The Religious Traditions of Africa: a history (review)

‘This book is a historical introduction to the major religions of Africa, a task that has not been previously attempted.’ So writes Elizabeth Isichei at the beginning of her opening chapter (p. 4). Doubtless, the reason why no one has attempted the task previously is because it is a Herculean one, demanding not only immense erudition but also hard choices about the selection of material and its presentation. Isichei certainly has a splendid grasp of the three enormous literatures, but is less sure-footed when it comes to their organization; in consequence, the results are somewhat mixed.

Isichei makes great use of primary sources, and well-chosen selections of these are used to preface each chapter. There is a useful annotated and up-to-date guide to further reading at the end of the book. But the structure of this work is problematic. After a thoughtful chapter on the study of traditional religion and another on the Early Church in North Africa, the text is split into three main parts: Islam, Christianity and Traditional Religion. These parts are divided into 22 chapters tracing the development of the three ‘religions’ into the present. The book does an admirable job in historicizing the traditions, but because it covers so much ground the reader is fed no more than a few morsels on particular religious expressions. In Chapter 18, ‘Powers embodied’, there is just one page on Bori and half a page on Zar; while Chapter 20, ‘Royals, Priests and Prophets’, offers just one page on Maji-Maji and two on Mau Mau. The book is very descriptive in places, particularly its sections on Islam, which have the appearance of amplified lecture notes. The lack of synthesis or development of ideas is in part mitigated by Isichei’s repeated use of examples from West Africa (Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa), the region with which she has most familiarity. But the reader still has to work hard to find the broader patterns. Moreover, the preponderance of West African material comes at the expense of other regions, particularly eastern and south-western Africa.

Because the traditions are treated separately, the reader is left with the impression that they are relatively hermetic rather than collections of ideas and practices that encountered each other and changed in the process. There is some discussion of religious interactions (pp. 4–8), where Isichei introduces the idea that traditional religions survive in the hearts of contemporary Christians and Muslims – as embodied, for example, in fears of witchcraft or the Zar cult of Somalia. In Chapter 21 she discusses the impact of biblical stories on the content of pre-existing myth and legend, and in the following chapter she describes how Yoruba diviners have borrowed organizational structures from Christianity. But none of these interesting ideas are given enough room to develop. Synthesis could have been achieved if there had been an introduction and conclusion – but, oddly, these chapters are missing.

There are, however, some particularly tasty morsels and Isichei is at her best when she leaves behind the secondary literature to introduce new material or offer her own opinions. This is particularly the case with her treatment of Christianity. There is a rich chapter on African-initiated churches in which she describes how the Zion Christian Church’s present head remained silent before South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission – ‘his silence more eloquent than words’ (p. 203). A page later she reminds us that ‘The fundamental emphasis of the amaZiyoni is on healing through spiritual means. “This is not a church, it is a hospital”’, said one Swazi Zionist.’ There are also great insights on the larger independent movements, such as the Kimbanguist Church, one or two generations on from the death of the founder. The chapter on the historic mission church in the twentieth century has some nice touches, with Isichei describing how liberal missionaries came to appreciate the values of traditional religion and how African theologians built upon them...