African Traditional Religion – 5 Facts

This article introduces you to what African Traditional Religion is all about, its beliefs, rituals and practices. Religion is found in every human society. It is a sacred institution that educates persons on his/her beliefs and practices in relation to the divine being.

The Traditional Religion in Africa is regarded as the cohesive factor in the society. Its aim among others is to foster peace and harmony and uphold moral values in African society. Hence religion permeates the African society. Culturally, African became religious from the cradle unlike Islam or Christianity which emphasizes personal conversion.

Religion can be explained as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

Eight elements of religions

1. Belief system or worldview: Many beliefs that fit together in a system to make sense of the universe and our place in it.
2. Community: The belief system is shared, and its ideals are practiced by a group.
3. Central stories/myths: Stories that help explain the beliefs of a group; these are told over and over again and sometimes performed by members of the group. They may or may not be factual.
4. Rituals: Beliefs are explained, taught, and made real through ceremonies.
5. Ethics: Rules about how to behave; these rules are often thought to have come from a deity or supernatural place, but they might also be seen as guidelines created by the group over time.
6. Characteristic emotional experiences: Most religions share emotions such as awe, mystery, guilt, joy, devotion, conversion, inner peace, etc.
7. Material expression: Religions use things to perform rituals or to express or represent beliefs, such as: statues, paintings, music, flowers, incense, clothes, architecture, and specific sacred locations.
8.  Sacredness: Religions see some things as sacred and some not sacred (or profane). Some objects, actions, people and places may share in the sacredness or express it.

 Mbiti (1969:11-17) describes African Religion generally in five parts:

(i)                 beliefs, which show how people think about the universe and their attitude towards life itself.  The religious beliefs in this era were concerned with topics such as God, spirits, human life, magic, and the afterlife;

(ii)              religious practices, ceremonies and festivals through which people express themselves in practical terms;

(iii)            religious objects and places which people have set apart as being holy and sacred;

(iv)             values and morals which deal with ideas that safeguard and uphold the life of the people in their relationship with one another and the world around them, and;

(v)               religious officials and leaders who conduct religious ceremonies, sacrifices, formal prayers and divination.

As seen in the five parts above, African religion is an essential part of African life. Its influence covers all of life, from birth to death.  People find religion useful and meaningful in their lives and therefore, it spreads freely in the community.  They teach it informally to their children through conversation, proverbs and myths as well as through practice.  Young people also learn about it through participation in religious ceremonies, festivals and rituals.

Religion tells African people how the universe was created, why humans occupy a special place in the scheme of things, why natural disasters occur, why some people triumph while others fail and why everyone must suffer and eventually die. People seek to explain experiences and events by attributing them to causes with explanations that can only be found in religion.

In short, religion is a major source of giving meaning to life. This fact is particularly, though not exclusively, evident in regard to tragic events and crises in people’s lives. In these situations, religion can provide explanations.  Religious belief system also maintains and enhances the self-concept of individual members of the community. Thus religion may enhance that feeling of unconditional regard through the belief that “God loves me”.

African religion is entirely a lived religion and not a doctrinal one. It requires no formal induction. One is born into it and learns it throughout one’s life through normal socialisation. In no way is anything understood apart from the context of a Supreme Being, the ancestors and the spirits. As a result, reverence must be accorded to the world and what is in it and around it.  This is not only a religious, but also a moral requirement, for every person if he/she is going to survive in the world and community in which he/she lives.

African religion is community-oriented.

African  religion  functions  more  on  a  communal  than  an  individual  basis, therefore, it does not matter whether the individual accepts all its beliefs. Additionally, because this religion belongs to all members of the community, no individual member of the society can stand apart and reject the whole of his/her people’s religion. To do so, would mean to cut himself/herself off from the total life of his/her community. Therefore, even if an individual converts to another religion, it does not necessarily mean that the person entirely abandons his/her own religion (African Traditional Religion).

Supreme Being

Zambian Traditionalists strongly believe in God as “Maker of heaven and earth”.  They believed that God lives in the sky and can see everywhere.  Therefore, amongst the tribes of Zambia, God is generally called Lesa, Mulungu, Mulimu, and Mwami, but there are also various other names.

These names are related to God’s creation and other activities carried out by God among people. For example, among the Lunda and Luvale tribes of North-Western province God is called Kalunga, denoting the force or power behind the rain, thunder and lightning.  The Lambas often designate God as Liulu, which means in the first place ‘the heaven’.  This is consistent with the Lambas understanding of God’s location.

Lesa is believed to be the creator of all things, of the abantu (people) who live in the realm, those working on the sun and the moon, those in charge of the abode of the dead, those guarding the animals and of the abantunshi (human beings), those on the earth, who are subject to imikowa or clan distinctions.  In addition to the material creation and that of the different types of abantu, God is said to have created the ifibanda (demons).

Thus, God was also seen as the source of evil or the ultimate origin of evil.  While the African would admit that God does good things, he/she would also maintain that God does things which are not good.  God can either send the rain or withhold it.  God can give life, but can also send death and disease.  The African, therefore, sometimes questions God’s goodness.

In addition, God tended to be seen in terms of function rather than in terms of morality. “God is not pictured in an ethical-spiritual relationship with humans which would result in future ‘life or death’.  Humans turned to God because they needed rain or they wanted good crops or many children, not because they really wanted God then or in the future”. Consequently, many rejoiced to find belief in God already present in culture and language.

As a result, the focus was placed more on the community or the horizontal dimension, rather than on the vertical (God-human) relationship and this community did not end with death.  In a real sense the community extended beyond those who were now living to those who had gone before.  The African family is a single continuing unit conscious of no radical distinction of being between the living and the dead.  Therefore, the dead constitute the invisible part of the family, clan or tribe”. Despite this circumstantial relationship, African Traditionalists still teach their children how to give a pre-eminent place to the Supreme Being and to accord the respect and love required by that Being.

Spirit World

African traditionalists believe that the earth is inhabited by spirits and ghosts who are invisible to the uninitiated. These creatures are malevolent and were used by people of the cult.  Other people, however, could be protected against their intrigue.  This protection was obtained, at a cost, from “medicine men”.  These evil spirits were the spirits of those who had died in hatred and who caused trouble and misfortune.  If such a spirit caused serious misfortunes, the body of the dead person whose spirit was causing the trouble was dug up and burnt to destroy the evil spirit’s power.

Ancestral Spirits

Ancestral spirits, while dwelling in the spirit-world, also existed in another dimension of the earth.  They offered protection against evil spirits and ghosts.  The spirit-world is known as the “station” from which immanent ancestral spirits operate. These were the spirits of powerful people, like great chiefs, who died before any living people were born. These were more powerful than the “living-dead” and were responsible for the well-being of the whole community.  They often lived beside special holy places, such as waterfalls, special trees or rocks.

The concept is, therefore, that humans live in a world saturated with evil spirits, ghosts and their human allies and are constantly in danger. The Absolute Creator of all, including the spiritual and physical realms, has veto power over the creation and delegates his powers to the spiritual beings in charge of each department of this creation.  Hence, the creator does not always interfere in human life. The earth, therefore, is sacred and permeated with good and evil, and by neutral spiritual forces which can be exploited by humans.

Worship and Sacrifices

As far as worship was concerned, Mbiti (1969:58) asserts that God was worshipped in a number of ways among African peoples.  The first form of worship was the use of sacrifices (when animals were killed) and offerings (the presentation of food, animal blood or other items).

These were given to God, the spirits, and the living-dead.  The spirits and the living- dead were regarded as intermediaries between God and people, so that God was seen as the ultimate recipient.  Mbiti (1969:61, 66) goes on to list some of the expressions of worship in African societies, and indeed, these are commonly found amongst Zambian tribes.

The first one was prayer, which was the commonest act of worship.  Most prayers were addressed to God, to the living-dead or other spiritual beings, many of whom served as intermediaries. Prayers were most likely to be made directly to God when the rain failed to come or when there was an epidemic of a particular disease.

Secondly, incorporating Gods’ name into a child’s name was also an act of worship and signified that the child had been born in answer to prayer and that the parents wanted to thank God.  In addition, it may have been because the circumstances of birth seemed to signify an attribute of God.

Thirdly, the use of proverbs was another way Africans expressed religious ideas and feelings.  Most African people like to sing and God is often worshipped through songs which are used in different situations and rituals. African beliefs were expressed through concrete concepts, attitudes and acts of worship.