexuality and physical beauty. As a Muslim I know that Islam did not speak of what is beautiful and sexy and what is not. Muslims happen to be people first and foremost, so don’t blame natural human deficiency and normal diversity in taste and sexual preferences on religions.
As for Hour Al-Ain, that’s what was common back then, only Hour Al-Ain’s beauty is maximized. It’s true, Hour Al-Ain are white, so white you can see their bones. Their eyes are wide, the white of their eyes is too white and the black is too black. But if you focus on that, then you’re missing the point here, even if they were black it won’t make any difference for their beauty is something extraordinary, something everyone acknowledges regardless of his/her taste. In people’s eyes, they’re very beautiful, the most beautiful women any body’s ever seen. And THAT is the point.
Why white? Why their eyes are wide? As formerly mentioned, white skin and wide eyes were common back then and there’s wisdom behind sticking to the old beauty measures of Arabs who lived in the Arabian Peninsula more than thousand years ago, wisdom nobody can claim to know or understand, but in my humble opinion it’s yet another test to those who believe. Do you want to go to heaven just so that you can marry women? If you prefer brunettes now, do you think you won’t appreciate a Hour Ain? Does skin color matter to you? Does not God know and you don’t? He certainly did not say colored women are ugly, He did not say women in this life should look like Hour Al-Ain to be beautiful, men did and then they changed their minds over the years ignoring what they once claimed to be their reference to beauty.
Popularity: 22% [?]
This obviously isn’t an epidemic that is relative to the Arab world. Visit any country and you will find attractive women who are willing to change their looks to match someone else’s idea of what is “beautiful”.
The inverse of the skin whitening cream is the desire to become darker. In the States, women will cook themselves (either naturally or artificially) in order to become more dark. Never mind the risk of skin cancer, it’s “sexier”.
OK, now I am confused. I thought Hourani were women who lived on earth and made it to heaven. Are they separate beings? Is there no hope for blondes getting to heaven?
(that was tongue in cheek) If they are beings just for heaven, is there any place for/mention of us less endowed in heaven according to the Quran? Do females get the male equivalent?
there is no consensus over the definition of Hour el Eieen. some suggest it means the blackness and whiteness of the eye, others mean the mere beauty of the woman, fairness of skin (not whiteness), and of course the whiteness. here is one link to illustrate this.
http://arabic.islamicweb.com/Books/taimiya.asp?book=83&id=149
chers,
murad
Why did you delete my post? this is bizare. it was not spam, it was not profanity, it was not flaming. it only disagreed with your post. If you don’t want to discuss, why blog?
Shaden, hope you’re reading this: Yes I’m awake but my mobile is balash akammel, I just broke its cover with a screwdriver
Dave, exactly.
Kinzi, there are no Hourani women, only Hour Al-Ain for heaven. Nothing in the Qura’an or Sunnah about women getting the equivalent of that.
Murad, I didn’t delete anything. Your comments were awaiting moderation.
salam
i agree with NOT! that hoor al-’ayn has been defined in varying degree. but no doubt, they will be white.
shaden, i also don’t agree with the wisdom you described that at that time white and wide eyed were common. of course, there was fairness but not whiteness at the time. in fact, i think the complexion would have been more brown than white. that’s why in hadith we see companions describing Rasoolillah as “a white man” when a bedouin asked about the prophet while he was sitting amongst his companions. this indicates that people weren’t usually fair-skinned but the prophet was fairer (or white) but not the population itself. And, truely Allah knows best what’s was the real situation.
there’s also this pyschological thing that people will find a fair-skinned person white in a society with darker complexion, but a society where people are generally white will consider that person tanned.