page_title: Afterlife
section_title: Islam
hierarchical_section_title: Afterlife / Abrahamic religions / Islam
caption_attribution_description: English: An imagining of Idris visiting Heaven and Hell from an illuminated manuscript version of Stories of the Prophets.
context_page_description: The afterlife is an existence some believe that the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to have after the death of their physical body. According to various ideas about the afterlife, the essential aspect of the individual that lives on after death may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, of an individual, which carries with it and may confer personal identity or, on the contrary nirvana. Belief in an afterlife is in contrast to the belief in oblivion after death.
  In some views, this continued existence often takes place in a spiritual realm, and in other popular views, the individual may be reborn into this world and begin the life cycle over again, likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or otherworld. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics.
context_section_description: The Islamic belief in the afterlife as stated in the Quran is descriptive. The Arabic word for Paradise is Jannah and Hell is Jahannam. Their level of comfort while in the grave (according to some commentators) depends wholly on their level of iman or faith in the one almighty creator or supreme being (God or Allah). In order for one to achieve proper, firm and healthy iman one must practice righteous deeds or else his level of iman chokes and shrinks and eventually can wither away if one does not practice Islam long enough, hence the depth of practicing Islam is good deeds. One may also acquire tasbih and recite the names of Allah in such manner as Subahann Allah or "Glory be to Allah" over and over again to acquire good deeds, all for the cause to reach absolute beliefe to elevate the spiritual entity that will find its creator (source). This ultimate goal is recited in one of the most prominent verses in Quraan, the first Sura in the Quraan, named Alfateha in the 5th verse "Ehdina al serata al mostaqeem" meaning "guide us to the straight path", and the following verses follows describing this path as "The way of those on whom you have bestowed your grace, not the way of those who earned your anger, nor of those who went astray".
  In the Quran, Allah gives warning about grievous punishment to those who do not believe in the afterlife (Akhirah), and admonishes mankind that Hell is prepared for those who deny the meeting with god.
  Islam teaches that the purpose of Man's entire creation is to worship God alone, which includes being kind to other human beings and life, including animals, and to trees, by not oppressing them. Islam teaches that the life we live on Earth is nothing but a test for us and to determine each individual's ultimate abode, be it Hell or Paradise in the afterlife, which is eternal and everlasting.
  Jannah and Jahannam both have different levels. Jannah has eight gates and seven levels. The higher the level the better it is and the happier you are. Jahannam possess 7 deep terrible layers. The lower the layer the worse it is. Individuals will arrive at both everlasting places during Judgment Day, which commences after the Angel Israfil blows the trumpet the second time. Islam teaches the continued existence of the soul and a transformed physical existence after death. Muslims believe there will be a day of judgment when all humans will be judged by God and assigned between the eternal destinations of Paradise and Hell.
  In the 20th century, discussions about the afterlife address the interconnection between human action and divine judgment, the need for moral rectitude, and the eternal consequences of human action in this life and world.
  A central doctrine of the Quran is the Last Day, on which the world will come to an end and God will raise all people and jinn from the dead to be judged. The Last Day is also called the Day of Standing Up, Day of Separation, Day of Reckoning, Day of Awakening, Day of Judgment, The Encompassing Day or The Hour.
  Until the Day of Judgment, deceased souls remain in their graves awaiting the resurrection. However, they begin to feel immediately a taste of their destiny to come. Those bound for hell will suffer in their graves, while those bound for heaven will be in peace until that time.
  The resurrection that will take place on the Last Day is physical, and is explained by suggesting that God will re-create the decayed body (17:100: "Could they not see that God who created the heavens and the earth is able to create the like of them?").
  On the Last Day, resurrected humans and jinn will be judged by God according to their deeds. One's eternal destination depends on balance of good to bad deeds in life. They are either granted admission to Paradise, where they will enjoy spiritual and physical pleasures forever, or condemned to Hell to suffer spiritual and physical torment for eternity. The day of judgment is described as passing over Hell on a narrow bridge (as thin as human hair and sharper than a razor) in order to enter Paradise. Those who fall, weighted by their bad deed
caption: The Islamic prophet Idris is shown the afterlife places by an angel. In hell, the inmates are tormented by a demon.
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