:frican OriginS Of The Major PW"estern Religions" 1t?, I ~, African OriginsOf The Major Western Religions Published1991by Black Classic Press Publishedwiththe permission of the author. Cover art by Tony Browder, renderedfromthe original cover design by Yosef ben-locha nnan.We are indebtedtobothMalik Azeez for preparing the Select Bibliography and a niFord for preparing the Index forthe B.C.P. edition of this work. (el1970Yosef ben-Joehannan All rights reserved Originally published by Alkebu-l an Books Asscciates Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 9G--82689 ISBNG--933121-29-6 Printed onacid freepaper toassurelonglife Founded in1978,Black ClassicPress specializes in bringi ngtolight and significant works by and about people of African descent. If our boo!.., arenot available in your area,ask your local booksellertoorder them. OIlT current list of tiUes can be obtained by wriling: Black ClassicPress c/oList P.o.llox 1341 4 Un ltimorc,M!) 21Z03 OriginS Of The Major "Western Religions" By Yosef A,A.b en-Jochannan 1 . , INlANA S r.lOOWoINGT Otv AFRICANORIGINSOFTHE MAJORRELIGIONS" by:yosefben-Jochannan Chairman,Afr icanStudi esDepartment: TheHar lemPrepar ator ySchoolofNe\\'Yor k N.Y.C .,N.Y . Vi s itingPr ofessorofHistory: StateUn i ver sitycollegeatN' e\\'Paltz.,NewPa ltz,N. Y. Ad j unctAssoc .Pr ofessorofHi s tory:Pac eCollege,NewYork (NewYor lc. Cityandl'Jestch esterCampus). InstructorofHistory:HaryrnountCo llege,Tar r ytown,Ne\"!Yor k . CulturalandHi s tor i cal tothePer mane n t Afr icanI'1i ssi or.. softheUn itedNa t i onsOr gani zation. Dedica tedTo:t heinnocentlyr ecentbornandthoseyet- to- be AfricanandAfrican-Americaninfantswhomustonedaytake p l aceinmank ind'sworldasthei nheri tor softhereli gions thei rforebear e rscreated,hopingthattheymaybecometheforc-eso fchanget obringt h i swor l dtoitsequilibriumoncemor e iii .&'OEH PREFACE 1- iv INTRODUCTION v-SHANGO:ASotmCEOFAPR ICANRELIGIOUS. ChapterI pp.1- 72 .3T.AUGUSTIN;:::AFRICANINPLUBrICSONCHTI I STIANI'l'Y. ChapterI I pp.73- 137 HOSES :I\PRICANINFLUBNCEONJUDAISH. Chapte rlII pp .1 38- 195. BIL1\ L :AFrnCANINFLUENCEON'ISLAM. ChapterIV pp.196- 245. KING,r-l0HAl1!1r;O,DIVI NE,I"f.AT'l'HE\-JS ,ANDGAJWE.Y :Re ligiousNe ", Di mension s .ChapterV pp.246- 297 . CONCLUSION: pp.298- 310 . IJOTE:S: 9p .31 1- 342. BIBLIOGRAPHY: pp .343- 355 . '"God:R.a-Sunb ur st SunGodo ftheNi l e . .0.=Symbolofthef ir stprinciplesofrel i g i on.Coff i nTexts . PyramJ..d\" i thAllSee ingEye . ?=God:Oarnbal la!1Ouedo ,Voodoo . Afr ican . Roo,-,ter. f=KeyofLi feo fthellys teries.Gr andLodgeofLu xor . Ankh,NileVa l leyCr oss. +=God :Jesu sChr i stoChr i stiani ty ..Cross ,i'JesternizedVers i on . a! =God:Tradi tionalAfr icanr e l i g ions. Cr oss,Ni l eVa lleyandCen trqlAfr 1cQ. ::God:Ya\"eh .He br e",ism( J udaism). S ta.rofOavid. ::God:Alt l ah.I s l am. CrescentofTi gr i sanduphrates . iv AllFa ithif1 S a llFaithisTr u e Truthist heshatte red Inmy riadb itsjwhileeachbe l i e veselfin h i sl i t tl eb i tthe\.. holetoown From: THE: KASI DAHof ( astr a n s!.by HAJ IABUe l - YEZDI SirRi chardP .Bur ton ) v PREFACE: 8veryti meIhadthegoodf or tu netor esea rchintosomeone ' s r e l igionIfoune." God"tobet.hei mageo fthepeo p l eto'I/hom ther e lig ionbelongs;tha tispr ovidingitsphi l o s ophi c a l conce!l t sareindi lJ enou sjnotcolo n ial.Thecol oni a l i s ti'! refer r e d toisnote ssential lyo neo fconquerornorisi toneofthe conquer e di nt hesenseo ftr oop sandland ,butof and inthi scase,\\I!"I Ohaveseentheshackles,,'hic h OO'Jndt h e irb odiesr e move df orovero ne- hundr edyC? ars,butnot thoseoftheirmind. Becau s eo ftheirmentaltoChristianity,andIslam,theAfricansandAfrican- Americans'-Ilho haveforonereasonoranotherbeenf orcedt oabandonthe irmJn indisen()u::;r e l i g i ons ,nee dtoknolt,' thei rroll?i neit;,erof thesethree .ASCl personofAfr i c a nor i gin ,Ifeelth ati tis myobl i !}a t i ontoentert h i sf i eld ,\'/ner es oma nynon- J\fr icans h avebeforemeenteredtos peakund\')r i teabo utme .In5 0 dcinl) :Ishallsno,,}t!1atJudaism,Islamare asmuchI\iricana. st:"ICYareAs iani n"'rigin,2, ndinncSl2nse Surope anastheti t I e ," 'dESTr':RHR.ELIGIONS"sUCJgc sl:.;thattheterms"Semit ic "ane."Hamitic "- ?,stheya represently aP9liedt otheearly . founderso ftheser eli Qi o ns- a:reE_=ist inc harac t era ndin t ent .Thesolepurposeist odenythe e;{is t enceoft'r'la t\-Jhic hmostEur o peansandi::ur opea n-Americuns ca l l "Afr i cansSouthoftheSahara"and"Bantu,"ar.lOnenhancedt hecurrentv,"\l ueoft hematerialcont ent " xxv However,it Hi llbenotedthatnoneofthepersonalities ment ionedinthis...jOrkisratedoveranyoft heothers.If thisweredone,thepurposeforwhichthisvJorki screated wouldhavesufferedbeyondrepair.Inclosing,a ndwith respectt othemajorcontributionsofalloftheAfricans andpeopleofAfricanoriginment ionedherein,thefollowing Africansayingisgiven: .. Anoffspr ingv/ithoutas piritpastisa beingwithoutanancestraltie........ ....... .. .. .. ..au thorunknown xxvi .. SHANGO:ASOURCEOFRELIGIONS CHAPTERNUl1BERONE "Pagaism,Voodooism,Fetishism,Bl ackMagi c, Obyaha ndOledamare"area llbutameresampleofthemanynar:les relegatedt oafeHoftherighteouslysacr edreligionsofsolely tradi t ionalindigenousAfricanorigin- accordingtomost Eur opeanandEuropean- Americaneducators,theolog i ansand generalmissionaries\'Jhobelieve\.dthinthemselvesthatt l1ey havebeenordainedbysomeGodortheothertosavemankind from\Ithemsel ves. nAl thoughthismessianicobsessioni sin itselfdisgustingenough,theselabe l shavebecomemoreand moreextreme lyoffensivetothepeoplesofAfricanorigin,,,110 cherishtheirancienttraditionalrelig iousheritagethathas s urvivedAsi a n,EuropeanandEuropea.n-Americanslaver yand col onializat ion.Assuch,thischapter,hopefully,endeavors topoi ntoutsomeofthef undamental l yindigenousAfr ican moral,spiritual,andphilosophi calconceptsi nthesereligions areunkno...mt omostforeigners,asvlellastothevas t majorityofthes onsanddaughtersofthetrue"Gardeno fEden" - fl.lkebu- lan,whichtheGr eeksandRomansrename d" Africa, II ,\longwithothersuchnomenclaturesa Subsequenttotheda\'JnofZinjanthropusboisie, approximately andpossiblybeforet l1isdate,thei ndi genous AP.t: i c a npeoples- theso- called"Ne groes ,Bantus,Bushme.n, riotLentots"andothersbearingsuchlabelsofi nferioritys tatus p1c eduponther..bytho i.I:glo. vefilil8lcrsandcolonizer sfromAsia 1 andEurope- havebeenhonoringa"superi.orforce"or"being. " Sometimesthisr'force"orHbeing"isexpressedi nitsmate rial s ense,orinitsun- seeab leunioni nthe"Spirit(Nether)v10rl d" - equaltotheChristian"Hell"and"Heaven",Husli!':la ndJewis h"Hereaf ter. " Becauseoftheconceptofa"Spiritt'1orld"i nmos tofthe t raditionallyind i genousAfr i canreligionstherearea l so" good" a ndIIbad"orr'evil"ancestor sa nd/ or"omens . "Thesecouldbe trans latedi nto" good"and"bad"angelsa nddevi l s.Thus :The ChristianDe vil' HisSa t a ni cl\1ajesty'- woul dbeasmuchaGod as\>l ouldbeJesusChr i s t ,All a hOrYvahjhOvleve r,hewoul dbea "bad \! orf allenGod;" bad,"notinthesen set hattheanc e s tor h i mse lfwou ldh avebeenobnoxi ous,butint heorderofh i spast as" good"or"bad"t hing s- equivalentt otheroleofa"bad" Satan(theDevi l ,orFallenAngel)withrespecttoa" good" JesusChrist ,JehovahOrAllah.FortheAfr ican'scontenti oni s: i fGodalonecanmakea ll things,andcontr o la llt hings-including!':lan,thentheremus tbea tleastone" good"Godand one"bad!!God;ortheoneGodisbo t h" good"and"bad" inthe sameinstance. ContrarytomostEuropeanandEuropean- Amer ica n-styl e Christiandogma tism,\'Ihichexpoundstheraci stbeliefthat " BlackAf rci an"(Negro,Bantu,etc .. )tradi tionalr eligionsare solel y"visualist i candi dolistic,"thefactistha tmost indigenousAfricantraditi o na lr e ligionsofpr e - Slaveryand pre-colonialEuropeanandEuropea n-Americanperiodsthat survivedareasf undame ntallyphilosophicalandspiritualas t heso-cal l ed"idealis ticreligions.rlThena lur'vlclbjcc-t: s 2 usedi nsaid- Africant raditionalreli giouspracticestot"hi ch Chr istianandHo s l e mmi s sionariesobject ,serveonlyt oremi nd thefai t hfulof"divinepr esence" jandtheyarenodifferent inmeaningt hant heexhibi t ionofaHogenDavidar oundaJet'" 5 neck ,aCrucif ixhangingonaChri sti an Ischest,oraKa Iaba (bl ackstonefromEthiopia)concealedonaMos l em'sper son:l allof\lhichneeUnaturalll (ma ter ialis t ic )"objec ts!'toremind themoft heirGods. Citationsofanexampl eoftheabover emarksar etob e f oundinthe" libati onsl'(sacr ifi c i a ldrinking )stillbeing pr a c t i sedbytheindigenousAfricansoftraditi o nal l yAfr ica n rel igi ons .Theextento fthisc ustomisseeninthefactthat "thegreatestoftheFathersoftheChristianChurc h"_St. Augus tine(anindigenousAfr i c an),themostnotedofChris tendom's "mor a l ists,"c omrnentedo nitsus ageinrel i giousdevoti onquite favorably.I t1snoles ss acred ,Augustinefel t,thant he dr inkingof"lineduringtheChr i stians 't'Hol yCommUnion"i n memoryoftheLas tSu pper(PassoverSe der )roraRabbitaking hissi psofwi neontheSabbathEve(OmegShabatPridayevening). '(:: tt hesefundar.len t a lr.1a i ns t aysi nmosttraditionalindi genous .'(r i canrel igi o ... stenchiogshavebeenempl o yedinthe" Nys tery ': y:;leras "ofNorth,East,lles t ,Sou"!.: h, mdCentra lAfr i camorethan t 1l.!' c e-th ousandye arsbef orethebir thoftheHebr el-Jreli gion , .... hicbisthou5andsofyeacsbefocet heAfcicanofZgypt_fl10s e s_ . nf)).J05edlylef th i snative110melandontheNileRiverbank.sto theAfrica n-Je H!> ofCgyp'..:inCani3.an.Strangeasi tmay "t'm,t h elibC'r"Clt. innofhyLhcHebr e ...ls beanactof II1l't 't.l u liarn nclof1J "'H'Ici d'lI \tc.l .i. t1..:\I-:.o np l .:tccinlilt:'19thor 3 20thcenturyCaE.Nevertheless,themerefactthatpeopl ehave saidthatGod(Jehovah)orderedt hiscolonia l izat i onofone gr oupofpeople ,hemade,bya nother,seemstoj ustifysaid barbarisminthemindso fmost,eventoday .IftheEgyptians shoul dc laimtha tGodorderedthemintothesameareatakenf rom theNoabites ,Hit ti tes,Jebus ites,etc . ,thesameasheordered theHebrewssometimeago,overthree-thousandyearsago ,who believethem? Tosaythatt heindigenoust'/estAfricansIinvol vementi n theus eofalcoholicbeverages(palmt.,. ine)f orlibations (rel igiousinvocationsorsecu lartoastings)i sthec ustomof "pagans"andthe" unciviliz e d, IIHhichistoooftensaid,isto l abe lequall yall"l'l e s t erner s"\.,rhodrink\.,.ineceremoniousl y i nHebr e\'.1orChris tianritual sofb eingguiltyoft hesame . Thenisit God l yt'lhena'.'Jhitemandri nkswi neinachur chor synagogue ,butunGodl yintheCaseofaBlackman? InVood ooceremonies ,Liba tion2 mar kstheper iod'",hen certainri tualsbeginandothersend .Forexampl e,theLibation r i tualdurin9thecer emonytha tprecedesthepl acingof sacrif i cialf oodsonthemai na l tar _Bagi( Ho l yofHol ies)-beforethepraye rofsacr ifice,3al somarkstheentranceofthe Papal oa(HighPriest)"Thiscustomisascommonamongthe Af rican-Hai tiansasitisamongthet'lhydahsof Africa.In Christian es pecia l lydur i ngHol yCommuni on,i tis cus t omaryfortheattendants(massboys,priests,etc . )toset thealtarwithbread(host)inpreparati onofther ecitalofa I'!,)aga nll ri ',;ualthatdema nds: 4 " Takeyeandeatthis ,Chr i st'sbody . .. " ,"etc ..for\,ine(alcohol) itis : "Dr inkyet his,Chr ist 'sblood .. . ..,etc ..Thepriest -ormi nister'sfir s tdrink(libation)beforehedips thehos t(Chri st'sbody)intothewine(Christ'sblood )3a a ndcal l suponGod(Chris t' sfather)whichi ss imilarto invokingthespiritoftheYorubasofWestAfr ica 'sGod , Ol edamare,andhisOrisha s( minorGods) .Th i sisclear l ystated inthe tlTakeyethisMybl ood,anddr inkinMymemory , "etc. , atypi cal l yII paga n is t ic"andII cannibalisticuceremonyif performedbyAfricansorAfrican-Americans1nvoodoo .4 Isthis ceremonynotsimi lartothea nc i entc us tom\"hentheDruidsS of Norther nEuropeallegedlyII dranktheire nemies'b loodand ,\tetheirbrainstocapturet heirspirituala ndphysical t; trength ? " Isthe reanymajordiffer encebetweent hepracti ce: .JhenthePapaloa(Hi ghPriest- whoi ssimilarinranktoa fi omanCatholicProtestantArchbis hop,JewishChief 1(abbi,or1-1os l emGrandI man)i saidedbyhi ssubordinate lIoungan(pr ies t)andMambo(pr i es tess)a tthebegi nningoft he nLi ngofthemanges(sacrificialfood)asthebadgian(acolyte, ,,(,"totheHighPriest)ShakestheaSSon(rattl emade I, Omahollot'Jedgourdewithdr i edcornkernelins ide)thr ee I!mcswhi l et hemembersofhiscongregationrespondbybowi n g I hIi. eheads ;and\,henaRomanCatholicBishopi nhisceremony liar l nt)t heHo lyCommunion ;or'''he napr iestactsasthe \{hop ' ::. d. colytca nd!ihalc(,f;th':c h imer(incenseholder)andthe II1.mc.::..:J iqn.! lt hecongrgu. Llol\tobm/t)I Cirhead::;toprayer, 5 whileinthepursuingmome ntsthatfol l owthechoirsoft lyand sole ml ysingsash is"li ne( libation)iscarefullypour edfor himbyhisacol yte(badgi a n) ? I stheburni ngofSvleetincenseinVoodooritual s"un_Godly, " b ut"Godly"inJewish ,Chri stian,andISlamicceremonies ?I f thisistrue,then"vJesternRelig ions"incenseistherightway; a ndmaybethechoirinthe irreligiousceremonies- wi thits organand/ orpianobackgroundmusic- isa l sotheonl yonetobe rated"Godl y. "I f"WesternRe l igions'"choi r saret heonl yones a pprovedbytheauthorizedGcds,itisonl ynatural the Voodoochoi rswiththe irbackgroundog un(triangul arinstruments beatenbysticks)a ndtambours(seriesofdrums)6- mus tbe renderedIl un_Godly .. "\'i hy?Becauseagroupofpowerfulmen (Eur opeanandEur opean-Americans )vJ hodominateandcontrol r el i g iouspropagandaordai neditso. God- or'lodum,Jehovah,Ol edamare ,J esusChrist,Allah, andSabaLoas,neitheronei slessthedi vinityt h ate n ter sa nd se i zestheright eousinaPente costal,Bapti s t ,orVoodoo ceremonybecauseHeorSheiscalledbyei theroneofthese namesmencioned .Ina. nyoft hefundamentall yso-ca lled" Save SoulChurchesll ofAfr ican- AmericanandEuropean- Amer ica n sponsorship,onecaneasi l ynotethatVoodooa ndJ uJUha vebeen co- optedinmanyoft heirf ormsintot heJ udaeo- Chr istiansettiwI thatiscommontoChr ist i a n sandJ ewsintheUnitedS t atesof America.With inthisphenome naldevelopment,theso- cal l ed "NegroSpir itual"i sthemostcommona ndacceptable"pagani stic incantat i onlltoEuropean-AmericanJ e wsandvlhy? Becauset heyseesuchAfr i can-Amer i cani ncan llion!:;( "Negro 6 Spiri tual s!l)asr e ligiouse nter tairunentbytr ulyb l ack- face d minstrel s(flNiggers/ e tc .). Arethe" NegroSpir itual s"1nanyvJayadeve l opmental outgrowthofEuropean-American- styleChristi anity?Or ,are theynotanextensionofindigenousAfrica ntr ad i tional r e ligi o uschantsthatunderwentEuropeanandEur opean-American_ styl eJewishandChr istianinfluences? 'Thel atterisdefinitely thecase.OfCoursethisconclusionlllillbever yhea tedl y de ni e dbythoseHhowi shno ttobelabeled- amongother things "pagans,savages ,uncivilized,cannibal s , "etc.But thefacts tillremainsthatJ uJu,Voodoo,loJ itchcraft, andMagic, nIlba Sice l e mentswi t hintheSo-ca lled"Hester nRel i gionst"have beene mphasizedintheAfrican- American(Black )ownedand c ontrolle dsynagogues,churches, andmosques. Theh i s t oryoftheAfrican- Americans 'belatedentrancei nto /; u.ropean-American- styleChristianProtestantismandRoman is1nits e l fevidencethattheAf ricans,whowereat t het i mechattelslavesofEuropeanandEuropean-Amer ica nJewish rindChristians l avemaster s, notwan tedbyt hein-groups (t hes lavemasters) oCouldi thavebeenpos s i b l et hatthose I\l r icans(who\oJe r enota\-Jareofthefactt hattheirfe llow 11'1di genousAfrica ns- s ucha sHos es,St .Augu stine,511aland ,1t.11ar.:>- pr i marilymadeJudai sm,Chr i stiani ty,andIslamt hemass 'l.:Hlizat i onstheyare)Houldhavea.doptedtheexistingforms rel i gious"Jorshipt heirs l avemas ter swereus ingt o It'tintoto?NotatallZO.Themerefacttha tt heywere IIcclblyexcl ud edfr om1111f" ormDofJewish,Chrisi;i .l.n } a. ndI s lamic 7 (Ii HesternRe l igions" )rel i g iousworshi p ;andtha tt heywe::-eeven perse cu t e dandprosecutedfora nya t t emp tatpr a c t isinge ithe::-on'thei r0.,,10,isfur therpr imefac ieevidencet ha tthereis adistinctlydifferentJudai sm,Christianity, andIslamdeveloped byt heAfrican-Americansthatisnotat,tributabl ea nd/or app licableto,andby,Theuniqueness oft he irCODmoneatinghabi t sreprese ntsnomajordif ference s betweenthetwogroups .Forexampl e,t heAf r ican-Amer icanHas for c edt odevelopanappetitefor"chitterling ,hamhocks,pig ' s ears,tailsandfeet .. "\'Jhy?Becauseallo t herpar tsofthepig , likeal lotheredibleanimals,werer eservedf ortheEuropean a ndEuropean- J\mericanslavemasters- Christiana nd -ina ndo utofreligion.Int hecaseoftheso- cal ledII He stern Religions,"theAf rica nswereevende n iedther i gh tt oreadany boo1