In spite of the heuristic value of V. Y. Mudimbes distinction between myth and history in Africa, and by extension the cohesion of oral and written narratives,10 the notion that myth is nonrational and unscientific while history is critical and rational is false. To understand Africans, one must understand the African religion. Gradually, many Africans began to buy the narrative. nanseezy@gmail.com Teaching Assistant, Department of History University of Cape Coast, Ghana "The essence of neo-colonialism is that the State which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward . The scope of the study is 1877-when Christianity was first introduced in Uganda to 1962 when Uganda got her independence; the period when Christian missionaries lost influence together with the colonial rulers. those misconceptions and misrepresentations of the facts pre sented by Eurocent . Most importantly, the rite itself should not be condemned together with circumcision or female genital mutilation. I ran into a co-resident, a famous Swiss author. Loosely, it encompasses all African beliefs and practices that are considered religious but neither Christian nor Islamic. Paperback. This statement isnt true. The oral nature of these traditions allows for a great deal of adaptability and variation within and between indigenous African religions. religions are considered: African Traditional Religions (ATRs) especially that which is found in sub-Saharan Africa, and Christianity, sometimes referred to under the umbrella of faith-based communities. That is why we have freewill, and regardless of whether we choose to acknowledge that a living God exists or not, and regardless of how we choose to worship Him, directly or through deities, we will all be eventually accountable. Apart from a few instances in West Africa, where women actually ruled as kings, the designation queen was not often used in isolation from the position itself (which was defined in male terms). So, while Africans easily adopt Western traditions, will the West also be willing to adopt African traditions? Responding to this erasure of African indigenous religion as a productive and generative practice, scholars rallied in opposition. It is the foundation on which the morals of pre-colonial Africa were built. Here are some 10 myths about Africa and Africans that are either an exaggeration of the fact or based on misguided information. Indigenous African religions are not based on conversion like Islam and Christianity. Giving opportunity to stereotypes like Africa are poor and Africa is corrupt. .sqs-featured-posts-gallery .title-desc-wrapper .view-post Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. Religion occupies a reasonable space in the life of the traditional African/Igbo people. ao Ajima OM, Ubana EU (2018) The Concept . When addressing religion in Africa, scholars often speak of a triple heritage, that is the triple legacy of indigenous religion, Islam, and Christianity that are often found side by side in many African societies. African Traditional Religion is the traditional religion of the African people before the coming of Islam and Christianity. Another generalization about Africa is that they are all corrupt. 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. It is also the most diversified continent in the world. Majority of countries on the continent are . Women are revered in African traditions as essential to the cosmic balance of the world. c. medicine men and women. Another false impression often given about African religions is that women do not play any central or leadership roles in the performance of African religious traditions. Africa is the target of western stereotypes. In my view, these common misconceptions are due to ill representation of the African culture. This view wasnt held in many other tribes in Nigeria. The misconception about African religion Man generally is given to misconception especially in the midst of conflicting ideas or contending issues. In modern-day Christianity, Pentecostalism has become a major force to reckon with, indicating a sharp growth by adapting to local [] This is far from the truth. Africans engaged Western enlightenment and religious traditions in serious dialogue and conversation, and responded by creating and interpreting their own modernity. Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. Although it is difficult to generalize about African traditional cosmology and worldviews, a common denominator among them is a three-tiered model in which the human world exists sandwiched between the sky and the earth (including the underworld)a schema that is not unique to Africa but is found in many of the worlds religious systems as well. Our parting a week later was hard for him! This lack of knowledge as well as understanding of essentials has led to burgeoning of myths on African . Instead, the old and the new were syncretized, producing some unique . With the negative image of the, A lot of people seize the chance of the holiday season to organize their weddings. We must be careful not to give the impression that African religious lives are compartmentalized into what is often called the triple heritage (Islam, Christianity, and African traditional religion). An article by BBC explains why Nigeria is a global leader in the Bitcoin trade. Robert N. Bellah, Civil Religion in America,, Jacob K. Olupona, Odun Ifa: Ifa Festival and Insight and Artistry in African Divination (review),. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL Symbolic and mythic narratives may exist side by side with narratives of legends in history that bear similar characteristics with motifs and events of creation or coming to birth. . Religious contexts are shaped and determined by the identity of these religions. The myths held by the west about Africa are mostly founded on misinformation. Temperature varies from one country to another depending on the climate type. This article is an edited version of remarks he delivered for the annual Surjit Singh Lecture in Comparative Religious Thought and Culture at the Graduate Theological Union on April28, 2020. Ceremonies of naming, rites of passage, death, and other calendrical rites embody, enact, and reinforce the sacred values communicated in myths. Photo: Pinterest. Truly opening my eyes on traditions, cultures and rituals that I did not know existed. That is the ultimate and absolute being who originated and gives meaning to all existence.9 III. Required fields are marked *, Hello my question is how can I find a list of African countries that offers citizenship. Little wonder John Mbiti, a famous African theologian said, Wherever the African is, there is his religion. 3. In these times of intense turmoil, people of African descent are facing serious threats and challenges to their well-being. Advocating for civil religion in a religiously pluralistic society does not require the erasure of conventional religious traditions. The African religion was condemned by the Early European scholars, travelers, investigators and missionaries. This creates fear and panic resulting in misleading assumptions about Africa. The much-cited dictum by the doyen of African religious studies, the recently deceased John Mbiti, that Africans are notoriously religious still holds true (though I prefer to use the word deeply).1 While, officially, statistics suggest that African Christians and Muslims constitute about 80 percent of the total population, and African indigenous religion constitutes about 20 percent, these statistics do not reflect the truth of the African situation. Today, several myths are mixed with facts in describing African traditional religion. There are rituals that celebrate the passage of time and mark time as it passes for the people, orienting them to the seasonal changes, such as the new yam festival and celebration of the old season and beginning of a new one. Thank you for this interesting essay on African religion. These can be found all over the Americas and Europe. Though many Africans have converted to Islam and Christianity, traditional religions still inform the social, economic, and political life in African societies. In African traditional religions guidance is provided through myths, which are handed down orally. d. politics, everyday life. Fact: Slavery is older than the first human records. In the primordial era, various forms of ethnic indigenous religions spread across the African continent, providing cohesive foundations of nations, peoples, and religious worldviews. The diviner, therefore, is also a counselor, psychologist, medicine man or woman, and the spiritual guardian of villages and towns. Because of this, rituals were done to prevent the birth of twins which the people believed to be an anomaly. The problem is, this number is often collated for the whole of Africa, instead of each country of Africa. Hence, the aforementioned rituals are the entry point not only for an understanding of African tradition and religions but also for the visible manifestations and essence of African religious traditions. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Each of these has its peculiar characteristics. They tend to propagate peaceful coexistence, and they promote good relations with members of other religious traditions that surround them. African religions should be studied on their own terms, examined through their own frames rather than set in a Judeo-Christian framework. Absolute as Supreme, infinite and everlasting mind. According to the Global peace index, Malaysia, Botswana, and Ghana are among the top 50 most peaceful countries, beating the United Kingdom and the United States that were ranked 45 and 128 respectively. African Traditional Religion: A Definition (1973), Omosade Awolalu in Yoruba Belief and Sacrificial Rites and John Mbiti in The Concept of God in Africa (1970) are a few examples of postcolonial scholars of religion who have resisted and denounced colonial idea that Africans do not know God. It arose through a process of syncretism between several traditional religions of West and Central Africa and Roman Catholicism.There is no central authority in control of the religion and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Vodouists, Vodouisants, or Serviteurs. 12. The stories of violence, kidnapping, religious and political war in Africa are so common. With exception of those who take history classes, the majority of young Africans will fail to elaborately tell the story of their origin. Kofi Johnson Fayetteville State University kjohnson@uncfsu.edu. And why should our work in critical theory not begin from indigenous hermeneutics before we invoke Martin Heidegger, Michel Foucault, or Jrgen Habermas as platforms for interpreting our own worldview and society? The Mursi religion is classified as Animism. Representation matters, and as scholars we have a responsibility to advocate for religions in their contexts. Yes, poverty is an issue in Africa. African Vibes is a one-stop global platform that connects the African diaspora to opportunities for growth, development, and social impact in Africa. Scholarship has since proved, however, that the tenacity of indigenous religion is evident in all spheres of African life. Voodoo, however, is a dynamic religion with no standardized dogma. As in the Muslim pilgrimage, it is a solemn journey to the hilltop. those misconceptions and misrepresentations of the facts presented by Eurocentric scholars. Jul 26, 2007 #1. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the practice, it is important to note that not all female initiations involve circumcision, and that the rituals associated with initiation are crucial to ensuring that an individuals social position is affirmed by both family and community. Information was passed down mostly by oral communication in the form of folk tales. Introduction. Wherever the African is, there is his religion: he carries it to the fields where he is sowing seeds or harvesting a new crop; he takes it with him to the beer party or to attend a funeral ceremony;. To each his own. It is practiced around the world but there is no accurate count of how many people are Voodooists. 3. For many Africans, religion is a way of life that can never be separated from the public sphere, but instead informs everything in traditional African society, including politics, art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. Advertisement. . Thank you. During the colonial era, most of these traditional believes became a target of the colonial religion. Investors are moving to take advantage of the African market. Your email address will not be published. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. This misconception has, in some scholars, matured into prejudice and resilient skepticism about the African's ability to grasp the concept of God. But, the continent of Africa is far from poor. The reason for this is quite simply the misunderstanding of the relevance and foundation of the African tradition. Without relevant knowledge, stereotypes are unavoidable. Its almost as if pre-colonial Africa never existed. One reason that might account for the gap in African history is the unavailability of any written document. with Ibramic faiths tends to deprive the African Traditional Religion its true status as an independent religion . They often dictate when the community honors a particular divinity or observes particular taboos. These stages characterized European perceptions of human evolution. The most difficult task I face in characterizing African indigenous spiritual traditions is accounting for their diversity and complexity. African traditional medicine (ATM) has been used by African populations for the treatment of diseases long before the advent of orthodox medicine and continues to carry a part of the burden of health for the majority of the population. Divination enables us to recognize how indigenous traditions have a foundation upon which knowledge and knowledge production is developed. Based on the understanding that even in 21 st century Africa, religion plays a vital role in gender construction, for effective Sexuality is To the outside world, however, far too much of . African religions are, therefore, a praxis, and this is where the focus of study should mostly be directed. 3. I suggest that, at the conceptual and theoretical levels, we begin to take this interpretive approach seriously. The Hausa man is different from the Igbo man who is also different from the Yoruba man. Such an approach should endeavor to provide not only an awareness of sociocultural contexts but also to narrate the historical dimensions of these traditions. Correcting Misconceptions About African Traditional Religions. Among its one billion inhabitants, more than 1,000 languages are spoken, and there is a massive variety of ethnic religions. Another misbelief about Africa is that all Africans are the same. Long before the arrival of Christianity and Islam, Africans practiced African traditional religion (ATR). In many African countries a range of beliefs and attitudes underpin these alternative explanations. This article analyses the legal processes of recognising customary and religious (Muslim) marriages in South Africa's constitutional democracy. South Africa, as a member state of the World Health Organisation, has been set on the path of institutionalising African traditional medicine. Africa is poor. Check Out Marriage Customs From 10 African Tribes, 15 Tribes With Surprising Bridal Traditions In Africa, 12 Surprising African Countries That Allow Dual Citizenship By Marriage, Can Foreigners Buy Land In Ghana? African traditional religion refers to the indigenousor autochthonousreligions of the African people. Such dismissal has been based on the misconception and assumption that indigenous Bapedi . Compared to most patriarchal traditions, where womens participation and roles are curtailed, African religions attitude toward gender inclusion is unique. It all depends on the time of the year. 5.3.2 Intolerance and misconceptions about African traditional religion and Culture As already alluded, the stories told in Europe about Africa, the notion of racial and cultural superiority, and the notion of salvation, led to the western missionaries having a negative attitude toward African traditional religion and culture. In his interview with the New York Times, the theologian said, The days are over when we will be carbon copies of European Christians, Europe and America westernized Christianity. In this postcolonial period, it has come to be established that there is what we may call . In Africa, dance is a means of marking life experiences, encouraging abundant crops, honoring kings and queens, celebrating weddings, marking rites of passage, and other ceremonial occasions.Dance is also done purely for enjoyment. Even in areas of Zimbabwe with easy access to Western-type delivery care, the majority of women are cared for and delivered by traditional birth attendants who are members of their extended family. African countries are also top the list of the 2021 WHO health care index. Connecting With Your Ancestors (African Spirituality Beliefs and Practices) Monique Joiner Siedlak. Traditional African religions are less of faith traditions and more of lived traditions. Indeed indigenous African religions have provided the blueprint for robust conversations and thinking about community relations, interfaith dialogue, civil society, and civil religion. These traditions have been passed from one generation to the next. Mostly, the temperatures of these zones vary between the extremes (Either very hot or very cold). Introduction: Some Standard Misconceptions There have been widespread misconceptions about the African Traditional Religion (hereinafter ATR). Manage Settings African religions have also become a major attraction for those in the diaspora who travel to Africa on pilgrimages because of the global reach of these traditions. Therefore for these people, twins were treasures. have recognized the important ways in which "African" and "religion" are western constructs involving both misconceptions and changing perceptions, especially concerning religion (Ray:2000). They held the view that twins were a symbol of excessive fertility which is a characteristic of animals. Hence the misguided notion that Africans are corrupt. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. The much-cited dictum by the doyen of African religious studies, the recently deceased John Mbiti, that "Africans are notoriously religious" still holds true (though I prefer to use the word "deeply"). 5. Many people have bought into the narrative of African traditional religious beliefs as something untrue and based on delusions, but they have also forgotten that all religions have the same thing in common. He clarifies that there is a close relationship between all things with one reality, and no distinction between physical and spiritual, adding that meaning in life is derived from unity. Africa is not homogenous. On the continent early modernizers assumed that African religion was part of the problem of the antimodernity project and that uprooting African indigenous religion would auger well for the modern African state. The terms 'traditional' and 'religion' (in its singular form) have each been targets of criticism. One of these errors is description of African Religion as African traditional religion' which connote a derogatory epithets: paganism, idolatry, primitive religion, animism, fetishism polytheism, etc (Omoregbe, 1993). During the era of Western religious and cultural encounters in Yorubaland, some children were named Oguntoyibo, signifying Ogun (god of war and iron) is as powerful as the European god. Some children received names such as Ifatoyinbo, Ifa is as powerful as the white mans god. Such names and concepts illustrate the force and creative resistance of indigenous thought and its ability to engage Western modernity in rigorous debate. But, the bad eggs seem to get more attention. Although many African languages do not have a word for religion as such, it nevertheless accompanies the individual from long before his birth to long after his physical death. Elders, priests, and priestesses have served as guardians of the sacred traditions. . A 1685 law, for instance, prohibited the practice of African religions, and required all masters to Christianize their slaves within eight days of their arrival in Haiti. 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