The claim: "The Qur'an depicts paradise with sexual/material pleasures (ḥūr, wine, couches); this is a crude reward-tip religion."
The material imagery is not the only layer
- Yes, the Qur'an also uses concrete, sensory language (e.g. 55:72; 56:35-37).
- But it places the true reward above these: "God's good pleasure is greater (than all)." (9:72)
- The spiritual dimension is explicit: "pure spouses and God's good pleasure" (3:15); reunion with righteous family/loved ones in the Garden (13:23).
An honest limit
Whether to read the concrete imagery literally or as a representation / symbol of the indescribable is debated in classical and modern tafsir — both readings exist. To say "the Qur'an rests on pleasure alone" is cherry-picking, since the same Qur'an says "[God's] pleasure is greater than all" (9:72). Whether the imagery is cultural idiom or a literal promise is a matter of interpretation; we impose no single reading.
Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Presented soberly and respectfully, with a text/interpretation distinction.