Info hub

Your quick reference for all things diversity, equity, and inclusion.
< All Topics
Print

African Traditional Religions

African Traditional Religions are Africa’s Indigenous religions. They are highly diverse beliefs and traditions, with some overarching commonalities. Most can be described as animistic and polytheistic or pantheistic, or in some cases monotheistic. These worldviews are based on oral and other forms of live transmission (like dance) rather than scripture. Colonisation disrupted and sometimes destroyed these belief systems but there are at least 100 million followers of African Traditional Religions throughout Africa and in the diaspora. In most places these worldviews have either been influenced or have syncretised with Christianity or Islam. According to Kenyan scholar and Christian John Mbiti (1931–2019), African Traditional Religions are based on a belief in God as Creator, and the earth as counterpart to ‘Father Sky’, a living entity, envisioned as ‘Mother Earth’. There is order in the laws of nature, a moral order for humans through which they distinguish between good and evil and a mystical order that organises spiritual power and makes it available to all people in varying degrees, depending on training and innate ability. This power can be used for good, such as healing, or evil, such as sorcery. Moral order is expressed and preserved through customs and taboos governing all aspects of human life. The invisible universe is filled with supernatural beings, including ancestral spirits, who are involved in human matters. Ancestors demand respect from the living and can offer advice, bestow blessings and rewards or punishments. There is no belief in a heaven or hell, i.e. rewards or punishments in the afterlife, but rather the belief that punishments and rewards are experienced in this life. Totems, i.e. plants or animals held sacred by individuals or groups, operate within this complex spiritual system.  Harming or eating a totemic animal or harming a totemic plant is taboo. African Traditional Religions have played major role in conserving African ecosystems. There is a growing appreciation in the West of the value and sophistication of these belief systems.

Was this article helpful?
4.5 out of 5 stars

1 rating

5 Stars 0%
4 Stars 100%
3 Stars 0%
2 Stars 0%
1 Stars 0%
5
Please Share Your Feedback
How Can We Improve This Article?