Purgatory

==Analogous concepts in other religions==

[[File:Comparison of Other Worlds.png|thumb|Comparison of Other-wordly places in Christianity and Islam]]

===Judaism===
In [[Judaism]], [[Gehenna|Gēʾ-Hīnnōm]] is a place of purification where, according to some traditions, most sinners spend up to a year before release.

The view of Purgatory can be found in the teaching of the Shammaites: "In the last judgment day there shall be three classes of souls: the righteous shall at once be written down for the life everlasting; the wicked, for Gehenna; but those whose virtues and sins counterbalance one another shall go down to Gehenna and float up and down until they rise purified; for of them it is said: 'I will bring the third part into the fire and refine them as silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried' [Zech. xiii. 9.]; also, 'He [the Lord] bringeth down to Sheol and bringeth up again'" (I Sam. ii. 6). The Hillelites seem to have had no purgatory; for they said: "He who is 'plenteous in mercy' [Ex. xxxiv. 6.] inclines the balance toward mercy, and consequently the intermediates do not descend into Gehenna" (Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 3; R. H. 16b; Bacher, "Ag. Tan." i. 18). Still they also speak of an intermediate state.

Regarding the time which Purgatory lasts, the accepted opinion of R. Akiba is twelve months; according to R. Johanan b. Nuri, it is only forty-nine days. Both opinions are based upon Isa. lxvi. 23–24: "From one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before Me, and they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched"; the former interpreting the words "from one new moon to another" to signify all the months of a year; the latter interpreting the words "from one Sabbath to another," in accordance with Lev. xxiii. 15–16, to signify seven weeks. During the twelve months, declares the baraita (Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 4–5; R. H. 16b), the souls of the wicked are judged, and after these twelve months are over they are consumed and transformed into ashes under the feet of the righteous (according to Mal. iii. 21 [A. V. iv. 3]), whereas the great seducers and blasphemers are to undergo eternal tortures in Gehenna without cessation (according to Isa. lxvi. 24).

The righteous, however, and, according to some, also the sinners among the people of Israel for whom Abraham intercedes because they bear the Abrahamic sign of the covenant are not harmed by the fire of Gehenna even when they are required to pass through the intermediate state of purgatory ('Er. 19b; Ḥag. 27a).<ref>"There are three categories of men; the wholly pious and the arch-sinners are not purified, but only those between these two classes" ([http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=115&letter=G Jewish Encyclopedia: Gehenna] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112193259/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=115&letter=G |date=2007-11-12 }})</ref>

[[Maimonides]] declares, in [[Jewish principles of faith#Maimonides' 13 principles of faith|his 13 principles of faith]], that the descriptions of Gehenna, as a place of punishment in rabbinic literature, were pedagocically motivated inventions to encourage respect of the [[Torah]] commandments by mankind, which had been regarded as immature.<ref name="perek-helek-d">Maimonides’ Introduction to Perek Helek, ed. and transl. by [[Maimonides Heritage Center]], pp. 3–4.</ref> Instead of being sent to Gehenna, the souls of the wicked would actually get annihilated.<ref name="perek-helek-c">Maimonides’ Introduction to Perek Helek, ed. and transl. by [[Maimonides Heritage Center]], pp. 22–23.</ref>

=== Mandaeism ===
In [[Mandaean cosmology]], the soul must go through multiple ''[[maṭarta]]'' (i.e., purgatories, watch-stations, or toll-stations) after death before finally reaching the World of Light ("heaven").<ref name="Aldihisi 2008">{{cite thesis|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1444088/|last=Aldihisi|first=Sabah|year=2008|title=The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba|type=PhD|publisher=University College London}}</ref>

The [[Mandaeism|Mandaeans]] believe in purification of souls inside of [[Leviathan]],<ref name="johannesbuch-a">[[Mandaean Book of John|Das Johannesbuch der Mandäer]], ed. and transl. by [[Mark Lidzbarski]], part 2, Gießen 1915, pp. 98–99.</ref> whom they also call [[Ur (Mandaeism)|Ur]].<ref name="jonas-gnostic">[[Hans Jonas]]: The Gnostic Religion, 3. ed., Boston 2001, p. 117.</ref>

=== Islam ===
''[[Araf (Islam)|Al-A'raf]]''  has similarities to purgatory. In this way, Al-A'raf is a more analogous concept to Christian Purgatory.

''[[Jahannam#Timeline|Jahannam]]'' refers to hellfire as well as hell as a location itself;<ref>Günther, Sebastian, Todd Lawson, and Christian Mauder. "Roads to Paradise." Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam 1 (2017): 2.</ref> <ref>Hamza, Feras. "Temporary Hellfire Punishment and the Making of Sunni Orthodoxy." Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam (2 vols.). Brill, 2017. 371-406.</ref> 

Some scholars asserted by referring to God's mercy (''r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi'') that hell will eventually end. This doctrine is referred to as ''fana' al-nar'' ('annihilation of fire'). However, this doctrine is not universally accepted in Islam and rejected by the majority.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/afterlife|title=Islamic Beliefs About the Afterlife|work=ReligionFacts|access-date=2017-05-17|language=en|archive-date=2017-05-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509161028/http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/afterlife|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Hinduism ===
While Hell in Hinduism is not typically considered to be a central feature of the religion, it does exist.<!-- See cited source from K A. Jacobsen -- pg. 386 - "hell is somewhat insignificant in Hinduism." It is noted here and elsewhere that it is not a focal point of the religion of Hindu practice. --> Hell for [[Hindus]] involves the realm of [[naraka]]. Naraka is not a permanent place for the soul after death, but a [[Loka|realm]] related to "punishment for moral impure deeds." It functions more like a prison than the Hell of, for instance, traditional Christianity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Jacobsen |first=Knut A. |date=2009 |title=Three Functions of Hell in the Hindu Traditions |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27793797 |journal=Numen |volume=56 |issue=2/3 |pages=385–400 |issn=0029-5973}}</ref> 

There are a few different views of naraka in Hinduism. One of these, discussed in the [[Mahabharata|''Mahābhārata'']], holds that one goes from naraka's punishment straight to heaven (''[[svarga]]'') in their next life, though this celestial realm is distinct from the ultimate form of salvation in Hinduism: spiritual liberation from the cycle of rebirth known as [[Moksha|''mokṣa'']]. Another view is that after naraka, one would then proceed to be reborn as an animal and just continue the cycle of rebirth.<ref name=":0" /> 

=== Zoroastrianism ===
According to [[Frashokereti|Zoroastrian eschatology]], the wicked will get purified in molten metal.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.hell-on-line.org/AboutZOR.html#The%20Fate%20of%20the%20Soul | title=About Zoroastrian Hell | author=Eileen Gardiner | date=10 February 2006 | access-date=10 October 2008 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015035745/http://www.hell-on-line.org/AboutZOR.html#The%20Fate%20of%20the%20Soul | archive-date=15 October 2008 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>