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Religion in Africa is multifaceted and has been a major influence on art, culture and philosophy. The continent's various populations and individuals are mostly adherents of Christianity or Islam. Others practice traditional and folk religions. In the countryside, religious beliefs are also often characterized by syncretism with local traditions.

African traditional religion

Africa encompasses a wide variety of traditional beliefs. Although religious customs are sometimes shared by many local societies, they are usually unique to specific populations or geographic regions.

According to Dr J Omosade Awolalu, The "traditional" in this context means indigenous, that which is foundational, handed down from generation to generation, meant as to be upheld and practised today and forevermore. A heritage from the past, yet not treated as a thing of the past but that which connects the past with the present and the present with eternity.

Often spoken of in the terms of a singularity, deliberate; yet conscious of the fact that Africa is a large continent with multitudes of nations who have complexed cultures, innumerable languages and myriads of dialects.

The essence of this school of thought is based mainly on oral trasmission; that which is written in people's hearts, minds, oral history, customs, temples and religious functions.

It has no founders or stand-out reformer like Gautama the Buddha, Christos, Ashoka, Christ or Muhammed. It is not a religion of one specific hero.

It has no missionaries or even the intention to propagate or to proselytise.

Some of the African traditional religions include Yoruba, Serer and Igbo religion.

Abrahamic religions

The majority of Africans are adherents of Christianity or Islam. African people often combine the practice of their traditional belief with the practice of imported Abrahamic religions. Abrahamic religions are widespread throughout Africa. They have both spread at the expense of indigenous African religions, but are often adapted to African cultural contexts and belief systems. It was estimated in 2002 that Christians form 40% of Africa's population, with Muslims forming 45%.

Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith in Africa has a diverse history. It is the 3rd most widespread organized Abrahamic religion in Africa after Islam and Christianity after its wide-scale growth in the 1950s and extend in the 1960s. The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) lists many large and smaller populations in Africa with Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and Zambia among the top ten numerical populations of Bahá'ís in the world in 2005 (each with over 200,000 adherents), and Mauritius in terms of percentage of the national population.

All three individual heads of the religion, Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi, were in Africa at various times. More recently the roughly 2000 Bahá'ís of Egypt have been embroiled in the Egyptian identification card controversy from 2006 through 2009. Since then there have been homes burned down and families driven out of towns. On the other hand Sub-Saharan Bahá'ís were able to mobilize for nine regional conferences called for by the Universal House of Justice 20 October 2008 to celebrate recent achievements in grassroots community-building and to plan their next steps in organizing in their home areas.

Christianity

Christianity is now one of the two most widely practised religions in Africa and is the largest religion in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most adherents outside Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea are Roman Catholic or Protestant. Several syncretistic and messianic sects have formed throughout much of the continent, including the Nazareth Baptist Church in South Africa and the Aladura churches in Nigeria.There is also fairly widespread populations of Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. However, the oldest Christian denominations in Africa are the Coptic church in Egypt and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, all Oriental Orthodox, which rose to prominence in the fourth century AD after King Ezana the Great made Ethiopia one of the first Christian nations.

In the first few centuries of Christianity, Africa produced many figures who had a major influence outside the continent, including St Augustine of Hippo, St Maurice, Origen, Tertullian, and three Roman Catholic popes (Victor I, Miltiades and Gelasius I), as well as the Biblical characters Simon of Cyrene and the Ethiopian eunuch baptised by Philip the Evangelist.

Christianity existed in Ethiopia before the rule of King Ezana the Great of the Kingdom of Axum, but the religion took a strong foot hold when it was declared a state religion in 330 AD, becoming one of the first Christian nations. The earliest and best known reference to the introduction of Christianity to Africa is mentioned in the Christian Bible's Acts of the Apostles, and pertains to the evangelist Phillip's conversion of an Ethiopian traveler in the 1st Century AD. Although the Bible refers to them as Ethiopians, scholars have argued that Ethiopia was a common term encompassing the area South-Southeast of Egypt.

Other traditions have the convert as a Jew who was a steward in the Queen’s court. All accounts do agree on the fact that the traveler was a member of the royal court who successfully succeeded in converting the Queen, which in turn caused a church to be built. Tyrannius Rufinus, a noted church historian, also recorded a personal account as do other church historians such as Socrates and Sozemius.

Some experts predict the shift of Christianity's center of gravity from the European industrialized nations to Africa and Asia in modern times. Yale University historian Lamin Sanneh stated, that "African Christianity was not just an exotic, curious phenomenon in an obscure part of the world, but that African Christianity might be the shape of things to come." The statistics from the World Christian Encyclopedia (David Barrett) illustrate the emerging trend of dramatic Christian growth on the continent and supposes, that in 2025 there will be 633 million Christians in Africa.

Islam

According to the World Book Encyclopedia, Islam is the largest religion in Africa, with 47% of the population being Muslim, accounting for 1/4 of the world's Muslim population. The faith's historic roots on the continent stem from the time of the Prophet Muhammad, whose early disciples migrated to Abyssinia (hijira) in fear of persecution from the pagan Arabs.

The spread of Islam in North Africa came with the invasion of Egypt under Caliph Umar, through the Sinai Peninsula - followed by the rapid conquest of North Africa by the Arab armies. Islam in West Africa was through Islamic traders and sailors.

Islam is the dominant religion in North Africa and the Horn of Africa. It has also become the predominant religion on the Swahili Coast as well as the West African seaboard and parts of the interior. There have been several Muslim empires in Western Africa which exerted considerable influence, notably the Mali Empire, which flourished for several centuries and the Songhai Empire, under the leadership of Mansa Musa, Sonni Ali and Askia Mohammed.

Judaism

Adherents of Judaism too can be found scattered across Africa. Perhaps not as well known as the history of Christianity and Islam in Africa to the outside observer, Judaism has an ancient and rich history on the African continent. Today, there are Jewish communities in many countries; including the Beta Israel of Ethiopia, the Abayudaya of Uganda, the House of Israel in Ghana, the Igbo Jews of Nigeria and the Lemba of Southern Africa.

Irreligion / agnostic / atheism

A Gallup poll shows that the irreligious amount to 20% in South Africa, 16% in Botswana, 13% in Mozambique, 13% in Togo, 12% in Libya and Cote D'ivoire, 11% in Guyana, 10% in Ethiopia and Angola, 9% in Sudan, Zimbabwe and Algeria, 8% in Namibia and 7% in Madagascar.

Dharmic Religions

Hinduism

Hinduism is a non-proselytizing religion and was usually not propagated to the same lengths or through the same means as Christianity and Islam. As such, it has mostly been confined to practise by the Indo-African communities of these countries. However, in post-colonial Africa, a small-scale movement for Hinduism and its propagation outside the Indo-African community has occurred, spearheaded by such individuals as Swami Ghanananda, the first Hindu swami of Ghana.

Jainism

The Jain religion has traditionally been confined to the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and East Africa. However, with immigration policies being liberalised and increasing immigration from India, Jainism has been rising.

Buddhism

A 2003 study estimated that in the late 1990s there were a total of 6,000 Buddhists in South Africa (3,000 of whom had Asian ancestry) out of a total population of 42 million (or 0.00014% of the total population). There have also been cases of some high profile celebrities converting to Buddhism such as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, a famous actor of Nigerian descent.

East Asian religions

Taoic religions are mainly practiced by the Chinese, but also some Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese people. With increasing immigration of workers from East Asia and Vietnam, some of them have brought their religions to the continent.

Daoism

Geographically, Taoism flourishes best in regions populated by Chinese people. There has been a rapid increase of Chinese diaspora communities in Africa. Chinese Taoist clergy is organizing missionary systems to spread the spirituality around the world.

Confucianism

With an increasing East Asian population in Africa, the number of Confucianists has risen. The Chinese have established Confucius institues all over Africa to bridge the cultural gap between China and Africa.

Shinto

Kami-no-michi has a small presence in Africa, mainly among the Japanese diaspora.

Syncretism

Syncretism is the combining of different (often contradictory) beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. In the commonwealth of Africa syncretism with indigenous beliefs is practiced throughout the region. It is believed by some to explain religious tolerance between different groups. Kwesi Yankah and John Mbiti argue that many African peoples today have a 'mixed' religious heritage to try to reconcile traditional religions with Abrahamic faiths. Jesse Mugambi claims that the Christianity taught to Africans by missionaries had a fear of syncretism, which was carried on by current African Christian leadership in an attempt to keep Christianity "pure." Syncretism in Africa is said by others to be overstated, and due to a misunderstanding of the abilities to of local populations to form their own orthodoxieto s and also confusion over what is culture and what is religion. Others state that the term syncretism is an elusive, since it can be applied to refer to substitution or modification of the central elements of Christianity or Islam with beliefs or practices from somewhere else. The consequences under this definition, according to missiologist Keith Ferdinando, are a fatal compromise of the religion's integrity. However, communities in Africa (e.g. Afro-Asiatic) have many common practices which are also found in Abrahamic faiths, and thus these traditions do not fall under the category of some definitions of syncretism.

Religious distribution

Country	Christianity % of total population	Islam % of total population	Traditional religions and other % of total population	Source
- Central Africa -
Angola	95	0.5	4.5
Cameroon	69.2	20.9	9.9
Central African Republic	80.3	10.1	9.6
Chad	34	53	13
Democratic Republic of the Congo	95.6	1.5	2.9
Republic of the Congo	90.7	1.3	8
Equatorial Guinea	93	1	6
Gabon	73	10	17
São Tomé and Príncipe	97	2	1
- East Africa -
Burundi	75	5	20
Comoros	2	98	0
Kenya	78	10	12
Madagascar	41	7	52
Malawi	79.9	12.8	7.3
Mauritius	32.2	16.6	51.2
Mayotte	3	97	0
Mozambique	56.1	17.9	26
Réunion	84.9	2.1	13
Rwanda	93.6	4.6	1.8
Seychelles	93.1	1.1	5.8
Tanzania	30	35	35
Uganda	84	12	4
Zambia	87	1	12
- Horn of Africa -
Djibouti	6	94	0
Eritrea	62.5	36.5	1
Ethiopia	62.8	33.9	3.3
Somalia	0	100	0
- North Africa -
Algeria	1	99	0
Egypt	10	90	0
Libya	1	97	2
Morocco	1.1	98.7	0.2
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	0	100	0
South Sudan	50	0	50	?
Sudan	3	97	0
Tunisia	1	98	1
- Southern Africa -
Botswana	71.6	0.3	28.1
Lesotho	90	0	10
Namibia	90	0	10
South Africa	79.7	1.5	18.8
Swaziland	90	1	9
Zimbabwe	84	1	15
- West Africa -
Benin	42.8	24.4	32.8
Burkina Faso	23	61	16
Cape Verde	99	0	1
Côte d'Ivoire	37.5	37.5	25.0
Gambia	9	90	1
Ghana	69	15.6	15.4
Guinea	10	85	5
Guinea-Bissau	10	50	40
Liberia	85.6	12.2	2.2
Mali	5	90	5
Mauritania	0	100	0
Niger	5	90	5
Nigeria	48.2	50.4	1.4
Senegal	5	94	1
Sierra Leone	21	77	2
Togo	48	14	38

1. The most recent census data are used.

See also

References

1. Restless Spirits: Syncretic Religion Yolanda Pierce, Ph.D. Associate Professor of African American Religion & Literature
2. Restless Spirits: Syncretic Religion Yolanda Pierce, Ph.D. Associate Professor of African American Religion & Literature
3. Religion In Africa And The Diaspora: African Belief System
4. ^ Dr J.O. Awolalu, Studies in Comparative Religion Vol. 10, No. 2. (Spring, 1976).
5. Cheikh Anta Diop The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality, Chicago, L.Hill, 1974. ISBN 1-55652-072-7
6. Leo Frobenius on African History, Art, and Culture: An Anthology, 2007] ISBN 1-55876-425-9
7. Bolaji Idowu African Traditional Religion: A Definition, Maryknoll, N.Y., Orbis Books (1973) ISBN 0-88344-005-9
8. J S MbitiAfrican Religions and Philosophy, African Writers Series, Heinemann (1990). ISBN 0-435-89591-5
9. Introduction to African religion. ISBN 9780435940027.When Africans are converted to other religions, they often mix their traditional religion with the one to which they are converted.
10. Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices: Religions and denominations. p. 1. ISBN 9780787666125.Although a large proportion of Africans have converted to Islam an Christianity, these two world religions have been assimilated into African culture, and many African Christians and Muslims maintain traditional spriritual beliefs
11. Introduction to African religion. ISBN 9780435940027.When Africans are converted to other religions, they often mix their traditional religion with the one to which they are converted.
12. The Oxford handbook of religion and ecology. ISBN 9780195178722.Even in the adopted religions of Islam and Christianity, which on the surface appear to have converted millions of Africans from their traditional religions, many aspect of traditional religions are still manifest
13. "US study sheds light on Africa's unique religious mix". AFP.t doesn't seem to be an either-or for many people. They can describe themselves primarily as Muslim or Christian and continue to practice many of the traditions that are characteristic of African traditional religion," Luis Lugo, executive director of the Pew Forum, told AFP.
14. In Transitions and consolidation of democracy in Africa. ISBN 9781586840402.Even though the two religions are monotheistic, most African Christians and Muslims convert to them and still retain some aspects of their traditional religions
15. Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica Book of the Year 2003. Encyclopædia Britannica, (2003) ISBN 9780852299562 p.306
    According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, as of mid-2002, there were 376,453,000 Christians, 329,869,000 Muslims and 98,734,000 people who practiced traditional religions in Africa. Ian S. Markham,(A World Religions Reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.) is cited by Morehouse University as giving the mid 1990s figure of 278,250,800 Muslims in Africa, but still as 40.8% of the total spaggetti These numbers are estimates, and remain a matter of conjecture. See Amadu Jacky Kaba. The spread of Christianity and Islam in Africa: a survey and analysis of the numbers and percentages of Christians, Muslims and those who practice indigenous religions. The Western Journal of Black Studies, Vol 29, Number 2, June 2005. Discusses the estimations of various almanacs and encyclopedium, placing Britannica's estimate as the most agreed figure. Notes the figure presented at the World Christian Encyclopedia, summarized here, as being an outlier. On rates of growth, Islam and Pentecostal Christianity are highest, see: The List: The World’s Fastest-Growing Religions, Foreign Policy, May 2007.
16. Lee, Anthony A. (1997). "The Baha'i Church of Calabar, West Africa: The Problem of Levels in Religious History". Occasional Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies. 01 (06). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
17. "Overview Of World Religions". General Essay on the Religions of Sub-Saharan Africa. Division of Religion and Philosophy, University of Cumbria. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
18. "Most Baha'i Nations (2005)". QuickLists > Compare Nations > Religions >. The Association of Religion Data Archives. 2005. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
19. El-Hennawy, Noha (September 2006). "The Fourth Faith?". Egypt Today.
20. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (2006-12-16). "Government Must Find Solution for Baha'i Egyptians". eipr.org. Archived from the original on 2007-02-09. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
21. Gonn, Adam (2009-02-24). "Victory In Court For Egyptian Baha'i". Cairo, Egypt: AHN. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
22. Reuters (2009-04-03). "Baha`i Homes Attacked in Egypt Village". Egypt: Javno.com. Retrieved 2009-05-25. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
23. "Regional Conferences of the Five Year Plan; November 2008–March 2009". Bahá’í International Community. 2009. Retrieved 3–21–2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
24. http://www.kebranegast.com Kebra Negast
25. Gayraud S. Wilmore, Pragmatic spirituality: the Christian faith through an Africentric lens. NYU Press. 2004. page 105
26. Hansberry, William Leo. Pillars in Ethiopian History; the William Leo Hansberry African History Notebook. Washington: Howard University Press, 1934.
27. Historian Ahead of His Time, Christianity Today Magazine, February 2007
28. World Council of Churches Report, August 2004
29. Hans Kung, Tracing the Way : Spiritual Dimensions of the World Religions. Continuum International Publishing Group. 2006. page 248
30. Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica Book of the Year 2003. Encyclopædia Britannica, (2003) ISBN 978-0-85229-956-2 p.306
    According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, as of mid-2002, there were 480,453,000 Christians, 329,869,000 Muslims and 98,734,000 people who practiced traditional religions in Africa. Ian S. Markham, (A World Religions Reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.) is cited by Morehouse University as giving the mid 1990s figure of 278,250,800 Muslims in Africa, but still as 40.8% of the total. These numbers are estimates, and remain a matter of conjecture (see Amadu Jacky Kaba). The spread of Christianity and Islam in Africa: a survey and analysis of the numbers and percentages of Christians, Muslims and those who practice indigenous religions. The Western Journal of Black Studies, Vol 29, Number 2, June 2005. Discusses the estimations of various almanacs and encyclopedium, placing Britannica's estimate as the most agreed figure. Notes the figure presented at the World Christian Encyclopedia, summarized here, as being an outlier. On rates of growth, Islam and Pentecostal Christianity are highest, see: The List: The World’s Fastest-Growing Religions, Foreign Policy, May 2007.
31. http://www.islamandafrica.com Islam And Africa
32. GALLUP WorldView - data accessed on 14 September 2011
33. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10401741
34. Estimates for the population of Jains differ from just over four million to twelve million due to difficulties of Jain identity, with Jains in some areas counted as a Hindu sect. Many Jains do not return Jainism as their religion on census forms for various reasons such as certain Jain castes considering themselves both Hindu and Jain. There are an estimated 20,000 jains in Africa,(from Dundas, Paul (2002). The Jains. Routledge. p. 271. ISBN 0-415-26606-8, 9780415266062. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)) and 5,000 in the rest of Asia.
35. http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/interviews/19172-60-seconds-adewale-akinnuoye-agbaje
36. http://www.arcworld.org/downloads/SCMP%20Daoism%2030%20April%202007.pdf
37. http://business.highbeam.com/1915/article-1G1-161127967/history-two-taoist-temples-baiyunguan-shanghai-china
38. http://www.china.org.cn/english/daodeforum/207879.htm
39. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KH07Ad03.html
40. http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20100905072629973
41. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2009/127235.htm
42. Howard-Hassmann, Rhoda E. (1986). Human rights in Commonwealth Africa. G - Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Series; Human Rights in Commonwealth Africa. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-8476-7433-6.
43. {Peek, Philip M; Yankah, Kwesi, eds. (2004). African folklore: an encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. various. ISBN 978-0-415-93933-1 http://books.google.ca/books?id=pOcWLGktIYoC&pg=PA254#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 3–21–2012. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
44. Mbiti, John S. (1992). Introduction to African religion (2nd ed.). East African Publishers. p. 15. ISBN 978-9966-46-928-1.
45. http://books.google.co.za/books?id=qyy-UXydibwC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=mbiti+syncretism&source=bl&ots=0QyGmgWvCF&sig=gmgMWVMmSD5A7BpzEAGyCM9piTg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=a1IUT4ezIofPhAf_45HAAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=mbiti%20syncretism&f=false Critiques of Christianity in African literature - Jesse Ndwiga Kanyua Mugambi : 9966465804
46. Mugambi, Jesse Ndwiga Kanyua (1992). Critiques of Christianity in African literature: with particular reference to the East African context. East African Publishers. p. 60. ISBN 978-9966-46-580-1.
47. Islam And Africa
50. Black God : the Afroasiatic roots of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions - Julian Baldick

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