Technically, it is not a myth. Martyrs are promised great rewards in Heaven.
However, two things. First, it is not just martyrs that are promised great rewards. More on that later.
Second, those who are promised great rewards: the truth of the martyr myth:
Let those who would sacrifice this life for the hereafter fight in the cause of Allah. Whoever fights in Allah's cause- whether or not they achieve martyrdom or victory- we will honor them with a mighty reward. Koran 4:74
Yes, that's right. Those who fight in the cause of God.
That means those who fight for truth, light, love, and justice, for those are the ways of God.
It's not those who fight in the defense of a human conception of Islam. It's those who fight for the cause of the true ways and true love of God.
And the forty virgins?
Not so, however, God's true servants: theirs shall be a sustenance as they would recognize as the fruits of their life on Earth, and honored shall they be in the gardens of bliss, facing one another in love on thrones of happiness. A cup will be passed round among them (with a drink) from unsullied springs, clear, delightful to those who drink it: no headiness will be in it, and they shall not get drunk thereon. And with them will be mates of modest gaze, most beautiful of eye, as free of faults as they were hidden ostrich eggs.- Koran 37:40-49
Indeed, these are the rewards that are promised to all those who serve the true light of God.
Is something like this really waiting for those who serve the true light of kindness and love?
No. For even this pales in comparison to the true bliss that awaits those of us who serve the ways of kindness and love.
This is merely as close to this true bliss that language can carry as we know it in this world.
I have seen glimpses of that true bliss.
It is far beyond my capacity to describe in words, and the descriptions in the Koran come closer than I could.
This is the rewards for all those who serve the true light of God, which is the way of kindness and love.
And this is the truth behind the myth!
Be sure that these rewards await all those who risk their lives for the sake of the lives of the innocent.
For the veteran of the American army who joined the army to save the life of the innocent
For the humble person of mercy in Cairo who showed kindness and helped a stranger in need when they did not know if they had enough to live on themselves
For the ordinary person who in the last year of a long life has a change of heart and goes out into danger to help those desperate and in need
All these fought in the cause of Allah, for the sake of the innocent, for the sake of love, and all these will gain a mighty reward.
Anyone who risks their life for the sake of the innocent is fighting in the cause of Allah.
If a young man from America goes to fight terrorists for the sake of the lives of the innocent, the terrorists will get the same pity from God as all evil people who are really just in great pain get, but the young man from America will get great rewards, just as surely as they would if they risked their lives to save the innocent as a Muslim of Cairo.
For anyone who risks their life for the sake of the innocent is fighting in the cause of Allah.
But these are not the only ones who will gain great reward in the hereafter.
For all God's true servants, whether they risk their lives or not, whether they suffer greatly for the sake of the innocent or not, will get great rewards in Heaven beyond the capacity of mere words to describe.
And that's the truth about the 'Forty Virgins'.
God loves you! Be kind! Don't think that it doesn't help, for it does! It really does!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson
P.S. If one goes into the army to save the lives of the innocent, and unknown to them the war is not a righteous one, those who lead the war wrongly will be held reesponsible, and the volunteer who seeks to save the lives of the innocent will be still held as fighting in the cause of Allah! If you seek to save lives, and risk your own, it does not matter what your boss does, it only matters what you tried to do! So, yes, that means Vietnam vets and the like, to hell whether it turned out to be an unrighteous war! It only matters what you tried to do! For when you risk that much, that is more than enough!