al-Ākhira is interpreted in five ways:
1. al-Ākhira is used in the sense of the Resurrection / Rising, as in the following verses:
Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter (that is, in the resurrection after death on the Day of Resurrection) are deviating from the path. (al-Muʾminūn 23:74)
Surely, to Us belong the Hereafter and the First (that is, the world and the Hereafter [the beginning and the end]). (al-Layl 92:13)
There are many similar statements.
2. By al-Ākhira, Paradise in particular is meant, as in the following verses:
And they had already known that whoever purchased it would not have in the Hereafter any share (that is, any portion from Paradise). (al-Baqara 2:102)
There is another similar statement in the same surah:
But the Hereafter with your Lord is for the muttaqūn (those who have taqwa, God-consciousness). (al-Zukhruf 43:35)
That home of the Hereafter (that is, Paradise)—We assign it to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the earth. (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:83)
He will have no share in the Hereafter (that is, in Paradise). (al-Shūrā 42:20)
3. By al-Ākhira, Hell in particular is meant, as in the following verse:
Who fears the Hereafter (that is, the punishment of Hell) and hopes for the mercy of his Lord... (al-Zumar 39:9)
4. By al-Ākhira, the grave is meant, as in the following verse:
Allah keeps firm those who have believed, with the firm word, in worldly life and in the Hereafter (that is, at the time when Munkar and Nakir will question them in the grave). (Ibrāhīm 14:27)
5. al-Ākhira means 'last' [final, ultimate], as in the following verses:
We have not heard of this in the last community (that is, in the last community [religion]: the community of Jesus—which was the last of the communities before the Prophet (peace be upon him)). (Ṣād 38:7)
Then, when the promise of the Hereafter (that is, the time of the last one: the time of the second of the two punishments promised to them) came... (al-Isrāʾ 17:7)