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Islam

A strictly monotheistic religion, Islam was established in 622 CE by the prophet Mohammed. Worshipping a just, all powerful, yet merciful Allah, Muslims believe that sinners and non-believers alike will be condemned to eternal hell after death. They also believe that by repenting and submitting wholly to God, their sins will be forgiven and they may be allowed into Paradise. The Koran (Islamic scriptures) features well developed descriptions of heaven and hell.

Essential to the Islamic faith is the understanding that humans are created in God's image, and made up of a body and spiritual breath. The outer shell of the body originated from clay, while the spiritual center is able to communicate with God. This parallels the Islamic vision of the Islamic world as having a luminous center imbued with God's purity, and an outer layer of darkness. This theme of opposing forces of light and dark are found in other, older religions, notably Zoroastrianism.

Upon death, a Muslim is suspended in barzakh, a form of interworld located near the Islamic world's light filled center. It is in this state that the deceased's soul is freed from the constraints of its earthly body and comes to truly know itself. The interworld is a place where the deceased prepare for the day of resurrection, when souls will be reunited their bodies and, depending upon how their lives are judged, spend eternity in paradise or hell.

Based on the Hadith (the sayings of Mohammed), Muslims believe that a believer sent to Hell might be later forgiven of his sins by God and removed. There is also a place in the afterlife to which souls may spend eternity: al-A'raf, a place for those who do not deserve to be condemned to Hell but are not sufficiently righteous to be permitted into Paradise.

Within the Islamic faith, Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims, two prominent sects, hold differing views with respect to the journey on which the soul of a deceased believer will embark, its judgment and ultimate fate.