Editing Reincarnation (section)

===Islam===
Most Islamic schools of thought reject any idea of reincarnation of living beings.<ref name="SmithHaddad2002p24"/>{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|pp=122–123}}<ref>{{cite book|author=John L. Esposito |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam  |year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-975726-8 |pages=137, 249 }}</ref> It teaches a linear concept of life, wherein a human being has only one life and upon death he or she is judged by [[God in Islam|God]], then rewarded in heaven or punished in hell.<ref name="SmithHaddad2002p24"/><ref>{{cite book|author1=Norman L. Geisler |author2=Abdul Saleeb |title=Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross |year=2002|publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=978-0-8010-6430-2 |page=109}}</ref> Islam teaches final resurrection and Judgement Day,{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|pp=122–123}} but there is no prospect for the reincarnation of a human being into a different body or being.<ref name="SmithHaddad2002p24">{{cite book|author1=Jane Idelman Smith|author2=Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad |title=The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection |year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-028880-8 |pages=23–24 }}</ref> During the early history of Islam, some of the [[Caliphate|Caliphs]] persecuted all reincarnation-believing people, such as [[Manichaeism]], to the point of extinction in Mesopotamia and Persia (modern day Iraq and Iran).{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|pp=122–123}} However, some Muslim minority sects such as those found among [[Sufism|Sufis]], and some Muslims in [[South Asia]] and [[Indonesia]] have retained their pre-Islamic Hindu and Buddhist beliefs in reincarnation.{{Sfn|McClelland|2010|pp=122–123}} For instance, historically, South Asian Isma'ilis performed chantas yearly, one of which is for seeking forgiveness of sins committed in past lives.<ref>[http://www.gnosticliberationfront.com/sufi_message_of_hazrat_inayat%20khan.htm Gnostic liberation front] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217021533/http://www.gnosticliberationfront.com/sufi_message_of_hazrat_inayat%20khan.htm |date=17 December 2008 }} The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan</ref>

====Ghulat sects====
The idea of reincarnation is accepted by a few heterodox sects, particularly of the [[Ghulat]].<ref>Wilson, Peter Lamborn, ''Scandal: Essays in Islamic Heresy'', Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia. (1988). {{ISBN|0-936756-13-6}} hardcover 0-936756-12-2 paperback</ref> [[Alawites]] hold that they were originally stars or divine lights that were cast out of heaven through disobedience and must undergo repeated reincarnation (or [[metempsychosis]]) before returning to heaven.<ref name= Peters>{{Cite book| last1 = Peters | first1 = Francis E. | author-link = Francis E. Peters | last2 = Esposito | first2 = John L. | author2-link = John L. Esposito | title = The children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 2006| isbn = 978-0-691-12769-9}}</ref> They can be reincarnated as Christians or others through sin and as animals if they become infidels.<ref name=cs>[http://countrystudies.us/syria/32.htm Alawis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304203947/http://countrystudies.us/syria/32.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}, Countrystudies.us, U.S. Library of Congress.</ref>