How does the African Indigenous Religions View the World of the ‘Afterlife’?
Assalamualaikum and hi everyone!
My life in New Zealand had been amazingly hectic and I'd been crazzzyyy busy keeping up with my grades and my life!
Tons had happened but I'll tell you about that in another post.
Anyway, this year, I've decided to take a Religion Studies (RELI) class to fulfill my degree's requirement; it's an extra class I had to take in order to graduate. For this class, we had to submit two essays and the instructions to do it is basically;
- Choose a religion
- Choose a topic
- Discuss and argue about something from your chosen topic in 1500 words
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We had to discuss something that we have NOOOO IDEAA about, besides what we were taught in a 2-hour lecture per religion. Telling someone about a whole religion in just 2 hours is definitely not enough guys, whatever your point is. The speaker would only be able to grasp the basic principles of those religions in 2 hours.
Hence, that means that us, students, had to do a loootttt of reading to grasp even the smallest understanding of what each religion believes. So at last, I've decided to choose one interesting topic; What is an afterlife from African Indigenous Religions' point of view?
So, I'll be posting mt crazy-long essay here for you guys to see what I've found out. Enjoy reading!
How does the African Indigenous Religions View the World of the ‘Afterlife’?
According to
Geertz (1993), religion relates humanity to the ‘cosmic order of existence’.
What it means is that religion could be defined as any cultural system or a
designed organization which adapts a specific set of behaviours, world views,
practices, ethics, texts, or sacred places, which relates humanity to the supernatural
or transcendental world, (Geertz, 1993) . While there has been a debate on
whether the African Indigenous Religions (AIRs) qualifies to be addressed as a
‘religion’ or not, due to them not having the ‘characteristics of a religion’
like other ‘big religions’ (like having a God(s) or sacred texts), they do
however accord to Geertz’s definition, where they believe in the spiritual
world, which is also now widely known as ‘animism’. This concept was first introduced
by Edward Tylor in 1866 who claimed that it is “an idea of pervading life and
will in nature" and that it is the belief that natural objects other than
humans (like places, objects and creatures) have souls, (Tylor, 1871) .
Since souls are usually related to the spiritual world, this hence leads to the
main question of this paper; How does AIRs view the world of the afterlife?
Unlike other
religions, there is no clear division between the concepts of ‘life’ and
‘death’ for AIRs; instead of dying, life is said to be continued in ‘another
realm’, where a person will become an ‘ancestor’. When a person dies, the whole
person, instead of just parts of them (like their memories or their souls), is
claimed to live on, but in another world (the spirit world), where they will
receive a new body, identical to the ones they had while being alive, but with
enhanced powers which allows them to move about as they have become an
‘ancestor’. A person’s death is considered as the first step of communication
between the visible and invisible world, where that person starts to have ‘a
deeper relationship with all of creation’, (Tempels, P., Possoz, E., & Read, M., 1959) . Becoming an
ancestor is the ultimate goal when a person dies, but then, in order to become one,
the dead person needs to go through the ‘correct’ burial to ensure they have a
smooth transition into the other realm, and that the dead individual would not
become a wandering ghost that could endanger people who are still alive; the ‘right’
burial ensures that the dead person is able to ‘live properly’ after death in
the other world and if not, they will turn to become harmful ghosts instead.
Instead of
being rewarded or punished in the hereafter, AIRs believe that all of that is
received in this life. When a person dies, everything that happens in the other
life is automatic, and it is not related to the person’s earthly behaviours,
with a condition that the ‘correct burial rites’ were observed. However, if a person
breaks the community’s code or taboo (like becoming a wizard or murderer),
experiences an unnatural death or goes through an improper burial, he or she
are believed to be doomed to punishment in their afterlife, where they will
become wandering ghosts. This is not a good thing because these ghosts may
probably be beaten, expelled, or be subjected to a period of torture by the
ancestors based on the seriousness level of their misdeeds. Some communities
believe that becoming a witch or sorcerer is the highest level of taboo that
after death, they will not even be admitted to the spirit world, hence why they
are usually refused a proper burial. Instead, the kind of treatment that
deceased wizards or witches get subjects their bodies to actions that would cause
their burial to be difficult; their bodies are burned, chopped up, and then fed
to the hyenas. For AIRs, to be cut off from being among the ancestors after
death is almost an equivalent to being in hell.
Talking about
the afterlife, the concept of reincarnation for AIRs differs from the ones in
Asian religions, like Buddhism and Hinduism, which has a system of ‘rewards’
and ‘punishments’; the new lives of the souls reincarnated are based on their
actions and behaviour in their previous lives and the rebirth happens in a
world that is full of a cycle of suffering (for the less fortunate) and
illusion (for the privileged) in which people wish to escape. AIRs on the other
hand believes that it is would be a great pleasure to be reincarnated (as an
ancestor) to the world after their death because it is considered as a ‘light,
warm, and living place’ for the dead, as to compared to the darkness and
coldness feeling that the dead are believed to experience when they were in the
grave. While the grave is just the ‘gateway to the afterlife’, there has many
ideas on what the ‘place’ souls depart to after their death; beliefs on how the
‘other world’ look like. Some people believe that that world is a replica of
our current world, while others believe that it is under the earth, or are on
the other side of a deep river. It is also believed that the ‘other world’ is a
much better place where pain and hunger does not exist. John Mbiti, a Kenyan
scholar, claimed that the continuation of life after death "does not constitute a hope for a future and
better life. To live here and now is the most important concern of African
religious activities and beliefs. . . . Even life in the hereafter is conceived
in materialistic and physical terms. There is neither paradise to be hoped for
nor hell to be feared in the hereafter", (Mbiti, 1990) .
Meanwhile, for
a burial ceremony that the still living people perform for the deceased, there
are various rituals conducted before, during and after the burial ceremony and
this varies for each ethnic groups/ society of AIRs. Some believe that killing
an ox at the burial allows the ox to accompany the deceased back home to their
family, enabling them to become the protecting ancestor for the family. A
person is only said to have really ‘died’ when all of their surviving relatives
have gone, and there is no one left who remembers them. At this point, the
deceased will pass into the ‘graveyard of time’, lose their individuality and
eventually become one of the ‘unknown latitude of immortals’. Laurenti Magesa,
a Tanzanian theologian, claimed that funeral rites for the AIRs simultaneously
mourns for the dead, while celebrating life ‘in all of its abundance’ at the
same time; communities unite together and regain its identities in funerals.
Some ethnics achieve this by having everyone dance and being in merriment,
except for the immediate family, and this provides ‘light feet’ to the deceased
for their journey to the next world, (Rey, 2016) .
Other customs in many AIRs may include smearing all the windows with ash,
removing the beds for the deceased’s room, and turning around all pictures in
the house and covering any reflective objects. Some communities do not allow
children and unmarried adults to attend funerals.
During the
burial, the deceased’s immediate family are expected to stay together at a
designed place on one side of the grave and are forbidden to speak or take any
vocal part during the whole funeral session. It is also customary to bury the
deceased with their personal properties, like their walking sticks, eating
utensils and blankets. After the funeral, for a period of seven to thirteen
days, people will visit the bereaved family to comfort, encourage and heal the
hurting family. There are also instances where a killing ritual is performed as
some societies believe that blood has to be shed during that particular period
of time in order avoid further misfortunes. The mourning period for the
bereaved family usually continues for at least a week after the death.
Traditionally, widows have to remain mourning for up to a year, while children
of a deceased parent must be in mourning for three
months. During this time, they must stay at home and are not allowed to socialize or
have sexual contact with anyone. Some even shave their heads the day after the
funeral since it symbolizes death and the hair’s growth indicates the
‘strengthening of life’.
References
Geertz, C. (1993). Religion as a cultural system. In
C. Geertz, The interpretation of cultures: selected essays (pp.
87–125). London: Fontana Press.
Mbiti, J. S. (1990). African religions &
philosophy. Heinemann.
Rey, T. (2016). What Is Not Sacred? African
Spirituality by Laurenti Magesa, and: Christian Theology and African
Traditions by Matthew Michael. Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 622-623.
Tempels, P., Possoz, E., & Read, M. ( 1959). Bantu
philosophy. Paris: Présence africaine.
Tylor, E. B. (1871). Primitive Culture:
Researches Into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and
Custom (Vol. 2). J. Murray.
That's all from me now, so goodbyeeee!
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