Editing Afterlife (section)

==Abrahamic religions==

===Judaism===
{{main|Jewish Eschatology}}

====Sheol====
[[Sheol]], in the [[Hebrew Bible]], is a place of darkness ([[Job 10]]:21–22) to which all the dead go—both the righteous and the unrighteous—regardless of the moral choices made in life (Genesis 35:37; [[Book of Ezekiel]] 32; [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 16; [[Job 30]]:23), a place of stillness ([[Psalm 88]]:13, [[Psalm 94|94]]:17; [[Ecclesiastes]] 9:10), at the longest possible distance from Heaven ([[Job 11]]:8; [[Amos 9]]:2; [[Psalm 139]]:8).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13563-sheol|title=SHEOL - JewishEncyclopedia.com|website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com|access-date=8 December 2019|archive-date=18 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918204814/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13563-sheol|url-status=live}}</ref>

The inhabitants of Sheol were the "shades" (''[[rephaim]]''), entities without personality or strength.<!--{{sfn|Longenecker|2003|p=188}}--> Under some circumstances, they were thought to be able to be contacted by the living (as the [[Witch of Endor]] contacts the shade of [[Samuel]] for [[Saul]]), but such practices were forbidden ([[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]] 18:10).<!--{{sfn|Knobel|2011|pp=205–06}}-->{{sfn|Berdichevsky|2016|page=22}}

Whereas the Hebrew Bible appears to describe Sheol as the permanent place of the dead, in the [[Second Temple period]] (roughly 500 BC – 70 AD), a more diverse set of ideas developed. In some texts, Sheol is considered to be the home of both the righteous and the wicked, separated into respective compartments; in others, it was considered a place of punishment, meant for the wicked dead alone.<!--{{sfn|Longenecker|2003|p=189}}--><ref name=":0" /> When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into [[Septuagint|Greek]] in ancient [[Alexandria]] around 200 BC, the word "[[Hades]]" (the [[Greek underworld]]) was substituted for Sheol. This is reflected in the [[New Testament]] where Hades is both the underworld of the dead and the personification of the [[evil]] it represents.<!--{{sfn|Longenecker|2003|p=189}}--><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Pearson|first=Fred|date=1938|title=Sheol and Hades in Old and New Testament|journal=Review & Expositor|volume=35|issue=3|pages=304–314|doi=10.1177/003463733803500304|s2cid=147690674|via=SAGE journals}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Berdichevsky |first1=Norman |title=Modern Hebrew: The Past and Future of a Revitalized Language |date=2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-2629-1 |page=23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1_TCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 |language=en}}</ref>

====World to Come====
The [[Talmud]] offers several thoughts relating to the afterlife. After death, the soul is brought for judgment. Those who have led pristine lives immediately enter the ''Olam Haba'' or [[world to come]]. Most do not enter the world to come immediately but experience a period of reflection on their earthly actions and are made aware of what they have done wrong. Some view this period as "re-schooling", with the soul gaining wisdom as one's errors are reviewed. Others view this period as spiritual discomfort caused by past wrongs. At the end of this period, not longer than one year, the soul then takes its place in the world to come. Although discomforts are made part of certain Jewish conceptions of the afterlife, the concept of eternal [[damnation]] is not a tenet of the Jewish afterlife. According to the Talmud, [[Kareth|extinction of the soul]] is reserved for a far smaller group of malicious and evil leaders whose very evil deeds go way beyond norms or who lead large groups of people to utmost evil.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/tsa/tsa37.htm |title=Tractate Sanhedrin: Interpolated Section: Those Who have no Share in the World to Come |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=20 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020131637/https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/tsa/tsa37.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10049.html |title=Jehoiakim |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=9 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109045833/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0011_0_10049.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This is also part of [[Jewish principles of faith#Maimonides' 13 principles of faith|Maimonides' 13 principles of faith]].<ref name="perek-helek-c">Maimonides' Introduction to Perek Helek, publ. and transl. by [[Maimonides Heritage Center]], p. 22-23.</ref>

[[Maimonides]] describes the ''Olam Haba'' in spiritual terms, relegating the prophesied physical resurrection to the status of a future miracle unrelated to the afterlife or the [[Messianic era]]. According to Maimonides, an afterlife continues for the soul of every human being: soul now separated from the body in which it was "housed" during its earthly existence.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ESOJDwAAQBAJ&q=maimonides+olam+haba&pg=PA178|title=Jewish Views of the Afterlife|last=Paull Raphael|first=Simcha|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2019|isbn=9781538103463|pages=177–180}}</ref>

The [[Zohar]] describes [[Gehenna]] not as a place of punishment for the wicked but as a place of spiritual purification for souls.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/06-Jewish-Thought/section-9.html |title=soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Jewish Thought (6/12) Section – Question 12.8: What do Jews say happens when a person dies? Do Jews believe in reincarnation? In hell or heaven? Purgatory? |publisher=Faqs.org |date=8 August 2012 |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=12 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212192206/http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/06-Jewish-Thought/section-9.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Reincarnation in Jewish tradition====
Although there is no reference to reincarnation in the Talmud or any prior writings,<ref>Saadia Gaon in Emunoth ve-Deoth Section vi</ref> according to rabbis such as Avraham Arieh Trugman, reincarnation is recognized as being part and parcel of Jewish tradition. Trugman explains that it is through oral tradition that the meanings of the Torah, its commandments, and stories are known and understood. The classic work of Jewish mysticism,<ref name="youtube.com">{{YouTube|mM8dn68vgD8|Reincarnation in the Jewish Tradition}}</ref> the Zohar, is quoted liberally in all Jewish learning; in the Zohar, the idea of reincarnation is mentioned repeatedly. Trugman states that in the last five centuries, the concept of reincarnation, which until then had been a much-hidden tradition within Judaism, was given open exposure.<ref name="youtube.com"/>

[[Shraga Simmons]] commented that within the Bible itself, the idea [of reincarnation] is intimated in Deut. 25:5–10, Deut. 33:6 and Isaiah 22:14, 65:6.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_reincarnation.htm |title=Ask the Rabbi – Reincarnation |publisher=Judaism.about.com |date=17 December 2009 |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=9 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309003453/http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_o/bl_simmons_reincarnation.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Yirmiyahu Ullman wrote that reincarnation is an "ancient, mainstream belief in Judaism". The Zohar makes frequent and lengthy references to reincarnation. [[Onkelos]], a righteous convert and authoritative commentator of the same period, explained the verse, "Let Reuben live and not die&nbsp;..." (Deuteronomy 33:6) to mean that Reuben should merit the World to Come directly and not have to die again as a result of being reincarnated. Torah scholar, commentator and kabbalist, [[Nachmanides]] (Ramban 1195–1270), attributed Job's suffering to reincarnation, as hinted in Job's saying "God does all these things twice or three times with a man, to bring back his soul from the pit to... the light of the living' (Job 33:29–30)."<ref>{{cite web |last=Yirmiyahu |first=Rabbi |url=http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/1077 |title=Reincarnation " Ask! " Ohr Somayach |publisher=Ohr.edu |date=12 July 2003 |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=9 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309003907/http://ohr.edu/yhiy/article.php/1077 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Reincarnation, called ''[[gilgul]]'', became popular in [[folk belief]] and is found in much [[Yiddish]] literature among [[Ashkenazi Jews]]. Among a few kabbalists, it was posited that some human souls could end up being reincarnated into non-human bodies. These ideas were found in several Kabbalistic works from the 13th century and among many mystics in the late 16th century. [[Martin Buber]]'s early collection of stories of the [[Baal Shem Tov]]'s life includes several that refer to people reincarnating in successive lives.<ref>Martin Buber, "Legende des Baalschem" in ''Die Chassidischen Bücher'', Hellerau 1928, especially ''Die niedergestiegene Seele''</ref>

Among well-known (generally non-kabbalist or anti-kabbalist) rabbis who rejected the idea of reincarnation are [[Saadia Gaon]], [[David Kimhi]], [[Hasdai Crescas]], Yedayah Bedershi (early 14th century), [[Joseph Albo]], [[Abraham ibn Daud]], the [[Asher ben Jehiel|Rosh]] and [[Leon de Modena]]. Saadia Gaon, in [[Emunoth ve-Deoth]] (Hebrew: "beliefs and opinions"), concludes Section VI with a refutation of the doctrine of [[metempsychosis]] (reincarnation). While rebutting reincarnation, Saadia Gaon further states that Jews who hold to reincarnation have adopted non-Jewish beliefs. By no means do all Jews today believe in reincarnation, but belief in reincarnation is not uncommon among many Jews, including Orthodox.

Other well-known rabbis who are reincarnationists include [[Yonassan Gershom]], [[Abraham Isaac Kook]], Talmud scholar Adin Steinsaltz, DovBer Pinson, David M. Wexelman, [[Zalman Schachter-Shalomi|Zalman Schachter]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sytekcom.com/rooster/bta-faq1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716181413/http://www.sytekcom.com/rooster/bta-faq1.html |archive-date=16 July 2011 |title=Reincarnation and the Holocaust FAQ}}</ref> and many others. Reincarnation is cited by authoritative Biblical commentators, including Ramban (Nachmanides), Menachem Recanti, and Rabbenu Bachya.

Among the many volumes of Yitzchak Luria, most of which come down from the pen of his primary disciple, Chaim Vital, are insights explaining issues related to reincarnation. His ''[[Shaar HaGilgulim]]'' ("The Gates of Reincarnation") is a book devoted exclusively to the subject of reincarnation in Judaism.

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg of The [[Rohr Jewish Learning Institute]] notes that "Many ideas that originate in other religions and belief systems have been popularized in the media and are taken for granted by unassuming Jews."<ref>{{cite news|title=Where does the soul go? New course explores spiritual existence|url=http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2015/10/14/news/doc561ecaa6934c1312697232.txt|agency=West Hartford News|date=14 October 2015|location=Middletown, CT|access-date=18 October 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304101640/http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2015/10/14/news/doc561ecaa6934c1312697232.txt|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Christianity===
{{main|Eternal life (Christianity)}}
{{see also|Heaven in Christianity|Christian views on Hell}}
{{Primary sources|section|find=Afterlife|find2=Christianity|date=July 2017}}
[[Mainstream Christianity]] professes belief in the [[Nicene Creed]], and [[English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use]] include the phrase: "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come."

When questioned by the [[Sadducees]] about the [[resurrection of the dead]] (in a context relating to who one's spouse would be if one had been married several times in life), Jesus said that marriage would be irrelevant after the resurrection as the resurrected will be like the [[angels]] in Heaven.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2022:23-33;&version=47; |title=Matthew 22:23–33 |publisher=Biblegateway.com |access-date=8 March 2014}}</ref><ref name="Boulaouali 147–158">{{Cite journal |last=Boulaouali |first=Tijani |date=2022-11-03 |title=Biblical Eschatology and Qur'anic 'Ākhirāh: A Comparative Approach of the Concepts Afterlife, Death and the Day of Judgement |url=https://journal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/kt/article/view/19851 |journal=Khazanah Theologia |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=147–158 |doi=10.15575/kt.v4i3.19851 |s2cid=255287161 |issn=2715-9701 |access-date=8 January 2023 |archive-date=8 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108124609/https://journal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/kt/article/view/19851 |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Jesus also maintained that the time would come when the dead would hear the voice of the [[Son of God]], and all who were in the tombs would come out; those who have heard his "[commandments] and believes in the one who sent [Him]" to the "resurrection of life", but those who do not to the "resurrection of condemnation".<ref>John 5:24{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PXD.HTM |title=The New American Bible |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=2 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802022938/http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PXD.HTM |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Book of Enoch]] describes Sheol as divided into four compartments for four types of the dead: the faithful saints who await resurrection in [[Paradise]], the merely virtuous who await their reward, the wicked who await punishment, and the wicked who have already been punished and will not be resurrected on Judgment Day.<ref>[[Harry Emerson Fosdick|Fosdick, Harry Emerson]]. A guide to understanding the Bible. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1956. p. 276.</ref> The Book of Enoch is considered apocryphal by most denominations of Christianity and all of Judaism.

The [[2 Maccabees|book of 2 Maccabees]] clearly describes the dead waiting for future resurrection and judgment, along with [[Prayer for the dead|prayers]] and offerings for the deceased to alleviate their sins.

[[File:Domenico Beccafumi 056.jpg|right|thumb|[[Domenico Beccafumi]]'s ''Inferno'': a Christian vision of hell]]
The author of the [[Gospel of Luke]] recounts the story of [[Lazarus and Dives|Lazarus and the rich man]], which shows people in Hades awaiting the resurrection either in comfort or torment. The author of the [[Book of Revelation]] writes about God and the angels versus [[Satan]] and [[demons]] in an epic battle at the end of times when all souls are judged. There is mention of ghostly bodies of the prophets and the [[transfiguration of Jesus|transfiguration]].

The non-canonical [[Acts of Paul and Thecla]] speak of the efficacy of [[prayer for the dead]] so that they might be "translated to a state of happiness".<ref>[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/thecla.html Acts of Paul and Thecla] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606225812/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/thecla.html |date=6 June 2007 }} 8:5</ref>

[[Hippolytus of Rome]] pictures the [[underworld]] ([[Greek underworld|Hades]]) as a place where the righteous dead, waiting in the [[bosom of Abraham]] for their resurrection, rejoice at their future prospect; the unrighteous are tormented at the sight of the "[[Lake of fire|lake of unquenchable fire]]" into which they are destined to be cast.

[[Gregory of Nyssa]] discusses the long-before-believed possibility of purification of souls after death.<ref>He wrote that a person "may afterward in a quite different manner be very much interested in what is better, when, ''after his departure out of the body'', he gains knowledge of the difference between virtue and vice and finds that he is not able to partake of divinity until he has been ''purged of the filthy contagion in his soul by the purifying fire''" (emphasis added)—Sermon on the Dead, AD 382, quoted in [http://www.catholic.com/library/Roots_of_Purgatory.asp The Roots of Purgatory] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527235028/http://www.catholic.com/library/Roots_of_Purgatory.asp |date=27 May 2007 }}</ref>

Pope Gregory I repeats the concept, articulated over a century earlier by Gregory of Nyssa, that the saved suffer purification after death. In connection with this, he wrote of "purgatorial flames."

The noun [[Purgatory|"purgatorium"]] (Latin: place of cleansing<ref>[http://www.answers.com/topic/purgatory "purgatory"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070317200253/http://www.answers.com/topic/purgatory |date=17 March 2007 }}. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press., 2003. Answers.com 6 June 2007.</ref>) is used for the first time to describe a state of painful purification of the saved afterlife. The same word in adjectival form (''purgatorius -a -um'', cleansing), which appears also in non-religious writing,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3D%2339625 |title=Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, ''A Latin Dictionary'' |publisher=Perseus.tufts.edu |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=21 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221225206/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3D%2339625 |url-status=live }}</ref> was already used by Christians such as Augustine of Hippo and [[Pope Gregory I]] to refer to an after-death cleansing.

Theologians and philosophers presented various philosophies and beliefs during the [[Age of Enlightenment]]. A notable example is [[Emanuel Swedenborg]] who wrote some 18 theological works which describe in detail the nature of the afterlife according to his claimed spiritual experiences, the most famous of which is ''[[Heaven and Hell (Swedenborg)|Heaven and Hell]]''.<ref name="swedenborgdigitallibrary.org">{{cite web |url=https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/heaven-and-hell-dole/contents/10 |author=Swedenborg, E. |title=Heaven and Hell |publisher=Swedenborg Foundation |date=2000 |access-date=12 December 2017 |archive-date=8 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208175232/https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/heaven-and-hell-dole/contents/10 |url-status=live }}</ref> His report of life there covers a wide range of topics, such as marriage in heaven (where all [[angels]] are married), children in heaven (where they are raised by angel parents), time and [[space]] in heaven (there are none), the after-death awakening process in the World of Spirits (a place halfway between Heaven and Hell and where people first wake up after death), the allowance of a free will choice between Heaven or Hell (as opposed to being sent to either one by God), the [[eternity]] of [[Hell]] (one could leave but would never want to), and that all angels or devils were once people on earth.<ref name="swedenborgdigitallibrary.org"/>

====The Catholic Church====
The Catholic conception of the afterlife teaches that [[Particular judgment|after the body dies, the soul is judged]], the righteous and free of sin enter Heaven. However, those who die in unrepented [[mortal sin]] go to hell. In the 1990s, the [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]] defined hell not as punishment imposed on the sinner but rather as the sinner's self-exclusion from God. Unlike other Christian groups, the Catholic Church teaches that those who die in a state of grace but still carry [[venial sin]] go to a place called [[Purgatory]], where they undergo purification to enter Heaven.

====Limbo====
{{main|Limbo}}
Despite popular opinion, Limbo, which was elaborated upon by theologians beginning in the Middle Ages, was never recognized as a [[dogma]] of the [[Catholic Church]], yet, at times, it has been a very popular theological theory within the Church. Limbo is a theory that [[Baptism|unbaptized]] but innocent souls, such as those of infants or [[Virtue#Christianity|virtuous]] individuals who lived before [[Nativity of Jesus|Jesus Christ was born]], exist in neither Heaven nor Hell proper. Therefore, these souls neither merit the [[beatific vision]] nor are subjected to any punishment because they are not guilty of any personal [[sin]] although they have not received baptism, so they still bear [[original sin]]. So, they are generally seen as existing in a state of natural, but not supernatural, happiness until the end of time.

In other [[Christian denominations]], it has been described as an [[Intermediate state (Christianity)|intermediate place]] or state of confinement in oblivion and neglect.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/limbo |title=limbo – definition of limbo by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia |publisher=Thefreedictionary.com |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=15 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200515065128/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/limbo |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Purgatory====
{{main|Purgatory}}
The notion of [[purgatory]] is associated mainly with the [[Catholic Church]]. In the Catholic Church, all those who die in God's grace and friendship but are still imperfectly purified are indeed assured of their eternal salvation. Still, after death, they undergo purification to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven or the final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The tradition of the church, by reference to specific texts of scripture, speaks of a "cleansing fire", but it is not always called purgatory.

[[Anglican]]s of the [[Anglo-Catholic]] tradition generally also hold to the belief. [[John Wesley]], the founder of [[Methodism]], believed in an [[Intermediate state (Christianity)|intermediate state]] between death and the [[resurrection of the dead]] and in the possibility of "continuing to grow in holiness there", but Methodism does not officially affirm this belief and denies the possibility of [[Prayer for the dead|helping by prayer]] any who may be in that state.<ref>Ted Campbell, Methodist Doctrine: The Essentials (Abingdon 1999), quoted in [http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=5101 Feature article by ''United Methodist Reporter'' Managing Editor Robin Russell] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722154244/http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=5101 |date=22 July 2011 }} and in [http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=4746355&content_id=%7B94F6F768-0EA6-4C1B-B6B6-0C88EC04E8A2%7D&notoc=1 FAQ Belief: What happens immediately after a person dies?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613074435/http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=4746355&content_id=%7B94F6F768-0EA6-4C1B-B6B6-0C88EC04E8A2%7D&notoc=1 |date=13 June 2016 }}</ref>

====Orthodox Christianity====
The Orthodox Church is intentionally reticent about the afterlife, as it acknowledges the mystery, especially of things that have not yet occurred. Beyond the second coming of Jesus, bodily resurrection, and final judgment, all of which are affirmed in the [[Nicene Creed]] (325 AD), Orthodoxy does not teach much else in any definitive manner. Unlike Western forms of Christianity, however, Orthodoxy is traditionally non-dualist and does not teach that there are two separate literal locations of heaven and hell, but instead acknowledges that "the 'location' of one's final destiny—heaven or hell—as being figurative."<ref name="Andrew P. Klager 2011">{{cite web| url = http://www.clarion-journal.com/files/new-klager-compassionate-eschatology-with-biblioklager-1.pdf#page=19| title = Andrew P. Klager, "Orthodox Eschatology and St. Gregory of Nyssa's ''De vita Moysis'': Transfiguration, Cosmic Unity, and Compassion," In ''Compassionate Eschatology: The Future as Friend'', eds. Ted Grimsrud & Michael Hardin, 230–52 (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011), 245.| access-date = 3 May 2016| archive-date = 25 March 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160325232147/http://www.clarion-journal.com/files/new-klager-compassionate-eschatology-with-biblioklager-1.pdf#page=19| url-status = live}}</ref>

Instead, Orthodoxy teaches that the final judgment is one's uniform encounter with divine love and mercy, but this encounter is experienced multifariously depending on the extent to which one has been transformed, partaken of divinity, and is therefore compatible or incompatible with God. "The monadic, immutable, and ceaseless object of eschatological encounter is therefore the love and mercy of God, his glory which infuses the heavenly temple, and it is the subjective human reaction which engenders multiplicity or any division of experience."<ref name="Andrew P. Klager 2011"/> For instance, [[St. Isaac the Syrian]] observes in his ''[[The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian|Ascetical Homilies]]'' that "those who are punished in Gehenna, are scourged by the scourge of love. ... The power of love works in two ways: it torments sinners ... [as] bitter regret. But love inebriates the souls of the sons of Heaven by its delectability."<ref>St. Isaac the Syrian, "Homily 28," In ''The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian,'' trans. Dana Miller (Brookline, MA: Holy Transfiguration Monastery Press, 1984), 141.</ref> In this sense, the divine action is always, immutably, and uniformly love, and if one experiences this love negatively, the experience is then one of self-condemnation because of free will rather than condemnation by God.

Orthodoxy therefore uses the description of Jesus' judgment in John 3:19–21 as their model: "19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." As a characteristically Orthodox understanding, then, Fr. [[Thomas Hopko]] writes, "[I]t is precisely the presence of God's mercy and love which cause the torment of the wicked. God does not punish; he forgives... In a word, God has mercy on all, whether all like it or not. If we like it, it is paradise; if we do not, it is hell. Every knee will bend before the Lord. Everything will be subject to Him. God in Christ will indeed be 'all and in all,' with boundless mercy and unconditional pardon. But not all will rejoice in God's gift of forgiveness, and that choice will be judgment, the self-inflicted source of their sorrow and pain."<ref>Fr. Thomas Hopko, "Foreword," in ''The Orthodox Church'', Sergius Bulgakov (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1988), xiii.</ref>

Moreover, Orthodoxy includes a prevalent tradition of ''[[apokatastasis]]'', or the restoration of all things in the end. This has been taught most notably by [[Origen]], but also many other Church fathers and Saints, including [[Gregory of Nyssa]]. The [[Second Council of Constantinople]] (553 AD) affirmed the orthodoxy of Gregory of Nyssa while simultaneously condemning Origen's brand of universalism because it taught the restoration back to our pre-existent state, which Orthodoxy does not teach. It is also a teaching of such eminent Orthodox theologians as [[Olivier Clément]], Metropolitan [[Kallistos Ware]], and Bishop [[Hilarion Alfeyev]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.clarion-journal.com/files/new-klager-compassionate-eschatology-with-biblioklager-1.pdf#page=25| title = Andrew P. Klager, "Orthodox Eschatology and St. Gregory of Nyssa's ''De vita Moysis'': Transfiguration, Cosmic Unity, and Compassion," In ''Compassionate Eschatology: The Future as Friend'', eds. Ted Grimsrud & Michael Hardin, 230–52 (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011), 251.| access-date = 3 May 2016| archive-date = 25 March 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160325232147/http://www.clarion-journal.com/files/new-klager-compassionate-eschatology-with-biblioklager-1.pdf#page=25| url-status = live}}</ref> Although apokatastasis is not a dogma of the church but instead a [[wikt:theologoumenon#English|theologoumenon]], it is no less a teaching of the Orthodox Church than its rejection. As Met. Kallistos Ware explains, "It is heretical to say that all must be saved, for this is to deny free will; but, it is legitimate to hope that all may be saved,"<ref>Kallistos Ware, The Orthodox Church (New York: Penguin, 1997), 262.</ref> as insisting on torment without end also denies free will.

====The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints====
{{main|Plan of salvation (Latter Day Saints)|Exaltation (Mormonism)|Degrees of glory}}
[[File:000 preach-my-gospel 1207575 tmb.jpg|framed|Plan of Salvation in LDS Religion]]
[[Joseph F. Smith]] of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] presents an elaborate vision of the afterlife. It is revealed as the scene of an extensive missionary effort by righteous spirits in paradise to redeem those still in darkness—a spirit prison or "hell" where the souls of the dead remain until judgment. It is divided into two parts: Spirit Prison and Paradise. These are also known as the [[Spirit world (Latter Day Saints)|Spirit World]] (also Abraham's Bosom; see Luke 16:19–25). They believe that Christ visited the spirit prison [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/1-pet/3.18-20?lang=eng (1 Peter 3:18–20)] and opened the gate for those who repent to cross over to Paradise. This is similar to the [[Harrowing of Hell]] doctrine of some mainstream Christian faiths.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Paulsen|first1=David L.|last2=Cook|first2=Roger D.|last3=Christensen|first3=Kendel J.|date=2010|title=The Harrowing of Hell: Salvation for the Dead in Early Christianity|journal=Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture|volume=19|issue=1|pages=56–77|doi=10.5406/jbookmormotheres.19.1.0056|jstor=10.5406/jbookmormotheres.19.1.0056|s2cid=171733241|issn=1948-7487|url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol19/iss1/7|access-date=28 December 2022|archive-date=28 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128015024/https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol19/iss1/7/|url-status=live}}</ref> Both Spirit Prison and Paradise are temporary according to Latter-day Saint beliefs. After the resurrection, spirits are assigned "permanently" to three degrees of heavenly glory, determined by how they lived – Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial. (1 Cor 15:44–42; Doctrine and Covenants, Section 76) [[Son of perdition (Mormonism)|Sons of Perdition]], or those who have known and seen God and deny it, will be sent to the realm of [[Satan]], which is called Outer Darkness, where they shall live in misery and agony forever.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/76?lang=eng| title = Doctrine and Covenants, Section 76.| access-date = 15 July 2019| archive-date = 13 July 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190713010958/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/76?lang=eng| url-status = live}}</ref> However, according to the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, most persons lack the amount of knowledge to commit the [[Eternal sin]] and are therefore incapable of becoming sons of perdition.<ref>[[Spencer W. Kimball]]: The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 123.</ref>

The Celestial Kingdom is believed to be where the righteous can live eternally with their families. Progression does not end once one has entered the Celestial Kingdom but extends eternally. According to "True to the Faith" (a handbook on doctrines in the LDS faith), "The celestial kingdom is the place prepared for those who have "received the testimony of Jesus" and been "made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood" (Doctrine and Covenants, 76:51, 69). To inherit this gift, we must receive the ordinances of salvation, keep the commandments, and repent of our sins."<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/true-to-the-faith/kingdoms-of-glory.p1?lang=eng | title=Kingdoms of Glory | access-date=15 July 2019 | archive-date=12 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112061937/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/true-to-the-faith/kingdoms-of-glory.p1?lang=eng | url-status=live }}</ref>

====Jehovah's Witnesses====
[[Jehovah's Witnesses]] occasionally use terms such as "afterlife"<ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Watchtower|title=Is Gehenna a Place of Fiery Torment?|date=1 April 2011|page=31|url=http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2011252|access-date=31 December 2014|archive-date=31 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231095604/http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2011252|url-status=live}}</ref> to refer to any hope for the dead, but they understand [[Ecclesiastes]] 9:5 to preclude belief in an immortal soul.<ref>{{cite book|title=Reasoning From the Scriptures|pages=168–75}}</ref> Individuals judged by God to be wicked, such as in the [[Great Flood]] or at [[Armageddon]], are given no hope of an afterlife. However, they believe that after Armageddon, there will be a bodily resurrection of "both righteous and unrighteous" dead (but not the "wicked"). Survivors of Armageddon and those who are resurrected are then to restore the Earth to a paradise gradually.<ref>{{cite book|title=Insight on the Scriptures|volume=2|pages=574–76}}</ref> After Armageddon, unrepentant sinners are punished with eternal death (non-existence).

====Seventh-day Adventists====
[[File:Life And Death Equation.jpg|thumb|Creation and Death Equation]]
The Seventh-day Adventist Church's beliefs regarding the afterlife differ from those of other Christian churches. Rather than ascend to Heaven or descend to Hell, Adventists believe the dead "remain unconscious until the return of Christ in judgement". The concept that the dead remain dead until resurrection is one of the fundamental beliefs of Seventh-day Adventism.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The State of the Dead: From Death to Life|url=https://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental-beliefs/restoration/death-and-resurrection/|website=Seventh-day Adventist World Church Official Website|date=30 March 2015 |access-date=4 August 2020|archive-date=12 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812065438/https://www.adventist.org/beliefs/fundamental-beliefs/restoration/death-and-resurrection/|url-status=live}}</ref> Adventists believe that death is an unconscious state (a "sleep"). This is based on Matt. 9:24; Mark 5:39; John 11:11–14; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52; 1 Thess. 4:13–17; 2 Peter 3:4; Eccl. 9:5, 6, 10. At death, all consciousness ends. The dead person does not know anything and does not do anything.<ref>{{Cite web|title=From Life to Death: What Really Happens When You Die?|url=https://www.adventist.org/articles/waking-up-to-eternity/|website=Seventh-day Adventist World Church Official Website|date=30 March 2015|access-date=4 August 2020|archive-date=18 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918160711/https://www.adventist.org/articles/waking-up-to-eternity/|url-status=live}}</ref> They believe that death is a decreation, or an undoing of what was created. This is described in Ecclesiastes 12:7: "When a person dies, the body turns to dust again, and the spirit goes back to God, who gave it." The spirit of every person who dies—whether saved or unsaved—returns to God at death. The spirit that returns to God at death is the breath of life.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Are the Dead Really Dead?|url=https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/4987/t/are-the-dead-really-dead-|website=Amazing Facts|access-date=4 August 2020|archive-date=28 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928060753/https://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/study-guide/e/4987/t/are-the-dead-really-dead-|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Islam===
[[File:Muhammad and "shameless women" in Hell.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3| 15<sup>th</sup> century Persian depiction of [[Muhammad]], [[Buraq]], and [[Gabriel]] visiting Hell, where "shameless women" are burning for inciting lust in men by exposing their hair in public.]]
{{main|Akhirah}}

The [[Quran]] (the holy book of Islam) emphasizes the insignificance of worldly life (''ḥayāt ad-dunyā'' usually translated as "this world") vis-à-vis the hereafter.{{#tag:ref|some of the verses are:
*"... but compared with the Hereafter the life of this world is but a [trifling] enjoyment" {{Qref|13|26|b=y|s=y}}
*" ...The life of this world is nothing but the wares of delusion." {{Qref|3|185–186|b=y|s=y}}
*" ...Know that the life of this world is mere diversion and play, glamour and mutual vainglory among you and rivalry for wealth and children" (Q.57:20){{Qref|57|20|b=y|s=y}}
*" ...Seek the abode of the Hereafter by means of what Allah has given you, while not forgetting your share of this world. {{Qref|28|77|b=y|s=y}}|group=Note}}
A central doctrine of Islamic faith is the [[Judgement Day in Islam|Judgement Day]] (''al-yawm al-ākhir'', also known by other names),{{#tag:ref|The Last Day has a number of other names. It is also called the Encompassing Day (''al-yawm al-muḥīṭ''), more commonly known as the "[[Day of Resurrection]]" (''yawm al-qiyāma''), "[[Day of Judgment]]" (''yawm ad-dīn''), and "Day of Reckoning" (''yawm al-ḥisāb''), as well as both the "Day of Separation" (''yawm al-faṣl'') and "Day of Gathering" (''yawm al-jamʿ''), and is also referred to as ''as-Sāʿah'', meaning "the Hour" signaled by the blowing of the horn/trumpet.<ref>{{Qref|39|68|b=yl}}</ref>|group=Note}} on which the world will come to an end and God will raise all mankind (as well as the ''[[jinn]]'') from the dead and evaluate their worldly actions. The resurrected will be judged according to their deeds, records of which are kept on two books compiled for every human being—one for their good deeds and one for their evil ones.<ref name=Britannica/><ref name="Boulaouali 147–158"/>

Having been judged, the resurrected will cross the bridge of [[As-Sirāt]] over the pit of hell; when the condemned attempt to cross, they will be made to fall off into hellfire below, while the righteous will have no trouble and continue on to their eternal abode of heaven.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Oxford dictionary of Islam |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-512558-0 |editor-last=Esposito |editor-first=John L. |edition=1. issued as paperback |series=Oxford paperback reference |location=Oxford}}</ref>

Afterlife in Islam actually begins before the Last Day. After death, humans will be questioned about their faith by two angels, [[Munkar and Nakir|Munkar and Nakīr]]. Those who die as martyrs go immediately to paradise.<ref name=Britannica>{{cite web |title=Last Judgement |website=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Last-Judgment-religion |access-date=31 January 2022 |archive-date=31 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131151138/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Last-Judgment-religion |url-status=live }}</ref> Others who have died and been buried will receive a taste of their eternal reward from the ''al-qabr'' or "the grave" (compare the [[#Judaism|Jewish concept]] of [[Sheol]]). Those bound for hell will suffer "[[Punishment of the Grave]]", while those bound for heaven will find the grave "peaceful and blessed".<ref name=JACBMM2014:46>[[#JACBMM2014|J. A. C. Brown, ''Misquoting Muhammad'', 2014]]: p. 46</ref>

Islamic scripture—the Quran and [[hadith]] (reports of the words and deeds of the Islamic Prophet [[Muhammad]] who is believed to have visited heaven and hell during his [[Isra and Mi'raj]] journey) – give vivid descriptions of the pleasures of paradise ([[Jannah]]) and sufferings of hell (''[[Jahannam]]''). The gardens of Jannah have cool shade,{{Qref|36|56–57|b=y|s=y}} adorned couchs and cushions,{{Qref|18|31|s=y}} rich carpets spread out, cups{{Qref|88|10–16|s=y}} full of wine,{{Qref|52|23|s=y}} and every meat{{Qref|52|22|s=y}} and fruit{{Qref|36|56–57|s=y}}. Men will be provided with perpetually youthful, beautiful ''[[Houri|ḥūr]]'', "untouched beforehand by man or jinn",<ref name="Rustomji 2017">{{cite book |author-last=Rustomji |author-first=Nerina |year=2017 |chapter=Beauty in the Garden: Aesthetics and the ''Wildān'', ''Ghilmān'', and ''Ḥūr'' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_MoDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA297 |editor1-last=Günther |editor1-first=Sebastian |editor2-last=Lawson |editor2-first=Todd |title=Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |pages=297–307 |series=Islamic History and Civilization |volume=136 |doi=10.1163/9789004333154_014 |isbn=978-90-04-33315-4 |issn=0929-2403 |lccn=2016047258 |access-date=2 December 2021 |archive-date=19 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419034025/https://books.google.com/books?id=5_MoDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA297 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Qref|55|56|s=y}} with large, beautiful eyes{{Qref|37|48|s=y}}. (In recent years some have argued that the term ''ḥūr'' refers both to pure men and pure women,<ref name="dawn-houri-20">{{cite web |title=Are all 'houris' female? |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/635343 |website=Dawn.com |access-date=22 April 2019 |date=9 June 2011 |archive-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422220337/https://www.dawn.com/news/635343 |url-status=live }}</ref> and/or that Quranic references to "immortal boys" ({{qref|56|17}}, {{qref|76|19}}) or "young men" ({{qref|52|24}}) (''[[Ghilman|ghilmān]]'', ''wildān'', and ''suqāh'') who serve [[Wine#Islam|wine]] and meals to the [[Blessing#Islam|blessed]], are the male equivalents of hur.)<ref name="Rustomji 2017"/>

In contrast, those in [[Jahannam]] will dwell in a land infested with thousands of serpents and scorpions;<ref>Ghazālī, Iḥyāʾ, v.157, trans. Winter p.221-2; quoted in {{cite book|first1= Christian |last1=Lange |editor=Christian Lange |title= Locating Hell in Islamic Traditions |chapter=Introducing Hell in Islamic Studies |publisher= BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-30121-4 |date=2016 |ref=CLLHiIT2016 |page=14|jstor=10.1163/j.ctt1w8h1w3.7 }}</ref> be "burnt" by "scorching fire" {{Qref|88|1-7|s=y}} and when "their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for fresh skins" to repeat the process forever {{Qref|4|56|s=y}}; they will have nothing to drink but "boiling water and running sores"{{Qref|78|21–30|s=y}};<ref name="hughes-DoI">{{cite web |last1=Hughes |first1=Thomas Patrick |title=Project Gutenberg's A Dictionary of Islam. Hell |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/61526/61526-h/61526-h.htm#hell |website=gutenberg.org/ |access-date=30 January 2022 |date=February 27, 2020 |archive-date=30 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130194648/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/61526/61526-h/61526-h.htm#hell |url-status=live }}</ref> their cries of remorse and pleading for forgiveness will be in vain{{Qref|26|96–106|s=y}}.<ref name=ItQ-233>{{cite book|editor1-last=Kaltner|editor1-first=John |title=Introducing the Qur'an: For Today's Reader|date=2011|publisher=Fortress Press|pages=233|isbn=9781451411386 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CBFKDjJgh9UC&q=jahannam |access-date=2 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{qref|26|96-102|c=y}}, {{qref|41|24|c=y}}</ref>

Traditionally, ''Jannah'' and ''Jahannam'' are thought to have different levels. Eight gates and eight levels in ''Jannah'', where the higher the level the better it is and the happier you are. ''Jahannam'' possess seven layers. Each layer more horrible than the one above.

The Quran teaches that the purpose of Man's creation is to worship God and God alone.{{#tag:ref|"I have created the jinn and humankind only for My worship."{{Qref|51|56|s=y}}|group=Note}} Those it describes as being punished in hell are "most typically" unbelievers, including those who worship others besides Allah{{Qref|10|24|s=y}}, those who deny the divine origin of the Quran {{Qref|74|16–26|s=y}}, or the coming of Judgement Day{{Qref|25|11–14|s=y}}.<ref>{{RefQuran|17|10|b=yl}}</ref><ref name=ETISN2009>{{cite journal |last1=Thomassen |first1=Einar |title=Islamic Hell |journal=Numen |date=2009 |volume=56 |issue=2–3 |pages=401–416 |doi=10.1163/156852709X405062 |jstor=27793798 |ref=ETISN2009}}</ref>{{rp|404}}

Straightforward crimes/sins against other people are also grounds for going to hell: the murder of a believer{{Qref|4|93|s=y}}{{Qref|3|21|s=y}}, usury (Q.2:275){{Qref|2|275|s=y}}, devouring the property of an orphan {{Qref|4|10|s=y}}, and slander {{Qref|104|s=y|b=y}}, particularly of a chaste woman{{Qref|24|23|s=y}}.<ref name=ETISN2009:405 >[[#ETISN2009|Thomassen, "Islamic Hell", Numen, 56, 2009]]: p.405</ref> However, it is a common belief among Muslims that whatever crimes/sins Muslims may have committed, their punishment in hell will be temporary. Only unbelievers will reside in hell permanently.<ref name="ReferenceA">A F Klein ''Religion Of Islam'' Routledge 2013 {{ISBN|978-1-136-09954-0}} page 92</ref>{{#tag:ref|"One should note there was a near consensus among Muslim theologians of the later periods that punishment for Muslim grave sinners would only be temporary; eventually after a purgatory sojourn in hell's top layer they would be admitted into paradise."<ref name=CLLHiIT2016:7>[[#CLLHiIT2016|Lange, "Introducing Hell in Islamic Studies", 2016]]: p.7</ref> Prior to that, theologians of the Kharijite and Mu'tazilite schools insisted that the "sinful" and "unrepentant" should be punished even if they were believers, but this position has been "lastingly defeated and erased" by mainstream Islam.<ref name=CLLHiIT2016:8>[[#CLLHiIT2016|Lange, "Introducing Hell in Islamic Studies", 2016]]: p.8</ref>
|group=Note}} Thus Jahannam combines both the concept of an eternal hell (for unbelievers), and what is known in Christian Catholicism as [[purgatory]] (for believers eventually destined for heaven after punishment for their sins).<ref>John Renard The Handy Islam Answer Book Visible Ink Press 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-578-59544-0}}</ref>

The common belief holds that ''Jahannam'' coexists with the temporal world.<ref name="Islamic Traditions p. 12">{{cite book|first1= Christian |last1=Lange |title= Locating Hell in Islamic Traditions |chapter=Introducing Hell in Islamic Studies |year=2016 |publisher= BRILL | isbn=978-90-04-30121-4 |page=12|jstor=10.1163/j.ctt1w8h1w3.7 }}</ref> Mainstream Islam teaches the continued existence of the soul and a transformed physical existence after death. The resurrection that will take place on the Last Day is physical, and is explained by suggesting that God will recreate the decayed body ("Have they not realized that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, can ˹easily˺ re-create them?" {{Qref|17|99|s=y}}).

====Ahmadiyya====
[[Ahmadiyya|Ahmadi Muslims]] believe that the afterlife is not material but of a spiritual nature. According to [[Mirza Ghulam Ahmad]], founder of the [[Ahmadiyya]], the soul will give birth to another rarer entity and will resemble the life on this earth in the sense that this entity will bear a similar relationship to the soul as the soul bears relationship with the human existence on earth. On earth, if a person leads a righteous life and submits to the will of God, his or her tastes become attuned to enjoying spiritual pleasures as opposed to carnal desires. With this, an "embryonic soul" begins to take shape. Different tastes are said to be born which a person given to carnal passions finds no enjoyment. For example, sacrifice of one's own rights over that of others becomes enjoyable, or that forgiveness becomes second nature. In such a state a person finds contentment and peace at heart and at this stage, according to Ahmadiyya beliefs, it can be said that a soul within the soul has begun to take shape.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iU1Yn4sSXEkC&q=elementary%20study%20of%20islam | title=An Elementary Study of Islam | author=Mirza Tahir Ahmad | page=50 | publisher=Islam International Publications | isbn=978-1-85372-562-3 | year=1997 | access-date=15 October 2020 | archive-date=30 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230123256/https://books.google.com/books?id=iU1Yn4sSXEkC&q=elementary%20study%20of%20islam#v=snippet&q=elementary%20study%20of%20islam&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref>

====Sufism====
{{Main|Sufism}}

The [[Sufi Islam|Sufi Muslim]] scholar [[Ibn 'Arabi]] defined [[Barzakh#Sufism|Barzakh]] as the intermediate realm or "isthmus". It is between the world of corporeal bodies and the world of spirits, and is a means of contact between the two worlds. Without it, there would be no contact between the two and both would cease to exist. He described it as simple and luminous, like the world of spirits, but also able to take on many different forms just like the world of corporeal bodies can. In broader terms Barzakh, "is anything that separates two things". It has been called the dream world in which the dreamer is in both life and death.<ref name="Ibn Al-Arabi 2006 29n, 50n, 59, 64–68, 73, 75–78, 82, 102">{{cite book|last=Ibn Al-Arabi|first=Muhyiddin|title=The Universal Tree and The Four Birds|year=2006|publisher=Anqa Publishing|pages=29n, 50n, 59, 64–68, 73, 75–78, 82, 102|editor=Angela Jaffray}}</ref>

===Baháʼí Faith===
{{Main|Baháʼí Faith on life after death}}
The teachings of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] state that the nature of the afterlife is beyond the understanding of those living, just as an unborn fetus cannot understand the nature of the world outside of the [[womb]]. The [[Baháʼí literature|Baháʼí writings]] state that the soul is immortal and after death it will continue to progress until it finally attains [[God in the Baháʼí Faith|God's presence]].<ref>[[Baháʼu'lláh]], [[Gleanings from the Writings of Baháʼu'lláh]], ed. by US Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1990, pp. 155–156.</ref> In Baháʼí belief, souls in the afterlife will continue to retain their individuality and consciousness and will be able to recognize and communicate spiritually with other souls whom they have made deep profound friendships with, such as their spouses.<ref name="PSmith">{{cite encyclopedia|last= Smith|first= Peter|encyclopedia= A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith|title= burial, "death and afterlife", evil, evil spirits, sin|year= 2000|publisher= Oneworld Publications|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-1-85168-184-6|pages= [https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/96 96–97, 118–19, 135–36, 322–23]|url= https://archive.org/details/conciseencyclope0000smit/page/96}}</ref>

The Baháʼí scriptures also state there are distinctions between souls in the afterlife, and that souls will recognize the worth of their own deeds and understand the consequences of their actions. It is explained that those souls that have turned toward God will experience gladness, while those who have lived in error will become aware of the opportunities they have lost. Also, in the Baháʼí view, souls will be able to recognize the accomplishments of the souls that have reached the same level as themselves, but not those that have achieved a rank higher than them.<ref name="PSmith"/>