Religions of Africa Africa is made up of more than fifty countries and is home to just over a billion people. Africa is not only diverse in its landscape and animals but the people are also extremely diverse. There are hundreds of different ethnic communities that, together, speak over 1000 languages. With this much diversity among the different communities, it is not surprising that there is much diversity in the religions in Africa. In Africa, there are many groups of people who follow different religions. These religions are different from each other in the sense of the Gods they follow, the rituals they practice and the importance of each community’s history in Africa. There are many different religions celebrated in Africa because each …show more content…
History is important to a community because their history shows how Gods and the ceremonies they have all usually depend on the history of the community and the history of the land. In African religion, myth and history are very much alike, almost indistinguishable. For example, Yoruba of Nigeria have a word called “itan” which is used for legends, myths, and folktales (Olupona 5). This example shows that the myths and legends are viewed as one in the same in many communities in Africa. In some communities however, myths tend to overlap. With myths about creation and myths about a culture it is not uncommon for these myths to overlap. In Burkina Faso, the community of Northern Yatenga is an example of this. The Yatenga people is made of two groups: The Foulse and the Nioniosse. The myth about the Yatenga is that the Foulse were created in the sky, while the Nionesse were created in the Earth. The kings and leaders came from the sky while the common people were said to be created from the Earth. Some people view this myth as the sky representing the strong, powerful and the good while the people from the Earth represent common, poor and the bad. Other people look at this myth as the sky and the Earth relying on each other and keeping an important balance between the people. Myths and history are important to African religion. They explain how their people came to be and the traditions they follow. Myths and legends are not written down but are told through stories from generation to generation and the myths differ slightly every time with each new generation. Regardless of how much the origin of the religion changes, it is still important for the community to follow the religion as best as they can because of people stop believing in a religion then all structure is lost in the community that has been there for thousands of years. The history and myths of
To begin, most Africans have come from societies with traditional African religious backgrounds unrelated to Islam or Christianity. As a whole, African religious traditions combine belief in a Supreme Being with the worship of other gods and ancestors and use ritual and magic to mediate between human beings, nature, and the gods. In many African languages, there is no word for God, because in their tradition every thing and place embodies God. Many African religions have common tenets. They share a belief in a community of deities, the idea that ancestors serve as a way to communicate with these deities. They also share the belief...
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
Religion was and remains a vital part of the lives of most Africans. For some it encompassed their entire existence. It substantiated and explained their place in the universe, their culture, and their relationship to nature and humankind. It also dictated their roles in the community and society at large. Religion among most African ethnic groups was not simply a faith or worship system, it was a way of life, a system of social control, a provider of medicine, and an organizing mechanism.
...’s depictions of both traditional and modern beliefs in varying degrees illustrate the importance of both in contemporary Nigerian culture, as well as the greater Africa as a whole, and how both are intertwined and cannot exist without the other. In effect, she skillfully subverts stereotypes or single perceptions of Africa as backward and traditional, proving instead, the multifaceted culture of Africa. She further illustrates that neither traditional African nor western culture is necessarily detrimental. It is the stark contrast of the fundamental cultures that inevitably leads to clashes and disagreements. In the end, what holds African countries such as Nigeria together is their shared pride. Modern, western influences can bring positive changes to society, but new cultures cannot completely eradicate the foundational cultures to which a society is founded on.
In conclusion, it is clear that the coming of Christianity to Africa was not greeted with open arms. While it granted Africans the chance to acquire new teachings, it also insinuated itself within politics, family, and traditions, utterly destroying them from the inside out. Having been detailed within novels by Achebe, Oyono, and Thiong’o, it is easy to see how these “pacifying” roles eventually led to a total conquest for all of Africa.
Religion plays many key roles in Appiah’s analysis such as their ability to remain in the past for certain events like their seating, a form of celebration, for the king. Even though they are able to live in the past for certain ceremonies, Appiah states that the people of Ghana still live very modern lives, doing simple activities that people of modern nations normally do as well. This can even compare to certain states and cities in the United States where people still live their normal lives but then put it on hold and continue their traditions before continuing their average life. A well-known example of this is the Christmas holidays due to the fact that people put their everyday life on pause for a couple of days in order to celebrate
Images have the power to shape the mind of an individual’s knowledge of a place. The world is full of beautiful cities, states, and countries. The large continent of Africa is brought together by fifty-four beautiful countries, but in the media the images misrepresent Africa as a continent. Africa is constantly portrayed as victims of poverty, violence, hunger and diseases. Also, Africans are stereotyped to be uncivilized and uneducated. These images in the media neglect the upside to these countries. The only positive images of Africa that are consistently shown are ones the safaris filled will majestic animals that graze the land. The media chooses to cover the negative side of Africa; they do not focus the achievements
Shawn Mark. The Kingdom of God in Africa:: A Short History of Africa Christianity,(Grand Rapids: Baker
The spread of Islam in Africa had taken course from a number of factors, including external and internal forces. After my analyzing of the spread of Islam in Africa, I have gather three main themes that stuck out during the expansion of Islam: Islam and trade, the conversion conditions of Islam, and the economics/political development involving Islam. These three themes provide great insight on how Islam started to spread through out Africa. Through trade the culture and religion of Islam was spread to many different areas. This correlates to the conversion of different people, which helped spread Islam. By these conversions Islam was able to establish Islamic states, which played a factor in the development of strong economic and political
In society and culture, leadership has the paradigm of a great and powerful person, who makes change in a miraculous and unconventional way. Since the beginning of time, people have completed heroic acts against evil and sin, but in many cases it is those who have the lesser appearance and humble disposition who have established the greatest acts of heroism. In the Bible, the Israelites and Hebrews waited for God to send a high and mighty king to save them from the oppression of the Roman government, but instead they were blessed with a little baby boy, born of poor parents who grew up to be a carpenter, yet won over death giving all humanity the opportunity to save the most important aspect of life; their soul. Leaders are always are depicted as government officials or society’s finest, but it is more important to treasure and follow a leader whose life you can duplicate because of their character, because their life pushes you to be better and elevates you to be a better person. Jesus Christ not only is the greatest leader of the church, but has the greatest life for society and humanity to pursue.
Kaduna: Baraka Press, 2004. Magesa, Laurenti. A. African Religion: The Moral Tradition of Abundant Life. Nairobi: Pauline Pub., Africa, 1998. Mbiti, John S. Introduction to African Religion.
Religion, in many forms, has had the most profound influence on human society throughout history. It’s been the basis for many human traditions, value systems, and conflict throughout the history of human civilization. Understanding religious traditions, relationships, and foundational beliefs enables humans to understand their differences and better prepare themselves to make decisions regarding religious interactions in the appropriate context. Religions are considered to be reliable and important in answering the most profound questions of human existence; where do we come from? What should we do while we are here? Since religion is so important so are the holy texts, because they put into words/ writing of guideline of what that religion is all about. In this essay I will attempt to explore and discuss a passage from Gospel of Luke 10:25-37 “The Good Samaritan” and “Surah Ar Rahman” from 55th Sura of the Qur'an and their relation to that particular religion.
The religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are alike in many ways but they also share many differences. Judaism and Christianity use the bible in their holy scriptures, while Islam does not. Jesus Christ is a part of all three religions as Christianity and Islam developed from Judaism. Many believe that the three religions worship, pray to, and focus on the same god. They believe this as many of the prophets are they share much in common as they share many beliefs. However, the followers of the three religions pray differently and in different places. the religions believe that their god created the world and everything in the world. The three Abrahamic religions have different histories, yet they share many similarities and difference.
There is widespread belief in a supreme God, unique and transcendent. Africans have a sense of the sacred and sense of mystery; there is high reverence for sacred places, persons and objects; sacred times are celebrated. Belief in the after life is incorporated in myths and in funeral ceremonies. Religion enfolds the whole of life; there is a difference between life and religion. Ancestors mediate between God and men. It is believed that sin harms the public good; hence there are periodical purification rites in order to promote public welfare. Worship requires a fundamental attitude of strict discipline and reverence.
My definition of religion has mostly stayed the same, but my perception of it has changed. At the beginning of the class, I assumed religion was something you believed based on your moral principles. I now believe that those moral principles are based on the religion that you believe in. Your religion changes your perception of the world and how to go about in it. Your religion tells you what is right and wrong in the world and answers all of the big questions one asks. Religion according to our book is, “A pattern of beliefs and practices that expresses and enacts what a community regards as sacred and/or ultimate about life” (Van Voorst 6). That definition was one thing that really got me thinking about my own personal idea of what religion