Edited by Ibigbolade S. Aderibigbe and Toyin Falola, The Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion brings clarity to the complex nature of Africa’s religious and cultural traditions. The nomenclature used to describe these complexities has evolved during the 19th and 20th centuries: from heathen, animist, pagan, juju, or “ancestor worship,” to the less pejorative “primal”; and now to the generally accepted “traditional,” chosen by the editors of this tome. One of the great strengths of the volume is that all the contributors are actively researching and teaching African religion either within or outside Africa, and although most are either confessional Christians or Muslims, they are sympathetic to African traditional religions (ATRs), a great departure from earlier treatments of these traditions that regarded them as mere handmaidens for the Abrahamic religions. If there is any clear consensus among the contributors to the book, it is their insistence that Africa’s religious traditions must be studied in their own rights and on their own cultural terms.
Structurally, the book is divided into three parts, making it possible for the reader to focus on the topics that most interest them. The articles in the first section explore several important issues in the study of African cosmogony, such as its theism, the “belief in ancestors,” reincarnation, and the place of women within ATRs. With regard to theism, Dorothy Afaor follows the long-established orthodoxy in the study of African religions that sees the concept of a “Supreme God” undergirding African religious views (87). This view is challenged by Benson Igboin, who argues that ancestors, and not monotheism, undergirded Africa’ cosmology, noting that the belief in the ancestors is still very strong in Africa (107).
However, he goes on to argue that due to the disruption of traditional society in colonial and post-colonial times, the criteria for becoming revered ancestors is still a subject of debate in Africa. Ibigbolade Aderibigbe, in his contribution, writes that belief in reincarnation, though vitiated in the past century or so, is making a comeback within African consciousness (173). He connects African belief in reincarnation with similar beliefs in different world religions. Although Atinuke Okunade (219) highlights the contributions of women to ATRs, the patriarchal nature of most African societies has either limited them and/or excluded them from the historiography of ATRs. This is an area that could have been more robustly covered.
In part 2, contributors explore contemporary issues of interconnection, focusing on ATRs in dialogue with contemporary realities. One of these realities is the hegemonic influence of Islam and Christianity in Africa, which raises concerns about the future of ATRs. In an article that speaks directly to this concern, Danoye Oguntola-Laguda argues that the emergence of new ATRs should allay fears of their extirpation from the African religious landscape (441).
In part 3, the contributors explore and propose ways forward for the robust study of ATRs. For example, Raymond Ogunlade and Grillo Oluwaseun tackle the big question of who is best suited to study Africa and its religious traditions (487). Toyin Falola identifies several challenges facing such scholarship and proposes ways to address them (497). In spite of all these proposals, I am left wondering how far scholars of ATRs are willing to go to address the challenge raised by Okot p’Bitek in African Religions in Western Scholarship (East African Literature Bureau, 1970), either by jettisoning their inherited Western/European template or by coming up with new frameworks that adequately capture the reality of Africa and its diaspora. In this regard, though progress is being made, as evidenced by the publication of this volume, there is still much to be done.
For all its strengths, the handbook has some weaknesses. First, it would have been valuable to see a variety of more robust case studies. Also, in some cases the language is too technical for the lay person, and in others it almost amounts to the repetition of ideas about African Traditional Religion offered by earlier scholars. New terminologies need to be coined in light the status that ATRs have attained in relationship to other religions of the world.
In addition, the majority of the contributors are from Nigeria and its diaspora. Having wider representation from the whole continent would have strengthened the volume. The resilience and resurgence of ATRs south of the Sahara, as documented in this book, is a reminder that in north Africa, traditional religions still survive in “folk” forms despite the hegemonic influence of Islam over the centuries. As scholars of ATRs extend their research to this part of the continent, they may discover that beyond the façade of Islam, traditional religions may be thriving unnoticed. I hope to see the results of such research in a future volume.
To conclude, The Palgrave Hand Book of Traditional African Religion is a valuable resource for both scholars and lay people seeking to understand the complex religious traditions of Africa and its diaspora. The wide variety of topics covered by the volume is valuable for undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels of scholarship. In particular, scholars in the history of religions, anthropology of religion, theology, and mission studies will find this volume a truly useful companion.
Nathan I. Elawa is a faculty member at Corpus Christi College, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Nathan Elawa
Date Of Review:
January 2, 2024