Muslims call life after death akhirah, and treat belief in it as one of the things a Muslim must hold. It appears in the Qur'an almost as often as belief in Allah itself.
The present world is dunya, a word suggesting what is near and low. Muslims describe it as real and good but short, and as a test of what a person does with it.
Muslims teach that every person will be raised, judged, and sent to janna (paradise) or jahannam (hell). Where they go turns on obedience to Allah's will and on Allah's mercy.
The Qur'an sets belief and action together, promising the reward again and again to those who believe and do righteous deeds. Muslims therefore treat iman (faith) and conduct as one question rather than two.
The teaching is meant to work on present conduct. Muslims say that keeping the akhirah in view is what makes honesty easy when nobody is checking.
The Prophet is reported to have told his followers to be in this world as a stranger or a traveller passing through. Muslims quote the saying against attachment to wealth rather than against enjoying life.
Definition
Akhirah means life after death, the world that comes next.
Muslims treat belief in it as an article of faith.
It is set against dunya, the present world.
Muslims hold that this life is a test whose result is settled there.
Example
Muslim funerals are deliberately plain.
The body is wrapped in a few pieces of undyed cloth.
Rich and poor are buried in the same way.
Graves are traditionally kept low and simple.
Death, barzakh and resurrection
Muslims teach that the angel of death, Izra'il, takes the soul at an hour Allah has fixed. Those around a dying Muslim encourage them to say the shahadah (testimony of faith) if they can.
Burial follows quickly, usually within a day. The body is washed, shrouded, prayed over in the salat al-janazah (funeral prayer) and laid in the grave facing Makkah.
Between death and resurrection the soul waits in barzakh, a barrier or interval. Many Muslims teach that two angels, Munkar and Nakir, question the dead in the grave about their Lord, their religion and their prophet.
Muslims describe that waiting as already easy or already hard, so the grave is spoken of as a garden or as a pit before the judgment proper begins.
The world ends with Yawm al-qiyamah, the day of rising, when Muslims hold that Allah will raise every person bodily. The Qur'an answers doubts about this by pointing to Allah's power to have created anything at all.
Definition
Barzakh means barrier, and names the interval between death and resurrection.
Muslims hold that the soul waits there rather than passing straight to judgment.
Many teach that angels question the dead in the grave.
The waiting itself is described as comfortable or distressing.
Yawm al-din and the scales
Yawm al-din, the Day of Judgment, is also called Yawm al-qiyamah and the Last Day. Muslims hold that only Allah knows when it will come.
The Qur'an and the hadith describe signs before it, including widespread injustice and upheaval in the natural order. Muslims differ over how literally those signs should be read.
Every person is held to receive the record of their deeds, placed in the right hand or the left. Muslims teach that angels have been writing it throughout a lifetime.
Deeds are then weighed on the mizan (scales). Many Muslims also speak of as-sirat, a bridge over hell that each person must cross.
Muslims hold that nobody is judged for another person's sin, and that wrongs done to other people have to be settled with those people rather than only with Allah.
Sunni and Shi'ah Muslims both expect shafa'ah (intercession) on that day. Sunni Muslims look chiefly to the Prophet, while Shi'ah Muslims also look to Fatimah and to the imams.
Definition
Yawm al-din means the Day of Judgment.
Muslims hold that Allah will raise and judge every person on it.
Deeds are weighed and each person is handed a record.
Muslims teach that its timing is known to Allah alone.
Janna and its descriptions
Janna means garden, and is the Muslim name for paradise. The Qur'an describes gardens with rivers running beneath them, shade, fruit and pure drink.
Muslims hold that janna is eternal for those admitted to it, and that entry rests on submission to Allah's will rather than on birth, nation or wealth.
The descriptions are read in more than one way. Many Muslims take them as real bodily delights, while others, including many Sufi teachers, read them as pointers to a joy that words cannot carry.
The greatest reward is ridwan, the pleasure of Allah. Many Sunni Muslims also expect to see Allah directly, while some Shi'ah and rationalist scholars have taught that Allah cannot be seen and read the promise as nearness instead.
The Qur'an also describes janna by what is missing from it, naming the absence of idle talk, ill feeling, weariness and death.
Muslims teach that nobody enters janna by works alone. They quote the Prophet's saying that not even he would enter except through the mercy of Allah.
Definition
Janna means garden, and names paradise in Islam.
Muslims describe it as an eternal reward for obedience to Allah.
The Qur'an pictures gardens, rivers, shade and pure drink.
Muslims hold that entry rests finally on Allah's mercy.
Common Mistake
Janna and jahannam are often treated as straight payment for behaviour.
Muslims teach that no quantity of good works earns paradise by itself.
They hold that Allah admits people by mercy rather than by debt.
Muslims also read the physical descriptions in more than one way.
Jahannam and divine mercy
Jahannam is the Muslim name for hell. The Qur'an describes fire, scalding drink and regret, and Muslims read those descriptions as a warning meant to change conduct now.
Muslims hold that jahannam is for those who rejected Allah and for grave sins left unrepented. They are generally unwilling to say where any particular person has gone, since that judgment belongs to Allah.
Most Muslims teach that punishment there is not permanent for everyone. A believer who died with grave unrepented sins is held to be punished for a time and then brought out into janna.
Muslims hold that Allah's mercy outruns his anger, and they open almost every surah and almost every undertaking with Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.
Sunni and Shi'ah Muslims alike hold that the shahid (martyr) who dies for the faith enters janna without waiting. Shi'ah Muslims give this a particular place, mourning the killing of Husayn at Karbala every year at Ashura.
Belief in the akhirah shapes daily practice. Muslims pray for the dead, give sadaqah (charity) on their behalf and visit graves as a reminder of where they are going.
Active recall
What is the difference between dunya and akhirah?
What do Muslims teach happens during barzakh?
Name two things Muslims expect to happen on Yawm al-din.
Why do Muslims say that nobody enters janna by works alone?
Why do most Muslims hold that jahannam is not permanent for everyone in it?