How do different religions view the afterlife?

Religious beliefs about the afterlife vary widely across different cultures and faiths. In general, most religions posit the existence of some form of afterlife, which may be thought of as a continuation of the soul or spirit after death. In some cases, the afterlife is viewed as a realm of judgment, where the actions of a person's life are evaluated and rewarded or punished accordingly.

In Christianity, for example, the afterlife is divided into two main categories: heaven, a place of eternal bliss in the presence of God, and hell, a place of eternal punishment for those who have rejected God. In Hinduism, on the other hand, the afterlife is thought of as a process of reincarnation, in which the soul is reborn into a new body based on the actions of the previous life.

In Islam, the afterlife is divided into two stages: a temporary realm of the grave, followed by the final judgment, where the soul is judged and either rewarded with paradise or punished with hellfire. Buddhism teaches that the ultimate goal of human existence is to escape the cycle of reincarnation and achieve enlightenment, which leads to a state of spiritual liberation known as Nirvana.