Afterlife

The afterlife (also referred to as life after death, the Hereafter or the Next World') is the idea that the consciousness or mind of a being continues after physical death occurs, either by natural or supernatural means. In many popular views, this continued existence often takes place in an immaterial or spiritual realm. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics.

Deceased persons are usually believed to go to a specific plane of existence after death, typically believed to be determined by a god, based on their actions during physical life. In contrast, the term afterlife refers to another life in which only the "essence" of the being is preserved, and "reincarnation" is another life on Earth or possibly within the same universe.Types of views on the afterlife

There are two fundamentally different types of views on the afterlife: empirical views based on observation and religious views based on faith.

* The first type are loosely based on observations and conjecture made by humans or instruments (for example a radio or a voice recorder, which are used in electronic voice phenomena, or EVP). These observations come from reincarnation research, near death experiences, out-of-body experiences, astral projection, EVP, mediumship, various forms of photography etc. Academic inquiry into such phenomena can be broken down roughly into two categories: psychical research generally focuses on case studies, interviews, and field reports, while parapsychology relates to strictly laboratory research.

* The second type are based on a form of faith, usually faith in the stories that are told by ancestors or faith in religious books like the Bible, the Qur'an, the Talmud, the Vedas, the Tripitaka etc. This article is mainly about this second type.

Islam
Main articles: Barzakh and Akhirah

The Islamic belief in the afterlife as stated in the Qur'an is unique; its official description is more detailed. The Islamic word used to describe Paradise is jannah and to describe Hell is jahannam. Jannah and Jahannam both have different levels. Individuals will not arrive there until after the Judgment Day, when they will be resurrected. Their level of comfort while in the grave, however, depends on their belief in The God and His teachings, as well as their deeds during this life. The levels are 7 for Jannat [31] and 2 for Jahannam.

Islam teaches that the purpose of man's creation is essentially to be kind to other human beings and to worship the Creator of the Heavens and Earth - Allah (the Arabic word used to refer to The One and Only God, who Muslims consider to be the God of Judeochristian Tradition). Islam teaches that life lived on this Earth is a test for man to determine each individual's ultimate reward or punishment in the afterlife, which is eternal and everlasting.

In the twentieth 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.[32]