RCR 121

INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION

COURSE OUTLINE
COMPILED BY SAGACIOUS (YOUR FATHER)
1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN TRADITIONAL
RELIGION
2. THE MEANING OF AFREL
3. EARLIER INVESTIGATORS AND WRITERS OF AFREL
4. EVALUATION OF THEIR APPROACH AND WRITINGS
(METHODOLOGY OF STUDY, PURPOSE OF STUDY)
5. SOURCES
6. MODERN WRITERS AND THEIR APPROACH (AFRICANS AND
EUROPEANS)

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN RELIGION (AFREL)

The word abounds with different religions. It is a difficult task if not
impossible to determine the number of these different religions. A few among the
major ones are Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism,
Confucianism and African Religion (AFREL).
It is universally recognized that religion is inescapable as it permeates, the
whole of human life and life’s endeavors. Thus is as a result of man’s attempt to
give expression to the look between himself and the ultimate reality or realities,
Supreme Being or God.
Every nation or race has gone through one form of religious development or
another through the ages, each nation or race has interpreted religious experience
according to his spiritual discernment and cultural background.
The adherence of followers of African Religions who are also known as
AFRELIST believed that AFREL is a reveled religion. These basis for this claim
has been that the religion came into existence like many other religions through
human experience of the mystery of the universe from the timeless pre history, the
forbearers of African peoples saw the mystery of the universe, pondered over it, put
questions before themselves as to the author of and the brain behind this history,
and searched for answers to this questions and came to the conclusion that this
mystery must be a supernatural power, a living Being who or dared, controlled and
maintained the universe. Such a process can be regarded as human experience.
Africans then reflected on their experience. In a sense they realized that by their
association with these mysterious realities, they will achieve a sense of security in
the world, the direct result of Africans awareness of a living power and their
reaction to this birth of African Religion.
African Religion (AFREL) is the traditional religion of the Africans. It is
aboriginal to the Africans, in other words, it evolved in African not preached to the
Africans and they were not convinced into it. It has being in existence since time
immemorial and is still being adhered to today by many Africans. The believes and
practices of the Religion have being handed down from generation to generations of
Africans. The religion which originated in a rudimentary form, developed to higher
level of development long before the advent of Islam and Christianity in Africa.
Like Hinduism, AFREL has stood the test of time. It has survived attempt of
extermination by other religion today. Both AFREL and many of the other religions
have influenced one another and this is as a result of acculturation. Africans are
extremely religious; the key note of their life is their religion. AFREL permits every
aspect of the Africans life and endeavors. From the cradle to the grave, no matter
his level of education and sophistication, AFREL remains paramount to an African.
His culture, social and moral behavior are influenced by his religious
believers and practices. Religion is so woven into the cultural fabrics of the African
life that he has been variously described as “Notoriously Religious” or “incurably
religious”. God is believed to be in control of the universe all are “from him, by
him, for him and responsible to him”. At every stage of life, such as birth, Adult
hood, marriage, Death, starting a project, going on a journey, for all these likes, the
Supreme Being is consulted. Africans express their religious beliefs and practices in
different ways such as through songs, Myth, proverbs, folktales, adages etc.
MEANING OF AFRICAN RELIGION
AFREL is the religious believes and practices of the Africans. It is the
indigenous religion of the Africans. AFREL is also referred to as African
Traditional Religion (ATR) as earlier explained; the religion is traditional because it
is aboriginal to the Africans. Today’s modern scholars of AFREL however prefer
the use of African Religion with the nomenclature, AFREL. In the light manner the
followers of the religion are called AFRELIST. The religion is bounded to be
social and cultural life of African people. Its history is also the history of African
peoples in their tribal or ethical distribution. AFREL as a religion has no funder for
it, like Christianity, Judaism, Confucianism and Zorotasralism, all of these bear the
name of their founders or prophet as it is with Islam. AFREL has no written
literature, sacred scriptures or creedal form. As earlier observed, the religion is the
product of forbearers experience and responses. Their observation, reflections and
formulations, such religious beliefs and practices are thought orally to their
descendants who in turn pass same to prosperity.
The religion is therefore based essentially on Oral tradition. But today
scholars of the religion have identified some objects through which information
about the religion could be gathered. It is as this note that scholars of AFREL are
said to be of two parts and these are the Oral and Non Oral Sources.
EARLIER INVESTIGATORS AND WRITERS
The study of African Religion is fairly new. Not long ago, many western
scholars doubted whether there was any African religion, just as some of them
quarried whether there was African History. This is as a result of the fact that,
Africans have no written records, (especially in the modern sense of it) of their past,
therefore, they could not afford to document their believes and practices as we have
in Christianity and Islam. Systematic and critical studies of the religious believes of
the people of Africa did not begin until between and after the Second World War
The growth of the science and anfropology and the comparative study of religion
aroused the interest of scholars in African religion.
 Unfortunately, those who were first opportune to study African Religion
were not Africans; they were white colonial Masters, travelers and Missionaries,
whose primary job in Africa was not to study Religion. Beside the aforementioned
ones, are this who based their study of the religion on mean hearsay, this group of
people neither came to Africa nor opportune to see Africans in their own homeland.
None the less, reference is still being made to them as earlier investigators and a
writer as far as African religion is concerned. It is in the length of this that E.
BOLAJI IDOWU has said that there are two complementary categories of
investigators and writers who are:
1. The travelers who take back among other things, report on the religions of the
foreign countries of their travels. The travelers tell their take from strange land
with characteristics exaggeration or distortion, simply because their interest is
little more than that of collectors of curious to boost their own image as travelers
and for the entertainment of their people whenever they get back home. They are
more often than not very ill equipped for the study of religion and how
frequently have travelers’ tales found their ways (as fact) into writings which
claim to be scholarly works. Visitors from the western world have come briefly
to this or that locality in Africa or have being jet-propelled through the continent
only immediately after words to constitute themselves competent authorities on
the way and wisdom of the whole African confidently given lectures of writings
books and dishing out information. As a matter of fact, this people come with
preconceived ideas and wrote down what they thought AFREL should be.
2. Their stay at home investigators deals solely on materials (which may include
verbal entertainment supplied by the travelers or any literature that they can find
on the subject of their investigation.
They did not set eyes on the people about whom they claimed to have known a
great deal and on whom they wrote volumes. Since the stay at home
investigators, writers, or observers, have never being out in the strange land
themselves, they have little means of checking the accuracy or other of the
materials they are using. E Bolaji Idowu in one of his experiences concerning
this set of investigators says;
“I once visited the faculty of African Studies headed by an (Eminent)
Professor in a University situated in a European capital. During my
discussion with the staff, I asked whether any of them has ever done any
field work in Africa and whether currently the faculty had any field
workers in Africa, the answer was that no member of the staff has ever
done any field work in Africa and that the faculty had never had and did
not have any field workers in Africa”
All the information they collected from books on African, a few of which
or extracts from a few of which, had been translated into their own language.
The un-scholarship collaboration between the travelers and stay at home
investigators eventually produces pronouncement which are unfortunately taken
by many people all over the world as nothing but the whole truth and once such
pronouncement are made and accepted, it becomes next to impossible to correct
the, mischief. These has since remained one of the biggest challenge to modern
scholars of AFREL who are doing everything humanly possible to put the
wrongs right.
On the final note however, we must reckon with the impact of the earlier
investigators for the wealth of information they offered us as regards African
Believes and practices. As we have pointed out, Africans themselves did not
write anything about their religion, much of which we know today about
AFREL comes down to us through the efforts of the earlier investigators.

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED IN THE STUDY

The scholars of AFREL have identified very many difficulties
encountered in the study of the religion especially by the earlier investigators
and writers. These difficulties include such as GEOGRAPHICAL NATURE OF
AFRICA, COLONIZATION and INFLUENCES OF FOREIGN RELIGIONS
AND CULTURES. Others are WESTERN EDUCATION, LANGUAGES AND
DEATH.
Africa is a large continent habituated by many peoples, unfortunately,
however, communication network in the continent is poor and there is problem
of free flow of information. As a result of these, the earlier investigators and
writers who traveled down to Africa, could not touch all parts of the Continent
to see its peoples. Again other means of communication through which these
people could have been reached were not available but surprisingly, majority of
these earlier investigators and writers who had visited Tanzania or Ghana or
lived in Ibadan or Kano for a few days or months could claim to have not only
seen and known the whole of Africa but have also become authorities on an
overall nature-physical, moral, spiritual and economic.
Certain events which belong to the painful history of the past make it very
difficult to say precisely what the aboriginal cultures and believes in many part
of Africa are. Some of these unfortunate events are; inter tribal or inter clan
warfare among peoples of Africa, that scramble for Africa for settlements by
the Europeans and slave trade.
The aforementioned events led to problems such as displacement of
people from their places of origin, depopulation of towns and cities and lost or
abandonment of concrete evidences of the cultural believes of the people. In
consequence of displacements, the aboriginal have been forced to be on the
move for over a long period and them of course, scattered, several of them dying
and the rest settling among and merging with other peoples, with the result that
their identities have now being lost or at least confused with those of the people
with whom they have merged. For example; the Konkomba of Northern
Ghana have no signs of a developed cosmology/cosmogony (theory of) the
origin, creation and evolution of the universe). This is no doubt partly the result
of their expulsion from the original territory by the Dagomba for centuries ago.
This is how racial memory of many African peoples was grossly disrupted
and in some cases, Obliterated (rub or blot out, remove or signs off or destroy).
Colonization with its attendant policies of assimilation and paternalism
(governing or controlling people in a paternal way (providing for their needs
but giving them no responsibility) has been so effective in many parts of Africa,
as a result of these, many Africans consider their own native culture and
religious values as worthless and even more than that, abandoning them and
forgetting their basic tenends and practices. To such Africans, the foreign ideas
and cultures are the real ways of life. In an account given by E. BOLAJI
IDOWU, he said that in 1963, an African Arch Priest of a traditional cult was
invited to institute for teachers of Theology in Africa at Salisbury, Rhodesia to
give information about the believes of his people, according to Idowu, the priest
and his people came in tattered European dress to amaze the Africans in
attendance the more. The priest informed the gathering as follows;
Priest: “If a person is wicked, after death he will reincarnate as a Black Man, if
he is good, he reincarnate as a White Man”. These set of Africans who are only
African by colour but European by thought posses a very serious difficulty to
study AFREL.

INTRODUCTION TO FOREIGN RELIGION

The introduction of Christianity and Islam with the attendant culture of
those who brought the two religions has deemphasized the significance of
AFREL, in almost if not all parts of Africa. There are cases whereby important
aspects of AFREL are taken over by the new faiths as a result, certain customs
have died a natural or false death while many traditional practices have either
crumbled or disappeared. We have also the problem of WESTERN
EDUCATION, INDUSTRIALIZATION and URBANIZATION. People
leave their environment for urban areas in pursuit of WESTERN
EDUCATION, WHITE COLLAR JOBS and EMPLOYMENT in industries,
thus, people loose contact with their native tradition. If such persons should be
approached as informants concerning their native traditions, they will either
pretend to know and deliberately give false information or declare their
ignorance.
There is also baffling factor of LANGUAGE and DIALECT. There are
too many languages and innumerable dialect in Africa. In Nigeria alone, there
are at least about 300 different dialects in each language. Some of these dialects
are almost distinctly different languages. We have in Africa a continent of
multitude of nations and races and people of various cultures. Different
culture lead to different beliefs, these have made the study of the people, their
believes very difficult.
The priest’s and the elders who also acted as custodians of tradition were
subject to DEATH and limited power of memory as one generation of these
passes away after another, so the traditions became remembered in lesser and
lesser details. In such circumstances, there is bound to occur dislocations,
distortions and modifications in effect, we do not often have accounts that are
reliable. Africans have no written documents of their past, so they could not
afford to document their religious believes and practices as we have in
Christianity and Islam, in other words, there are no SACRED SCRIPTURE in
AFREL.
Religion in African societies is written not on paper but in peoples heart,
minds, oral history, rituals and religious personnel’s like the priests, rain
makers, officiating elders and even Kings. The priests are the major custodians
of religious and cultural traditions. Inevitably, some of these priests died and
their knowledge died with them. As a result, the tradition became remembered in
lesser and lesser details, as earlier explained and in distortions and dislocations
of facts.

CORRECT APPROACH TO THE STUDY.

A modern investigator who sets out upon an honest study of AFREL will
reach a safe haven, only if he follows the safe course, avoids prejudices and
bias minds. He has to guide against preconceived notions because where
conditions are prescribed before hand, honest study is impossible. WILLIAM
TEMPLE, hoping that devoted investigator has to concern himself with the
religion (AFREL) as actually taught and practices by the African natives, these
becomes more necessary especially if investigators is of different cultural
background, he should not view the traditions of others in the light of his own
tradition. An approach coloured with prejudice cultural pride and intellectual
dishonesty is a wrong approach, an investigators aim must include among
others, SETTING OUT TO DISCOVER what African people KNOW,
BELEVE and THINK about GOD. His study must be HONEST and
OBJECTIVE, he must not include in it what he THINKS Africans should DO
or BELIEVE or THINK about GOD.
To achieve these, he has to approach his study of AFREL from the inside
in order to avoid the error of taking appearance for realities. A diligent
investigator should apply critical judgment and not merely accept anything
simply because he is told or he has read it. His collections (oral/written) must
be used wisely so that he is not misled. He must consider specifically the
changes and influences effected in the politics, social life and religion of the
natives due to colonial civilization and western culture in particular.
If the investigator happens to be one of the natives, he must not glorify
emotionally on the past history as a result of nationalistic propensity. It is an
indisputable fact that successful investigation is channeled through sympathy,
self identification, honest and correct interpretation. The observer therefore
must approach his study with reverence with appreciative sympathy and where
possible, with participation in the practices of the peoples whom he is
studying. As students of AFREL, the correct approach to the study as spelt out
above must be followed if we hope to have a successful study.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The basic aim of the study should not be to glorify the African past but to
preserve the truth with regards to what Africans authentically believe, and
 authentically think about God. The purpose of studying AFREL therefore
include:

1. TO ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE: God the almighty has endowed man with the
nature of curiosity so that we may explore, research, learn and grow in our
understanding of God’s universe in the light of God’s special revelation. Afrel is
also one of those legitimate areas of learning. Men climb mountains to explore
the unknown, risking their own lives, many times just because the mountain is
their waiting to be explored. Astronomers examine the heavenly bodies just
because Astronomical expanse is there.

2. TO HELP THE AFRICANS TO RECONSTRUCT THEIR PAST IN

ORDER TO UNDERSTAND THE PRESENT AND EFFECTIVELY
PLAN FOR THE FUTURE: the study of the past is necessary because without
the past the present is meaningless and the future is uncertain at the heart of the
African past, is her religion and therefore any meaningful study of the African
past must necessarily start with her indigenous religion which is Afrel.

3. TO HELP AFRICANS IN THEIR SEARCH FOR SELF

DETERMINATION AND SELF ASSERTION: the present generation of
African, is in search of both self determination and self assertion. African of
today has being influenced by the alien cultures and to embrace alien culture and
values, some of which they do not understand. With the rise of nationalism and
the consequent attainment of independence, Africans begin to think about how
to project the distinctly African personality. The Late Kwame Nkrumah of
Ghana and Leopold Senghor of Senegal along with many Africans of note did
a lot to correct the situation. In these search for self identity, cognizance must be
taken of Afrel which is at the root of African life and thought.
4. TO MAKE KNOWN THE WORLD VIEW OF AFRICANS SO THAT
NONE AFRICANS MAY UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL AND MORAL
BEHAVIORS OF THE AFRICANS: The need of understanding of the world
view of the Africans is their Religion. Every aspect is permeated by religion
from the cradle to the grave no matter their level of education and sophistication.
Thus to understand the social and moral behaviors of the Africans, the religious
world view must be known and appreciated.

5. TO MAKE SCIENTIFIC COMPARISON WITH OTHER RELIGION:

The study of Afrel is also geared towards a scientific comparison with other
religions notably Christianity and Islam (the two popular religion in Africa)
Comparative study of religions with open minds in effect will inform man that
the goals of the various religions are the same, only the means differ. This
means that other religion different from our own must be appreciated with
tolerance, respect and sympathy. This in-turn will create room for harmony and
peaceful co-existence in a pluralistic religious society in which we find
ourselves.

6. TO CORRECT MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT AFREL BY WESTERN

INVESTIGATORS AND THEIR COLLABORATORS: Up-till the present
days of ours, Afrel remains the most misconceived, misrepresented and
misunderstood religion in the world. In order to inform, to educate and to
disabuse the minds of those involved in these anomalies especially the
westerners. Afrel has to be studied as a matter of urgent and necessity.

7. TO FACILITATE CHRISTIANIZATION AND ISLAMIZATION OF THE

AFRICANS: The adherence of both Christianity and Islam are seeking to
evangelize and disciple large multitude of people in Afrel today. And the
religions backgrounds of these Africans is “Afrel” in order to build bridges of
communication with them, we must understand the beliefs and practices of the
 traditional Africans. All learning proceeds from the known to the unknown.
What the person believes and knows from the basis for the further knowledge
therefore, we study Afrel in order to be better prepared to evangelize and
disciple Africans from Christianity and Islam.

THE SOURCES OF THE STUDY

One of the sources of African religion is the African Myths.
1. Myths are stories handed from older days. These stories usually cover concepts,
early history and etymology. Though myths often lack historical realities, yet,
they answer questions of origin, purpose or meanings. African traditional myths
express that people cosmology and their faith in God. In effect, these are certain
myths about death, relationship between man and God and myths informing us
about the relationship between divinities and God.

2. Another source of African Knowledge of God is the everyday usage of proverbs

by the Africans. Proverbs are wise saying, concise sentences either in
metaphoric or allegorical from expressing truth termed by experience or
observation. From proverbs, we learn the following attributes of God, creator,
omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscience, holy, compassionate, self-existence and
a host of others. The Akam proverb maintains that all men are Onyame’s
children. No one is the child of the earth, they also say “if you want to say
anything to God, tell it to the wind”. The Yoruba expresses God’s attribute of
omnipotence when they say “easy to do as that which Olodumare sanctions”.

3. Name of God: the meaning of the names given to the supreme being throughout
Africa are veritable source of Africans knowledge of Afrel. On the lips of
African particularly Afrelists. There is always a distinct name of God. These
distinctive names are often descriptive of God’s nature and character. His
attributes, works, purpose, relationship to men and other beings are found in
them. The Akam of Ghana call God, “Odomankoma” meaning ‘One who has
 absolute authority over heaven and earth’. The Kono of Sierra-Leone know God
as “Yataa” meaning ‘One who meets you everywhere?

4. Names of people: in addition to the above, are the names African bears and give
to their children. These names are expressive of their knowledge of God.
Accordingly, the Yoruba bear such names as ‘Olorunfemi’, meaning “God loves
me” and “Oluwaseyi”, meaning “God has done this”. Among the Igbo such
names like Ngozichukwu meaning the ‘The blessing of God is always on the lips
of people’. These names with their attendant rich meaning serve as part of the
materials for consultation for the study of Afrel.

5. Rituals & Ceremonies: rituals and ceremonies are also regarded as important
sources of the study of Afrel. They are present in almost every aspect of the
religion. Some of these rituals and ceremonies are done monthly by monthly,
seasonal or yearly. These events reveal many things about Afrel, and the one
undergoing studies Afrel is informed of many things concerning his studies.

6. House of worship: the worship centers such as the shrines, groves, and temples
form another part for the sources of the study of Afrel. In most cases, these
centers and dedicated to various divinities. Artefacts and symbols are also
found in these centers. Some artefacts depict the eternity of God and may also
tell us of God’s benevolence. Visit to these centers gives valuable information
about Afrel.

7. Scholars of Afrel: One must not forget to mention the activities of scholars who
have doted their career to the study of Afrel. In consequence of their duties, they
have become authors of books, films and other educative materials. In effect,
their works have become part of the most important sources of Afrel especially
for the potential scholars of the religion.
MODERN WRITERS AND THEIR APPROACH AFRICANS &
EUROPEANS

The African scholars of Afrel encountered series of problems. It is worth

of note that the majority of the pioneer African scholars received their education
in the west under Western scholars. Naturally, they would be influenced by
Western approach to scholarship. This is what happened when attempts were
made by Mbiti and P. Bitek to explain African phenomena using phi logical and
etymological methods.

These approaches were introduced by Max Muller (born 1823 – 1900) to

explain the origin of religion. It has been shown since then that complex
religious phenomena cannot be explained away by a simple study of language.
Mbiti & P. Bitek have however used these approaches in studies of their
communities.

Mbiti concluded that the Akamsa people of Kenya have no concept of

future and P. Bitek also propounded that the Luo of Kenya do not think in
metaphysical terms. Mbiti and P’ Bitek have received a lot of criticisms from
other scholars who have found their findings in this respect questionable. Their
allegations imply that African minds has not developed and so is their language
and hence, incapable of abstract thoughts. Although both scholars have
condemned that the accusation that Africans are primitive as propagated by the
Western scholars, what they are advocating is no different. By asserting that
Africans do not think metaphysically or that they do no concept of future, they
are denying African people’s mental development. At least this, is what was
understood by the evolutionists. Abstract thoughts, was believed is a result of
mental advancements and undeveloped mind is a primitive mind to suggest
otherwise is to condemn Africans to be perpetual primitivity and to reduce to
nothing their arguments that African religion is not inferior. Western scholars
like Parrinder, Evans Pritchard and Ray have protested against the use of terms
which have reduced Afrel to primitive stage. They have joined the African
scholars in an effort to portray the more objectives perspective of Afrel.

African religion has received much attention in the recent times.

Practically, all universities in Africa have program on African religion.
Universities in and outside Africa have authorities for research in African
cultural and religious themes and supplications of findings.

The development of religious studies and philosophy of Markerere

University, for instance has many volumes in the series entitled Occasional
research papers whose them is African Religion. The journal of African religion
and Philosophy started in 1989 has proved to be a forum for exchange of ideas
in African religion and Philosophy. These have become permanent records of
preserving African culture and religion.

Outside Africa, courses on African culture and religion are studied either
in institute of African studies or in the department of religious studies. The
Prestigious Publication, The Journal or religion in Africa, is hosted by the
Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Leeds. In
addition, international organization like the African association for the study of
Religious was formed as recently as September 1992 in Harari Zimbabwe.
The Association joins others such as the association for the study of religions in
Southern Africa and Nigerian Association for the study of Religions to promote
academic study of Religions in Africa. Much of the scholarship has indicated
that African religion has much to offer to the study of Comparative religion.
Despite this, notable scholars of Comparative Religion continue to exclude
African religions in their studies.