Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all feature ideas about heaven, hell, and afterlife, and these concepts have evolved over time within these religions. This work supplies a detailed and coherent understanding of the broad scope of spiritual thinking in the last 3,000 years within the Abrahamic traditions.

Series Editor's Foreword by J. Harold Ellens xi Introduction by J. Harold Ellens xv chapter 1 Ontological Expansion of Life and Its Implications: Islam 1 Sayyed Mohsen Fatemi chapter 2 Al-Ghayb wa al-'Akhirah: Heaven, Hell, and Eternity in the Qur'an 9 Grant R. Shafer chapter 3 Muslim Attitudes toward Near-Death Experiences, Death, and the Afterlife 41 Akbar Husain, Sabira Khan, Stanley Krippner, Cheryl Fracasso, Harris Friedman chapter 4 The Underworld in Islam Compared with Jewish and Christian Traditions 53 J. Harold Ellens chapter 5 Ideas of Apocalyptic Eschatology in Islam 57 J. Harold Ellens chapter 6 Philosophers and the Afterlife: Maimonides, Avicenna (Ibn Sinna), and Averroes (Ibn Ro/Ushd): Perspectives on the Afterlife in Medieval Islamic and Jewish Philosophy 65 John T. Greene chapter 7 Our Reach for Eternity, Now and Hereafter, Secular and Sacred 81 Richard K. Fenn chapter 8 Death, Afterlife, and Ancestors in Africa 109 Glenna S. Jackson, Jean Ntahoturi, Mbengu David Nyiawung chapter 9 Meaning and Destiny: Life and Afterlife of the Aborigines of Australia 135 Mary Wittbold chapter 10 Historic and Contemporary American Perspectives on Aspects of Our Afterlife 149 J. Harold Ellens chapter 11 Global Reflections on Heaven, Hell, and Afterlife in the Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Western Worlds (with a Note on Buddhism) 157 John T. Greene Conclusion by J. Harold Ellens 185 Excursus: Commemoration of Alan F. Segal: A Critical Digest of His Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in Western Religions 187 J. Harold Ellens Author Biographies 205 Advisory Board 217 Index 219

Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all feature ideas about heaven, hell, and afterlife, and these concepts have evolved over time within these religions. This work supplies a detailed and coherent understanding of the broad scope of spiritual thinking in the last 3,000 years within the Abrahamic traditions.