African Traditional Religion:

A New Struggle for African Identity

Mbangu Anicet Muyingi

Abstract

This article investigates the social status attributed to African Traditional

Religion (ATR) in determining culture and identity. Since ATR is seen to be the
sum total of the peculiarities shared by African people, African people’s values
can also be seen as part of their identity. However, this article shows that the
loss of African identity has raised numerous problems on the continent because
of the marginalisation of ATR. According to Mbiti (1995:5), ATR plays a holistic
role in an African’s understanding of his/her origin and purpose. A theoretical
approach as to how ATR is the source of African identity is provided here. The
study will argue that there is a need to rethink on the significance of ATR and
the ontology that recognises it as part and parcel of African identity. By doing
so, ATR can be revaluated, and its relevance established and sustained in
order to give credence to authentic African identity.

Key words: Traditional Religion, Identity, Culture, History.

Introduction

In Africa, comedians remind us that Africans have become capitalists without

capital and nationalists without a nation.1This humour is used to convey how the
loss of identity has plunged Africa into a dramatic existential condition, fraught
with alienation, estrangement, and petrification of the mind. The crisis that
Africans are witnessing in politics, the failure of African economic development
and widespread social corruption are due to this loss of identity by ATR. As
such, ATR should be considered as a living and not as a fossil religion, which
can offer enough sapiential resources to overcome such an identity crisis.

* Dr. Mbangu Anicet Muyingi teaches in the Department of Theology, School of Basic Sciences,
North-West University (Vaal Triangle Campus).

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Indeed, over the last five centuries, African interaction with the outside
world has transformed the continent into a melting pot of different religious,
moral, cultural, economic, political, and philosophical structures and worldviews,
which bequeathed marginalisation amid an ambivalent progress of modernity .2
Since the fifteenth century, in the global context of geopolitics and market
economy, Africa has remained poor, weak, and a battlefield of competing
power of domination and domestication because of the loss of her identity.
Now the question is:

What is religion and, by extension, African Traditional Religion?

In general, religion has been defined as a sacred or divine experience that
shapes or, in some way, determines the relationship between humans and their
Supreme Being (God). It provides meaning to the phenomena such as life,
suffering, despair, death, as well as establishes for individuals and groups, an
anchor, location, or ‘root’ in the mass of phenomena confronting them as the
universe. As such, it deals with worship as much as moral conduct, ideology,
and institutional action frames. It is the totality of these elements that draws
attention to the idea of membership or community, a body of adherents sharing
a common worldview institutionally objectified and ideologically justified. In
this sense and in the sense that it is a unified system of beliefs that gives an
‘anchor’ to human life, religion becomes an important signifier, a framework
for identification, a basis of membership, and a potent tool for mobilisation .3

Given this definition, it can be understood that religion plays a holistic role in
determining a person’s understanding of his/her origin and purpose. According
to the definition above, it would be true of ATR as well as of those religions that
have their origin outside the continent. ATR is the religion of the African people
before the coming of Western missionaries. ATR is the indigenous religion of
the Africans. It is the religion that has been handed down from generation to
generation by the forebears of the present generation of Africans. It is not a
fossil religion (something of the past), but a religion that Africans today have
made theirs by living it and practising it .4 However, Western missionaries
succeeded in converting some African people to the new religions (Christianity
and Islam), which made them to lose their identity. The ATR was condemned
by the new religions to be not a religion, and ATR was called by many names
like magic, sorcery, animist, witchcraft, etc. Hence, the negative attitude of
these missionaries towards African religion makes Africans to lose their identity

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which was linked to their religion. It is within this fact of negative attitude that the
struggles for identity have emerged as one of the most striking characteristics
of the social, cultural and political scene. One of the most important features of
the identity discourse is the relative decency of its emergence and proliferation.
According to Hall,6 there has been a veritable discursive explosion in recent
years around the concept of identity. Baumeister, notes that this explosion has
triggered an avalanche since 1996. Thus discussions on justice and equality
are debated in terms of recognition of identity.6

This paper shall focus on the struggle being faced by ATR in Africa as
the negative attitude towards ATR called magic, sorcery, and witchcraft made
Africans lose their identity.

Objective of the Study

The objective of this study, therefore, is to present ATR as a living and not
a fossil religion. As such, the specific objective is to show the relevance of ATR
as a source of African identity.

Research Methodology

The methodology adopted is the phenomenological approach. Adogbo and

Crowder7 argue that a phenomenologist is identified by the way in which he
goes about his work of attempting to understand and describe his environment.
According to Edmund, phenomenology is a descriptive science, which seeks
to unfold the archaeological realities of the objects, beliefs and practices under
study without presuppositions.8 In other words, the study takes into consideration
the point of view of Idowu9 in carrying out a serious study and investigation of
people’s religion by caution, openness, sympathy, reverence and adaptability.
These qualities were absent in the research of Western missionaries who were
accused of bias, ignorance, prejudice and lacking the necessary tools for an
investigation into ATR. For this reason Africans have lost their identity.

The scope of the study is Africa in general. According to Mbiti10 Africans

are religious in all things. This religious consciousness and understanding
determine African identity.

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The Discourse of Identity

A person’s identity is made up of his/her own character combined with

his/her family and social roots. The concept of identity first gained salience
through the work of Erikson.11According to Erikson, identity is associated with
personhood and the continuity of the self across time and space. According
to scholars of identity, identity is the uniqueness, which includes those
characteristics that differentiate a person from other people or the whole of
humankind . 12 Erikson further uses the term ‘identity crisis’ to refer to individuals
who have lost a sense of continuity. Molyneux asks if there is any kind of identity
and continuity between the God preached by the Western missionaries and the
Supreme Being acknowledged by ATR . 13 Gordon believes that there should
be a link or continuity between ATR and the outsider religions to determine
African identity in this contemporary period.

Tajfel states that membership of social groups is internalised as part of the

self-concept and as such forms an integral part of the identity of an individual. 14
According to Brewer, identity is a need for an individual or a group of people
to be unique - that is to be different from other people . 15 He argues further
that identity is a need for security and assimilation, a feeling of solidarity
between members of a particular group. Hall notes that identity has a two-fold
interpretation: it is firstly associated with the share of culture, a collective true
self that is shared among people with a common history and ancestry . 16 In this
case, identity reflects common historical experiences and shared cultural codes
that serve to unify and provide stable, continuous and unchanging frames of
reference of meaning amid social and political changes. This conceptualisation
of identity lies at the root of the struggle to reveal the true essence of a particular
identity, for example, the search for the essence of being American, or African.
It is, furthermore, associated with the exploration of history in order to reveal
the hidden continuities and hidden roots.

The second view argues that there are not only similarities, but also
differences in the course of history in what we are and what we have become.
This second conception reflects identity as an interactive process that involves
becoming as well as being and belonging to the future as well as the past. In
this case although rooted in history, identity undergoes constant transformation
and is rooted in the present where it provides a framework for the different
ways in which people are positioned by and position themselves in relation to

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present realities and narratives of the past. 17 Barth defines identity in terms of
boundaries. According to him, boundaries can be psychologically, culturally,
socially or politically defined and include some people as members of a group,
while others are excluded. In this perspective, Barth perceives identity as a
dynamic process in which the characteristics, cultural practices, symbols and
traditions of a group might change due to interaction with the physical, social,
cultural, economic and political environment. According to Barth, what is
important is not the content of a particular identity, but rather the existence of
boundaries between the own group and other groups. 18

However, according to the argument above, the discourse on identity

has spread to the centre of social and political events where it is increasingly
associated with the struggle of various dominated or repressed groups such
as religious minorities. 19

Identity has become thus, the primary medium for not only understanding
and explaining the relationship between the personal (subjective) and the social,
but also for discourse on the relationship between the individual and the group,
the cultural and the political, as well as the group and the state .20

Crisis of Identity in Africa

According to Leonard, African people eat and live religiously .21 Mbiti argues
that African people are religious; they bring it everywhere they go .22 This means
that ATR is the centre of African identity. Unfortunately, the desire to practise
ATR has diminished since the arrival of Western missionaries in Africa. This
was the beginning of the struggle for African identity. Since the colonial period,
Africans have lived with a degraded social identity because of the negative
views of ATR by Western missionaries who saw ATR as magic, sorcery and
animism. ATR indicates African existence, and its existence their religion. This
observation is true of every human society insofar as the dominant ideology
has a religious character. So it is with African people. ATR is their identity.
This can be seen in their daily lives, in their social rituals, in the numerous
monuments and shrines that dot every compound. But today all these deities
have disappeared.

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The question is: what went wrong? Who is responsible for this disappearance?

The historical forces which can be held responsible for the disappearance
of ATR include the following:

❖ Western education, philosophy, science and technology which have

increased African knowledge of nature and its laws that Africans knew
according to their tradition.
❖ Western religion, with its ideological campaign against ATR and culture.

The process was that of desacralisation and secularisation, which MaxWell

called the process of increasing rationalisation of life .23

ATR and African identity

One thing that is certain is that an identity of a particular people implies their
sharing of culture. Because of this, the self, the human identity, is a product
of socialisation of the culture in which a person grows up. In turn, it is through
the process of socialisation that a person comes to internalise a worldview, a
mode of orientation, and, thus, acquires a certain identity.

Can one speak of African identity without talking significantly about ATR?

Okolo 24 states that African identity relies on ATR and finds its legitimation
in myths and rituals. According to Mbiti, Africans are notoriously religious and
religion permeates all dimensions of life.25 Thus, identity cannot be separated
from ATR. Therefore, ATR gives Africans a sense of belonging and orientation
in the local community and the society at large. Indeed, ATR is the fusion of
African philosophy and politics. This creates a basis for acceptance, legitimacy
and stratification of positions in society, and in the world. In the world above,
the ancestors play a significant role in ATR. ATR takes into consideration the
unity of all things in the universe of which people form a part. That is why,
according to Pobee, African identity and ATR have very strong consideration,
or are thus regarded highly .26

Discussion and Recommendations

Any meaningful talk about inculturation, Africanisation or indigenisation

must and should consider the African identity seriously, for though history has

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passed, we learn from it. ATR conveys certain values and some of these values
could be useful for modern Africa. Today ATR is still active, especially when
critical situations arise, eg., sickness (Ebola) or death.

Philosophically, from the beginning of time, people all over the world have
tried to explain the existence of God and sought to come closer to Him through
divinities or spirits, which have determined their identity. This has been known
through the encounter and dialogue between the different traditional religions
around the world. Also, every religion has reflected upon an ideal state of being
where humans live life to its fullest. Therefore, these fundamental questions of
encounter between ATR and Western religions have to be examined carefully
for Africans to recover their identity. One way of accomplishing this is through
a genuine dialogue between outside religions and ATRs. In view of what has
been said above, one can easily observe that Africans have been searching
for their identity since slavery and colonialism because of a lack of genuine
dialogue between ATRs and Western religions (Christianity). As a consequence
of the lack of dialogue between the two religions, ATR is marginalised, because
according to the argument from Western religion, there is no relationship
between the two religions. This argument has presented obstacles for African
identity.

The first obstacle is that there is hostility on the part of Western religions
against ATRs. This is as a result of prejudices developed by colonial
missionaries and feelings of religious superiority over ATR. The second
obstacle has to do with the ill-conceived notion of ATRs, such as the tendency
of many Western missionaries to reduce it to certain esoteric aspects that are
disconcerting, or to demonise it completely. The third obstacle is the level of
poverty and conflict that some African countries are facing, which elevates
the hindrance related to the development of genuine dialogue, and highlights
the socio-political and economic democracy that is needed in the continent.
Where there is no peace, genuine dialogue is impossible. Implicit in the right
to freedom of thought, conscience and religion granted to any one individually,
or in association with others, is also the right to equality and non-discrimination
enshrined in African constitutions and in the international agreements such as
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Accordingly, everyone is equal in
the exercising of his/her right to freedom of religion. Every religious group is
equal and no one should be discriminated against. 27 This principle of equality

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and non-discrimination of religion in Africa is not respected. The practice reveals

that Christianity is more privileged than ATRs that are marginalised in every
aspect of African life.

The arguments above show clearly that ATR is discriminated against

and marginalised. ATR is relegated below Western religions. The reason for
the Christian relegation is that ATR is labelled as ‘empire of Satan, pagans,
heathens, idolatrous, polytheist, barbarians, superstitious, fetishists, and
primitive . ’28 ATR is also synonymous with misery and superstitions. ATR is
qualified to have no future.

The point of the foregoing analysis is to show that the place of ATR has
been exaggerated through the assimilation of Christianity and in some cases,
philosophical scholarship. According to the view discussed above, this study
recommends that it is important for Christianity and ATR to find common
ground. Despite the real differences and disparities between religions, there is
a basic stratum of human commonality that can make it possible for ATRs and
Christianity to communicate with one another and to discover a point of contact.29
Such a commonality may include common experiences, fears, questions and
sorrows that Africans share. The main source of common ground should be the
belief in God as the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth and His attributes.
The attributes of God assigned by both the religions can be another point of
departure: holiness, goodness, mercy, immutability and righteousness. That
the Supreme Being is the Father of all that exists and that there is unity of life,
and participation can be a common ground to start a genuine dialogue, which
will lead Africans to discover their true identity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a quote by Aime Cesaire, who wrote in his famous Lettre

a Maurice Thorez, “that there are two ways of losing oneself... through
fragmentation in the particular or dilution in the universal.” In this era of
globalisation, humanity has come to realise that its greatness lies in an identity
that embraces the knowledge and wisdom of other cultures and human
experiences. To paraphrase Smith, we have come to the point in history where
anyone who is only American or European or African is only half-human, until
the other half that beats with the pulse of all humanity is born in him . 30 Yet,
becoming a citizen of the world would yield a harmful outcome if one is not rooted

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in one’s ancestral tradition. Despite all the forms of Westernisation endured

by Asian countries, the Asian miracle is largely grounded in the power of the
people to keep their own identity, wisdom, and spirituality.

Reflecting on the loss of identity brought about by modern colonial

education, Diop, who was the father of African history argues that imperialism,
like the prehistoric hunter, first killed the being spiritually and culturally, before
trying to eliminate it physically. The negation of the history and intellectual
accomplishments of Black Africans was cultural, mental murder, which preceded
and paved the way for their genocide here and there in the world .31

The preservation of history by writing or oral tradition is crucial to every

society’s identity empowerment, and survival. The loss of identity accounts for
much of the struggle that plagues Africa today. It is only by reviving historical
memory that Africa will be able to reconcile with itself. To paraphrase Mbiti,
the African cannot live by bread of science, politics, foreign aid and Western
ideologies alone; he also needs the vitamins of culture identity, ethics, faith
and hope to determine his identity.

1 Nkulu, 2011, p. 1.
2 Pobee, 1991, p. 34.
3 Durkheim, 1965.
4 Mbiti, 1995, p. 4.
5 Hall, 1990, p. 1.
6 Baumeister, 1986, p. 1.
7 Adogbo and Crowder, 2003, p. 9.
8 Adogbo& Crowder, 2003, p. 9.
9 Idowu, 1973, pp. 16-21.
10 Mbiti, 2008, p. 3.
11 Erikson, 1968, p. 2.
12 Baumeister, 1986, Brewer, 1995; Rouse, 1995.
13 Mbembe, 1988, p. 54.
14 Tajfel, 1981:, p. 10.
15 Brewer, 1991:, p. 25.
16 Hall, 1990:, p. 5.
17 Hall, 1990:, pp. 5-7.

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18 Barth, 1969:, p. 26.

19 Rouse, 1995, p. 16.
20 Rouse, 1995, p. 16.
21 Leonard, 1992, p. 69.
22 Mbiti, 1995, p. 6.
23 MaxWell, 2011, p. 20.
24 Okolo, 1978, p. 55.
25 Mbiti, 1995, p. 6.
26 Pobee, 1979, pp. 43-45.
27 Maxwell, 2011:, pp. 23-33.
28 Vansina, 2010, p. 9.
29 Gort, 2008, p. 756.
30 Smith, 1991, p. 24.
31 Diop, 1991, p. 1.

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