Divine Justice and the Afterlife

From an Azadi perspective, what are the divine stakes?

Does the One God punish those who knowingly shun His teachings? Those who unknowingly shun His teachings?

What happens to faithful followers when they die? What happens to unfaithful followers? Non-believers?

Though obviously relevant to everyone's life, these topics seem especially germane under the current circumstances. ;)

From the tiny little snippet on the Sirdabi Caliphate page:

"No one claims complete certainty as to what happens when a person passes away, but it is generally believed that the souls of the deceased travel to the Otherland and take up residence in one or another of its many levels. The souls of virtuous Azadi are said to go to the Eternal Sirdab that lies close to the heart of existence and God. Unbelievers and the unvirtuous have their own, separate realms within the Otherland. The most virtuous of all -- holy women and men, and those who have led truly exemplary lives or died for faith and community -- enter in upon the innermost core of the Dream and dwell with the God Itself. Many mystics believe that the death of one sufficiently enlightened will allow one to merge with the true substance of Dream and Dreamer and literally dwell within the divine."

So essentially, good Azadi are rewarded by going to the part of the Otherland closest to the One God. It is thought that Azadi who haven't been quite so virtuous still are given the chance to move nearer to God even in death, but they must make their way through the various regions or levels of the Otherland to get there, overcoming various trials along the way. The worse an Azadi has behaved in life, the greater the difficulties they must overcome in the Otherland. Those who have lived the worst lives of all must suffer the most in the Otherland, passing through countless realms of torment or simply being set loose to drift, lost or suffering, forever. It is generally believed, however, that even the most corrupted souls can eventually be purified, according to the mercy of Annur. Some believe that helpers in the form of angels may aid in guiding worthy souls through the Otherland, and in refining the harmony within themselves to the point where they may find and enter the Eternal Sirdab.

Virtuous nonbelievers cannot, it is thought, enter the Eternal Sirdab, but many Azadi believe that, again through the mercy of God, such people may find their own reasonably rewarding afterlives in other parts of the Otherland. Other Azadi believe that those who have had the chance to know the Perfected Song and rejected it are destined for torment as great as those who have lived wickedly, regardless of how moral their lives were otherwise. But there is no solid consensus on this, and even those who believe in torment for willful unbelievers feel that Annur may be merciful enough to forgive them and eventually allow them an afterlife of peace -- though again, not one nearest to the God Itself.

Kalentians and Yehani have similiar traditions, likewise believing that virtuous individuals will pass into the Otherland and be given an eternal life in a elysium close to or in the direct presence of the God.

Elestaarians believe that when a soul arrives in the Otherland, it must pass across a vast body of water by means of a series of stepping stones, and that each stone they set foot upon will reflect like some dim mirror an important event or decision in their life, where they had to make a choice between good and evil. The balance between good and evil choices will determine the destination at which they arrive upon the other side of the water, which in turn may be nearer or further from the God of Good Thought. This belief has influenced Azadi and Kalentism as well, such that some consider this also part of the journey of their own particular faith. Elestaarians tend to focus very strongly on the purifying aspects of passing through the Otherland, but they also have a great dread of straying or being hurled into the Land That is Not, the dark heart of the Otherland where truth becomes obscured and strange torments abound. However, if a believer makes their way to the true heart of the Dream, they will meet the God of Good Thought there and may become as one of Its most powerful helpers, beings of pure light and mind who assist the God in fighting against evil and darkness. Other souls are allowed to slumber, either for a short while until they too are called to help the God, or until the great victory of light over darkness is achieved and the material world is perfected, at which time all souls are resurrected into the now-perfect world.

Nirzalian beliefs tend to differ more widely, according to prevalent cultural beliefs in the different regions of Idiri. Again, most believe that souls pass into the Otherland upon death, but it is not agreed upon exactly where those souls then go. Nirzali worshipers within Azadi lands tend to share similar beliefs in the afterlife and envision the faithful arriving in an eternal paradise. But elsewhere in Idiri it may be believed that souls simply travel to the Slumberland, where they continue to have some attachment to the world of the living in the form of ancestral spirits; or that the Otherland simply serves as a pathway to rebirth and a new life.

Ghosts are widely believed in across all religions, and it is thought that becoming a restless spirit may be the fate of people who die with dissonance in their souls. Such dissonance would chiefly be caused by a violent, traumatic, or otherwise simply sudden and unexpected death. When an Azadi begins to feel their death may come soon, they often spent time in meditation and recitation of the Perfected Song, sometimes within a sirdab, in order to bring the soul to a more harmonious state. Ghosts reside within the Slumberland, the part of the Otherland closest to the mortal realm, and may pass restlessly across the border between the land of the dead and the living.

Very helpful, thanks!