Allah's Apostle said, "Know that Paradise is under the shades of swords."¹

You should feel complete tranquility, because the time between you and your marriage [in heaven] is very short. Afterwards begins the happy life, where God is satisfied with you, and eternal bliss 'in the company of the prophets, the companions, the martyrs and...the women of paradise...[who call out] 'Come hither, friend of God.' They have dressed in their most beautiful clothing.


--Muhammad Atta's instructions to the 9-11 hijackers²

The Americans think that if they kill us, they will win. They do not know that with their weapons they only expedite our arrival in Paradise. We yearn to reach Paradise; it is our abode, and in it are 'the black-eyed,' confined to pavilions, and also there are [women] with downcast eyes whose chastity has not been violated before us by either man or jinn. In contrast, the value of this world in which we live, which they think that they have attained, is in our eyes not worth the wing of a mosquito.


--Dr. Yunis Al-Astal, Islamic Law Department at Gaza Islamic University

Many people have read about the Pentagon report titled "Motivations of Muslim Suicide Bombers," stating that Islamic suicide bombers are rational people simply following their religious mandates. Here is a brief survey of the specifics.

Perhaps one of the more disturbing aspects of jihad is the eagerness of so many Muslims to sacrifice their lives for God. This of course is the subject of much debate, since suicide is forbidden in Islamic tradition ³, and many claim it is forbidden by the Qur'an ⁴.

Since "suicide operations" seem to be a new phenominon in the Islamic world, starting in Israel and now spreading to places like Iraq and Chechnia, and of course, America (9-11), it is easy to dismiss the act as something that is not Islamic in nature. But what exactly constitutes suicide? If a soldier falls onto a live grenade, sacrificing himself so that none of his fellow soldiers are injured or killed by it, is that suicide? Typically we'd refer to that as an act of tremendous and commendable bravery. If a group of fighters faces an army so overwhelming that defeat is certain but chooses to fight anyway, is that suicide? If a secret service agent takes a bullet for the president, is that suicide? Typically we think of suicide as a senseless act, without any purpose except ending one's own life, but as we've seen, the significance of jihad in Islam makes the sacrifice of one's worthless, earthly shell anything but senseless. There is no greater act a Muslim can perform than putting himself and his property in danger (for Allah's sake) and ... not return[ing] with any of those things ⁵.

The Day of Judgement is a source of life-long anxiety for every Muslim, and the agony of the condemned is graphically and lovingly recorded in numerous Qur'ânic verses. The damned will suffer in a blazing fire ⁶, with fierce hot wind and boiling water, in the shadow of black smoke ⁷. They will be given to drink boiling water so that it cuts up their bowels ⁸. For food they will be given fire ⁹, poisonous, thorny plants which will neither nourish nor satisfy hunger ¹⁰, the tree of Zaqqûm, which will boil in their stomachs like scalding water ¹¹, filth from the washing of wounds ¹², boiling fluid and dirty wound discharges (pus) ¹³. They will be made to wear garments of fire, have boiling water poured over their heads ¹⁴, be bound with yokes and dragged through boiling water and fire¹⁵ by a chain 70 cubits in length ¹⁶, and punished with hooked rods of iron ¹⁷.

Dislike of any of Allâh's commandments (shirk) is a grievous sin, and thus the above torments of Gehenna are reserved for those who disobey even a single commandment ¹⁸. Allâh reminds the believers of the recompense for refusing to fight in the cause of Allâh (jihâd): a painful torment ¹⁹ in hell ²⁰, the worst of destinations! ²¹

We see in the Qur'ân that the Muslim has much to fear for disobeying Allâh. Based on the warnings of the torments of Hell alone, it becomes clear why Muslims are so anxious to fight and die in the cause of Allâh. No discomfort in this life can equal the pain of eternal damnation.

Fortunately for the Muslim, fighting for Allâh's Cause (jihâd) has rewards that are equally as sensuous and licentious as the torments of hell are painful. They will have a pleasant (after)life ²², assigned palaces in a garden with flowing rivers ²³ sitting on thrones woven with gold and precious stones, served by immortal boys intoxicated and clothed in garments of fine green silk and gold embroidery and adorned with bracelets of silver, beautiful as scattered pearls ²⁴, with cups, and jugs, and a glass from the flowing wine, wherefrom they will get neither any aching of the head, nor any intoxication, and fruit that they may choose, and the flesh of fowls that they desire. They will be given (full-breasted ²⁵) Houris (fair females) with wide, dark eyes (as wives for the pious), like unto preserved pearls, a reward for what they used to do ²⁶.

The Houris is a source of contention in discussions involving martyrdom in Islam. Houris refers to the 72 virgins each martyr will allegedly be married to in paradise. That these women are virgins comes directly from the Qur'an. The believers will have with them chaste females [virgins], restraining their glances (desiring none except their husbands), with wide and beautiful eyes ²⁷. These houris are beautiful, fair females, restrained in pavilions, reclining on green cushions and rich beautiful mattresses, whom no man or jinn has opened their hymens with sexual intercourse before them ²⁸. The Qur'an descibes these women in the plural, meaning there will be more than one; the actual number of wives (72) comes from the tradition, where Muhammad is quoted as saying, "The smallest reward for the people of Paradise is an abode where there are 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls." ²⁹ Notice that this is the smallest reward for the Muslim granted entrance to paradise, and recall that in the Qur'an Allah has preferred in grades those who strive hard and fight with their wealth and their lives above those who sit at home ³⁰

The Muslim Public Affairs executive director in Los Angeles, Salaam Al-Maryati, explains that martyrdom operations are about fighting aggression and occupation, not about opportunities for sexual fantasies. But news reports out of Palestine are littered with reports of Muslim males who long for the virgins. Death announcements and final wills of suicide bombers in Palestinian media sound more like wedding announcements ³¹:

"With great pride, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad marries the member of its military wing...the martyr and hero Yasser Al-Adhami, to 'the black-eyed.'"

"I will turn my body into bombs that will hunt the sons of Zion, blast them, and burn their remains. Call out in joy, oh my mother; distribute sweets, oh my father and brothers; a wedding with 'the black-eyed' awaits your son in Paradise." (Last will and testament of Sa'id Al-Hutari, who bombed the disco near the Dolphinarium in Tel Aviv that killed 23 on June 1, 2001)

"The mother of Wail 'Awad, from Deir El-Balah, did not plan on holding a second wedding for her eldest son, after his marriage on August 10, 2001 to his fiancée in a simple ceremony attended only by the family. But yesterday was Wail's real wedding day, and the angels of the Merciful married him, together with the [other] martyrs, to 'the black-eyed,' as all around [them] rose the cries of joy that his mother dreamed of on the day of his wedding [to his fiancée]." (Palestinian news report)

"His relatives distributed sweets and accepted their son as a bridegroom married to 'the black-eyed,' not as someone who had been killed and was being laid in the ground." (Hamas official on the death of Izz Al-Din Al-Masri, who bombed the Sbarro pizzaria on August 9, 2001)

Palestinian children are apparently bred to strive for martyrdom even as young as kindergarten. "We like to grow them," said Sheik Hasan Yosef, the senior Hamas leader in the West Bank city of Ramallah, in July 2001. "From kindergarten through college." In Palestinian schools, signs on the walls read The children of the kindergarten are the shaheeds (holy martyrs) of tomorrow. An 11 year old boy tells his class, "I will make my body a bomb that will blast the flesh of Zionists, the sons of pigs and monkeys. I will tear their bodies into little pieces and cause them more pain than they will ever know." His classmates scream "Allahu Akbar!!" (God is greatest), and his teacher blesses him: "May the virgins give you pleasure!" The principal nods his approval. "I know my life is poor compared to Europe or America, but I have something awaiting me that makes all my suffering worthwhile," says a 16 year old Hamas youth leader in Gaza. "Most boys can't stop thinking about the virgins." ³²

Of course, children of that age are easy to mold into whatever ideology you wish to mold them, which is, of course, a major problem with Islamic civilization--many Muslim children are only tought to read for the purpose of memorizing the Qur'an. Martyrdom in jihâd is the only guarantee the Qur'an gives for salvation³³, and Allah holds those who fight in His cause in far higher regard than those who sit at home (the hypocrites), preferring the enjoyment of the life of this world, which is but little compared to the life of the Hereafter ³⁴. Muhammad himself spoke of the glory of dying in the cause of Allah (jihâd), claiming that were it not for his followers' dependancy on him as a leader, he would have loved to be martyred in Allah's cause again and again and again ³⁵, and that nobody who enters Paradise would return to this world even if he were offered all the treasures of the world, except the martyr who will desire to return to this world and be killed ten times for the sake of the great honour that has been bestowed upon him ³⁶.

Because of this, it is difficult to actually describe this act of sacrifice as suicide, since to the martyr, and his or her family, there is no death, only entrance into the Gardens of Delight ³⁷ as a reward for sacrificing one's life in this noblest of causes. Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allâh as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and they have provision. They rejoice in what Allâh has bestowed upon them of His Bounty, rejoicing for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve ³⁸. Is it really suicide for the believer to sacrifice the little enjoyment of the life of this world in order to send the enemies of Allah into hell?

To apologists and liars, yes. Maher Hathout, a Muslim scholar with the Islamic Center of Southern California wrote in the Atlanta-Constitution: "There is nothing in the Koran or in Islamic teachings about 70 virgins or sex in paradise. This is ridiculous, and any true Muslim knows that." Again, this is typical - and boring - apologetics, as Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, head of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community, points out: "The only ridiculous thing is that someone who claims to be an 'Islamic scholar' makes public declarations which prove beyond any possible doubt that he has never read the Commentary of Ibn Kathir and Sunan of Imam at-Tirmidhi, which are basic books for the knowledge of Islam! Unfortunately, this attribution of chairs to ignoramuses seems to be the rule in American Islamic Centers."