The Islamic belief in the afterlife as stated in the Qur'an is unique, its official description is more detailed. The word used to describe Paradise in Islam is referred to as jannat and to describe Hell is jahannam. Jannat and Jahannam both have different levels. Souls will not get there until after the Judgment Day, but their level of comfort while in the grave depends on their belief in The God and hereafter, as well as their deeds during this life. The levels are 7 for Jannat and 5 for Hell.

Islam teaches that the purpose of Mans creation is to worship the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, Allah, the Arabic word used to refer to The One and Only God of the Abrahamic Tradition. Islam teaches that life lived on this Earth is a test for man to determine each individuals ultimate Reward or Punishment in the Afterlife, which is eternal and everlasting.

According to the Qur’an, the basic criteria for salvation in afterlife is:

1. The belief in one and only God 2. To believe in the afterlife, resurrection and Last Judgment 3. Performing good deeds and abstaining from bad actions 4. To believe in ALL the seen and unseen messengers of Allah: All of the Angels (i.e. Gabriel and Michael); All of the Prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jesus (including his miraculous birth and Second Coming), as well as believing that Muhammad is the last messenger of God, Peace and Blessings upon all of them.

When one holds these to be true, then they are considered to be a Muslim, or one who submits to Allah, and should formally declare their Islam at their local masjid.

[

Afterlife as reincarnation

An afterlife concept that is found among Hindus, Rosicrucians, Spiritists, and Wicca is reincarnation, as evolving humans life after life in the physical world, that is, acquiring a superior grade of consciousness and altruism by means of successive reincarnations. This succession is conceived to lead toward an eventual liberation or spiritual rebirth as spiritual beings.

Some practitioners of eastern religions follow a different concept called metempsychosis which purposes that human beings can transmigrate into animals, vegetables, or even minerals.^{[citation needed]} One consequence of the Hindu and Spiritist beliefs is that our current lives are also an afterlife. According to those beliefs events in our current life are consequences of actions taken in previous lives, or Karma.

[

Eastern Religions

[

Hinduism

The Upanishads describe reincarnation, or samsara. The Bhagavad Gita, an important book for Hinduism talks extensively about the afterlife. Here, the Lord Krishna says that just as a man discards his old clothes and wears new ones; similarly the soul discards the old body and takes on a new one. In Hinduism, the belief is that the body is but a shell, the soul inside is immutable and indestructible and takes on different lives in a cycle of birth and death. The end of this cycle is Moksha or salvation. However, not all Hindus believe in reincarnation.

[

Buddhism

Buddhists believe that rebirth takes place without a self (similar to soul) and that the process of rebirth is simply a continuation of the previous life. The process of being reborn as any other being is based on your karma. From a Buddhist perspective, the current life is a continuation of the past life. If one dies with a peaceful state of mind, this will cause fortunate karma to ripen and a fortunate rebirth as a human or god will follow. If one dies with a negative state of mind, this will ripen negative karma and a lower rebirth such as an animal, ghost, or hell-being will follow.

In Tibetan Buddhism the Tibetan Book of the Dead explains the intermediate state of humans between death and reincarnation. The deceased will find the bright light of wisdom, which shows a straightforward path to move upward and leave the cycle of reincarnation. There are various reasons why the deceased do not follow that light. Some had no briefing about the intermediate state in the former life. Others only used to follow their basic instincts like animals. And some have fear, which results from foul deeds in the former life or from insistent haughtiness. In the intermediate state the awareness is very flexible, so it is important to be virtuous, adopt a positive attitude, and avoid negative ideas. Ideas which are rising from subconsciousness can cause extreme tempers and cowing visions. In this situation they have to understand, that these manifestations are just reflections of the inner thoughts. No one can really hurt them, because they have no more material body. The deceased get help from different Buddhas who show them the path to the bright light. The ones who do not follow the path after all will get hints for a better reincarnation. They have to release the things and beings on which or whom they still hang from the life before. It is recommended to choose a family where the parents trust in the Dharma and to reincarnate with the will to care for the welfare of all beings.

[

Sikhism

Sikhs also believe in reincarnation. They believe that the soul belongs to the spiritual universe which has its origins in God. It is like a see-saw, the amount of good done in life will store up blessings, thus uniting with God. A soul may need to live many lives before it is one with God. But there is more to it than this; there are four classes that are included in this belief...Above these four classes is God "Waheguru" and you can stay with him if you like or take another step and go to your people and serve them. Below these four classes are non humans such as plants and viruses. You move up and down according to your deeds, a good life and death moves you up to a higher class and a bad life and death results in going down a class.Bolo satnam waheguru.

[

Other believers in reincarnation

Rosicrucians,^[17] in the same way of those who have had near-death experiences, speak of a life review period occurring immediately after death and before entering the afterlife's planes of existence (before the silver cord is broken), followed by a judgment, more akin to a Final Review or End Report over one's life.^[18]

Some Neopagans believe in personal reincarnation, whereas some believe that the energy of one's soul reintegrates with a continuum of such energy which is recycled into other living things as they are born.^{[citation needed]}

Many Wiccans, though not all, profess a belief in an afterlife called the Summerland, a peaceful and sunny place where the souls of the newly dead are sent. Here, souls rest, recuperate from life, and reflect on the experiences they had during their lives. After a period of rest, the souls are reincarnated, and the memory of their previous lives is erased. Shi'a Muslims believe to Raj'a that can be understood as a limited reincarnation.

[

See also

Akhirah Atheism Bardo Belief Brig of Dread (Bridge of Dread) Bruce Moen Cognitivism Cryonics Death Doomsday Electronic voice phenomenon Elysium Empiricism Epistemology Eschatology Eternity

Exaltation (Mormonism) Ghosts Happiness Harrowing of Hell Haunting Health Heaven Hell Humanism (life stance) Immortality Intermediate state Jewish eschatology Life Life extension Logical positivism Mictlan

Near-death experience Omega point Out-of-body experience Pre-Birth communication Preventive medicine Reincarnation Salvation Scientific method Sheol Soul Suspended animation Truth Undead Valhalla Verification

[

References

[

Further reading

• Death and Afterlife: Perspectives of World Religions edited by Hiroshi Obayashi, Praeger, 1991
• Beyond Death: Theological and Philosophical Reflections on Life after Death edited by Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Christopher Lewis, Pelgrave-MacMillan, 1995
• The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection by Jane Idelman Smith and Yazbeck Haddad, Oxford UP, 2002
• Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion by Alan F. Segal, Doubleday, 2004
• Brain & Belief: An Exploration of the Human Soul by John J. McGraw, Aegis Press, 2004

[

External links

The external links in this article may not follow Wikipedia's content policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links.

• Is there life after death? - An Evangelical Christian perspective
• www.spiritualtravel.org - A Tibetan Buddhist View of the Afterlife
• What Happens When You Die? - A Luciferian's View of the Death Process and Collective Reincarnation
• Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Death and Immortality
• Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife
• www.yourafterlife.nu - Various Accounts of the Afterlife
• Common problems with the concept of Heaven
• Rosicrucians: The Light Beyond Death
• Afterlife entry at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy by William Hasker
• Veritas Research Program The University of Arizona, Tucson Arizona
• The Destiny of the Soul: A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life, available at Project Gutenberg. (Extensive 1878 text by William Rounseville Alger)
• Eternal Perspectives - Articles About Eternity from a Biblical Point of View by Randy Alcorn
• Buddhist View of Death & Dying
• Dying, Yamaraja and Yamadutas (Hindu/Vedic view)
• Afterlife Kids

v • d • e Concepts of Heaven Christian: Kingdom of God • Garden of Eden · Paradise • Sheol • New Jerusalem • Pearly gates Jewish: Garden of Eden • Sheol • Olam Haba Islamic: Jannah • Sidrat al-Muntaha Latter-day Saint (Mormon): Celestial Kingdom • Terrestrial Kingdom • Telestial Kingdom • Spirit world Ancient Greek: Elysium • Empyrean • Hesperides Celtic: Tír na nÓg • Mag Mell Germanic: Asgard • Fólkvangr • Valhalla • Neorxnawang Egyptian: Aaru Mesoamerican: Tamoanchan • Tlalocan Indo-European: Paradise • Svarga • Myth of Er • Fortunate Isles Related concepts: Nirvana • Millennialism • Utopianism • Golden age • Arcadia • The Guf • Well of Souls • Republic of Heaven • Existential planes

v • d • e Death and related topics In medicine Autopsy · Brain death · Clinical death · Euthanasia · Persistent vegetative state · Terminal illness Lists Causes of death by rate · People by cause of death · Notable deaths in 2007 · Notable deaths in 2008 Mortality Immortality · Infant mortality · Legal death · Maternal death · Mortality rate After death Afterlife · Burial · Cremation · Decomposition · Funeral · Grief · Mourning · Promession · Resomation · Séance · Customs  · Intermediate state · Last Judgment Research Cryonics · Out-of-body experience  · Near-death experience  · Lazarus phenomenon  · Near-death studies · Reincarnation research Other Murder  · Race-murder · Self-murder · Fascination with death · Martyrdom · Sacrifices (Human · Animal) · War · Personification of Death · Death and culture · Death by country

BCUZ.com FACTS Encyclopedia content is licensed under the GFDL as approved by Wikipedia.
For more information review our copyright contact and privacy policy. © 1996 - BCUZ.COM - We have all the FACTS you need about Small Business Financing, Behavior Disorder, Having Too Many Bills, Needing Cash Fast, Structured Settlements, Frequent Flier Programs, Top Steak Houses, The Mayan Indians, Norfolk and Suffolk England, Growing Longer Hair and a full reference English Encyclopedia and Spanish Encyclopedia.Privacy Policy