Epic Of Sundiata Essay

The Epic of Sundiata presents the Islamic faith in a way that encourages listeners to embrace it over their indigenous belief systems. The epic accomplishes this by incorporating elements and practices of the indigenous beliefs into Islamic tradition; and by adapting certain Islamic mythology — such as the Jinn — to the existing West African culture. It also asserts the superior power, morality, and strength of those who derive their power from Allah and the Jinn, to those who base their powers in ancestral worship and fetishes. Through conflict, adaptation, and tolerance, the Epic of Sundiata presents an accessible version of Islam to the people of the Mali Empire; and it promotes the acceptance of this new faith over the indigenous beliefs

of the area.
By incorporating parts of the indigenous belief system into Islam The Epic of Sundiata made the faith more easily adopted by the people of Mali. Soothsayers were one such practice fully integrated into the epic. Islamic Orthodoxy prohibits the consultation of soothsayers, or seers, and Mohammed had instructed his followers to stop listening to them. Despite this, throughout the epic, the prophecy of seers played an important role.
A divining hunter from the land of Do prophesied the birth and future conquest of Sundiata (pages 5-6). This prophecy established the greatness of Sundiata and affirmed his future victory; not once is the prophecy doubted. His father had even intended to leave him his throne despite having an older son, and Sundiata having yet to take his first steps(page 17). The soothsayers also aided Sundiata in his conflict with Soumaoro Kanté. In battle his troops moved swiftly to execute formations without Sundiata having to order them as, “all had been foretold,”(page 51).This integration of indigenous beliefs into Islam made the faith more accessible to the people of the empire, and it made the epic more easily understood by the multicultural empire of Mali.
The epic also adapted parts of Islamic mythology to the indigenous belief structure; the Jinn have a significant presence. In this version of Islam the Jinn function as supernatural entities who can be sacrificed and prayed to, and from whom power or favorable actions can be derived. They function more like the ancestors in the indigenous belief systems who would be appealed to by the living in the hope that they would assist them with their supernatural powers. A large part of the indigenous belief centered on worship of the ancestors(Background information, x), and this is replaced by the worship of, and communion with, the Jinn.
Sundiata did exactly that in his conquest of Kita. The mountain of Kita Kourou was home to a powerful Jinn, who offered his protection to the town. Sundiata climbed the mountain and sacrificed to, and communed with, this spirit. Through his sacrifices he won the favor of the Jinn, who interceded and made the following battle a fast and easy victory. The town instantly fell and Kita Mansa, the king of Kita, was the only casualty(pages 70-71).
Through the adaptation of the Jinn the epic filled a hole in the rituals of Islam, and made the religion more like the indigenous beliefs of the area. This aided the faith in its appeal, and made conversion easier. The adaptation allowed converts to continue indigenous traditions —the worship and communion with lesser spirits — but shifted the worship from the ancestors of the indigenous belief to the Islamic Jinn.
The epic depicts adherents to the indigenous beliefs negatively. The king of Djedeba, who derived his power from the game of wori, was characterized as a greedy and immoral man. He planed to kill Sundiata in exchange for gold after receiving him and his family as guests and allowing them to live in his enclosure(pages 29-30). This was in complete opposition to the custom of protecting your guests, as Sundiata says to the king, “Formerly guests were sacred,”(page 30). This kind of behavior would outrage listeners, and its inclusion promotes Islam as the morally superior belief.
The primary antagonist of the epic is Soumaoro Kanté, the sorcerer king of Sosso. He and his kingdom were the embodiment of the pure indigenous belief system. The king built a fortified city, and a massive tower for himself where he could live surrounded by his fetishes. The town of Sosso was called, “ the bulwark of fetishism against the word of Allah,”(page 41). Soumaoro was called “an evil demon” who enjoyed whipping old men, and who wore shoes of human skin, and who defiled women everywhere. His room of fetishes included the skulls of defeated kings and tapestries made from human skin, as well as three owls — birds of ill-omen in West African culture(pages 39-41 and note 23).The epic made every effort to depict Soumaoro and other followers of solely the indigenous belief system as morally deprived.
Contrasting this, the epic portrays Muslims and Muslim kingdoms positively. The Islamic cities of Wagadou and Mema greatly aided Sundiata in his quest. The epic makes sure to include the religion of these kingdoms, saying that in the city of Wagadou there “were a lot of mosques” and that “the Cissés were very religious,”(page 33). The king of Wagadou greeted Sundiata and his family very warmly and told them, “the strangers have entered Wagadou in peace, may peace be upon them in our city,”(page33). They were treated with kindness for the duration of their stay.
In Mema Sundiata trains under the king and becomes a great warrior. The king eventually names him the viceroy, and second in command, of the kingdom. Upon leaving Mema, Sundiata dawns the robes of the Muslim kings, and the king sends half of the his army with Sundiata on his quest to defeat Soumaoro (pages 37 and 46). The islamic kingdoms are portrayed as morally superior, and helpful to Sundiata, while those of indigenous belief stood in his way or directly confronted him.
Islam is presented as the path to knowledge and power within The Epic of Sundiata.

For seven years after his birth Sundiata was ignorant like an animal. Until the age of seven he was unable to walk. He stole food and crawled around on all fours; he was an embarrassment to his mother, (page 19). Despite her ability as a great sorceress, Sogolon was unable to get her son to walk, “she had resorted to all her talent as a sorceress to give strength to her suns legs,” but it had no effect on her son(page 16). However; when Sogolon desperately cried out to Allah, Sundiata instantly became determined, and then able, to walk, (pages 19-21). Following this sight Sogolon sang the praises of the Islamic god, proclaiming, “Allah Almighty, you never created a finer day. So my son is going to walk,” (page 21). Sundiata evolved from an ignorant, animal-like, creature to a strong man, and the epic gives Islam the credit for this transformation.

The battle between Sundiata and Soumaoro was the physical representation of the conflict between Islam and the indigenous belief system, a conflict which Islam won. Sundiata discovered that Soumaoro’s most powerful magic came from his ancestors in the form of a Tana(page 58). The Tana could be destroyed and the power of the his ancestors broken by striking Soumaoro with the spur of a cock. Sundiata did just that and instantly Soumaoro was powerless and he retreated and his army scattered(page

65).
The power of Islam could not be easily destroyed. Sundiata and Mali fought with “the divine blessing of Mecca” behind them. Sundiata had also made many sacrifices to the Jinn before that battle. With the power of Islam, Sundiata defeated the fetishism of the Sosso army. In this way epic promotes Islam as more powerful than the indigenous belief, even the most powerful magic of that belief system is useless when faced with the blessings of Allah, and a Muslim army.
As an oral text The Epic of Sundiata underwent many changes from its creation until being put paper in 1960, and many different versions of the epic exist. This makes determining the importance of Islam at the time of the creation of the epic difficult. In the 700 years since the events on which the epic is based the prevalence and importance of Islam have changed. The difficulty of working with an oral text is seen by the anachronistic presence of the silk-cotton tree. It was not introduced to the region until 100-200 years after the events of the epic(page 87). The epic does portray the struggle that took place over 700 years between Islam and the indigenous beliefs, and shows the eventual importance of the Islamic faith.
The Epic of Sundiata encourages the adoption of Islam and discourages the practice of the indigenous belief system. Throughout the epic Islam is shown to be superior in strength, morality and power. Some indigenous practices, like soothsaying, is incorporated into the regional version of Islam in order to make the faith more appealing. Some Islamic mythology, like the jinn, were modified to fill the role of ancestor worship and allow the many indigenous customs to continue, but as Islamic ceremonies. Through the telling of the epic the two belief systems are portrayed in a way to encourage the acceptance of the Islamic faith.