As relixións tradicionais africanas, ou as prácticas e crenzas tradicionais dos pobos africanos, son un conxunto crenzas moi diversas que inclúen varias relixións étnicas.[1] Polo xeral, estas tradicións son orais máis que escritas,[2][3] inclúen a crenza dun creador supremo, crenza nos espíritos, culto ós devanceiros, uso da maxia e medicina tradicional.[1][4] Polo xeral, o papel da humanidade é visto como un harmonizador da natureza co sobrenatural.[1][5]
Os practicantes das relixións tradicionais na África subsahariana distribúense en 43 países e estímase que o seu número rolda os 100 millóns.[6]
Malia que a maioría dos africanos son practicantes de cristianismo ou islam, os pobos africanos a miúdo combinan a prácticas das súas crenzas tradicionais coa prácticas das relixións abrahámicas.[7][7][8][9][10][11] As dúas relixións abrahámicas están amplamente difundidas ó londo de África. Substituíron as relixións indíxenas africanas, pero a miúdo son unha adaptación do contexto cultural e do sistema de crenzas.[12]
Britannica Book of the Year (2003), Encyclopædia Britannica (2003) ISBN978-0-85229-956-2 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 (1996) Cambridge, MA: Blackwell PublishersArquivado March 4, 2016, en Wayback Machine. 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 encyclopediae, placing Britannica's estimate as the most agreed on figure. Notes the figure presented at the World Christian Encyclopedia, summarized hereArquivado 05 de marzo de 2016 en Wayback Machine., 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.
Mbiti, John S (1992). Introduction to African religion. ISBN9780435940027.When Africans are converted to other religions, they often mix their traditional religion with the one to which they are converted. In this way they are not losing something valuable, but are gaining something from both religious customs
Gottlieb, Roger S (2006-11-09). The Oxford handbook of religion and ecology. ISBN9780195178722.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
"US study sheds light on Africa's unique religious mix". AFP. Arquivado dende o orixinal o 25 de abril de 2010. Consultado o 07 de marzo de 2019.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.
Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica Book of the Year 2003. Encyclopædia Britannica, (2003) ISBN9780852299562 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, Massachusetts: 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 hereArquivado 05 de marzo de 2016 en Wayback Machine., as being an outlier. The World Book Encyclopedia has estimated that in 2002 Christians formed 40% of the continent's population, with Muslims forming 45%. It was also estimated in 2002 that Christians form 45% of Africa's population, with Muslims forming 40.6%.
Bibliografía
Information presented here was gleaned from World Eras Encyclopaedia, Volume 10, edited by Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure (Nova York: Thomson-Gale, 2003), in particular pp.275–314.
Baldick, J (1997) Black God: The Afroasiatic Roots of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Religions. Nova York: Syracuse University Press.
Doumbia, A. & Doumbia, N (2004) The Way of the Elders: West African Spirituality & Tradition. Saint Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications.
Ehret, Christopher, An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History, 1000 B.C. to A.D. 400, page 159, University of Virginia Press, ISBN0-8139-2057-4
Karade, B (1994) The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts. York Beach, MA: Samuel Weiser Inc.
P'Bitek, Okot. African Religions and Western Scholarship. Kampala: East African Literature Bureau, 1970.