LSC S2 :RELIGION IN EAST AFRICA

Introduction
After studying this chapter, you will be able to understand the influence and the impact of religions in East Africa. You will be able to understand and appreciate that before the coming of foreign religions, East Africans had their own way of worshipping God. You will also appreciate the reasons why African religions
existed alongside foreign religions. You will be able to analyse the impact of foreign religions on the indigenous people of East Africa. Religion is a belief in a god or gods and the activities that are connected with this belief, such as praying or worshipping in a building such as a church, temple or a mosque. It is a belief in and worship of the superhuman controlling power and worshipping a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. It usually involves devotional and ritual observances, and often contains a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

TRADITIONAL AFRICAN RELIGIONS IN EAST AFRICA
African traditional religion refers to the indigenous religions of the African people. It is based on oral traditions and beliefs in the guidance of their ancestors’ spirits. There are spiritual leaders, priests or pastors in most traditional African religions. Traditional African religion is a way of life in which ancestors are part of every major event such as wedding, birth and death. During these events, usually sacrifices/offerings are made to honour, please and thank the ancestors. The ancestors are called to receive the offering and bless the gathering.

Traditional African religion recognised a Supreme god, but followers did not worship him or her directly. They, therefore, asked the ancestors to communicate on their behalf. The elders in the clan or community had the duty to offer sacrifices to the gods. They called the ancestors to receive the offering and asked for blessings in times of great hardship and need, like drought or epidemics that could threaten the entire community, and punishments to wrongdoers.

The coming of foreign religions during the 19th Century checked on the spread of African traditional religion. Despite Islam and Christianity attracting several followers ,some people have continued to subscribe to the traditional African religion. This is because the African traditional religion addresses all aspects of life

the act of marriage, birth, death, eating, and harvesting which are elaborate in African settings. Most societies in East Africa have continued to embrace African traditional religion alongside Christianity and Islam.
These societies in East Africa reffered to their gods with different names, such as Katonda among the Baganda, Ruhanga among the Banyankore and Banyoro, Kibumba the creator among the Basoga,Ngai among the Kikuyu,Were among the Samia of eastern Uganda and Kenya, among others. Most of these societies had traditional intermediaries, a case in point is Buganda where these divinities were reffered to different names with their roles shown below;

Agtivity 6.1: Traditional gods
(b)
Using library or ICT research, list down the traditional religious organisations that existed in East Africa in the pre-colonial period. Identify the foreign religions in your community and discuss how they differ in belief and customs.
Explain the reasons why some people have continued to worhip through traditional religions in your community today.
Why do some people shy away from traditional African religions today?
Share your findings with the rest of the class, and note down the agreed views.

FOREIGN RELIGIONS IN EAST AFRICA
lslam’” came to East Africa before any other religion, It was introduced by Moslem trades and was followed by Christianity that came primarily through the European Christian missionaries in the 19th Century, Islam in East Africa
Islam in East Africa was spread through interactions between individuals and the Arab Muslims who had settled in small groups and maintained their culture and religious practices. Some wore involved in commercial activities with the
people of East Africa for a long time. The settlement of Arabs along the coast of East Africa was a foundation for the spread of Islam along the coast. Although Islam arrived quite early in East Africa through traders, it did not spread through conquests or settlements, but remained an urban and coastal phenomenon for quite long. Several Moslem groups from Arabia migrated and settled on the East
African coast.

Seyyid Said’s Group
This group was the first to arrive in 710 AD from Oman. Seyyid Said, together with Suleiman were local chiefs in Oman, who refused to submit to the authority of Umayyad rule in Arabia. They instead migrated to East Africa with their supporters. Their group settled on the Island of Zanzibar.

A1 Hassan Group
This group arrived on the East African coast around 750 AD from the Persian Gulf the A1 Hassan region. They were basically Sunni and settled in Mogadishu. This group was from the Sunni sect.
Shiraz group
The group arrived towards the end of the 10th Century led by Hussein Bin Ali Shiraz. They migrated from southern Persia and settled on the Islands of Pemba, zanzibar and Comoros. They did a commendable job in the spread of Islamic religion on the East African coast.

.Activity 6.2: Islamic religion in East Africa
a) Using library or ICT research,find out why Islam was more concentrated at the East African coast than in the interior.
b) What led to the delay in the spread of Islam compared to other religions in East Africa?
c) Share your research findings with the rest of the class.

CHRISTIAN EUROPEAN MISSIONARIES IN EAST AFRICA
The first missionaries arrived in East Africa in the 15th Century, and were joined by other missionaries in the 19th Century. These were David Livingstone (East and Central Africa), Ludwig Krapf, Johann Rebmann and Jacob Erhardt. The pioneer missionaries societies in East Africa were the Church Missionary Society
(CMS) led by two Germans: John Krapt and Johann Rebmann.The Universities’ Mission to Central Africa (UMCA), London Mission Society (LMS) all British Missionary Societies and the Africa Inland Mission (AIM), came later inspired to complete Livingstone’s work after his death in 1873. The only French mission to
start work on the coast at this time was the Holy Ghost Fathers or Spiritans, who established their mission in Zanzibar in 1862.

Reasons for the coming of European Missionaries to East Africa
The missionaries came to spread Christianity and to check the spread of Islam, ‘civilise’ Africans and spread Western culture, to fight slave trade, to encourage legitimate trade and to explore Africa. The primary aim of all Christian missionaries that began work in East Africa during the second-half of the 19th Century was to spread Christianity among the locals and convert them from their traditional beliefs. However, due to geographical
they had to start work on the coast, which was predominantly a Muslim area. Because Islam had spread at the coast, they did not want it to spread to the interior. The establishment of a mission at the coast of East African was to check the spread of Islam in the interior of East Africa. Secondly, the aim was to eradicate slave trade. East Africa was involved in slave trade and there was the desire to provide for the unfortunate victims of slave
trade by raising them up in Christian faith. They were also motivated by the desire to genuinely serve humanity and bring about material and social change for improving the quality of life. Lastly, they were driven by the desire to understand the indigenous norms and values.

Missionary Activities in East Africa
There were a number of activities associated with Christian missionaries after their spread into the interior of East Africa. Their first encounter with the people was to preach the gospel. For the success of preaching the gospel, they built churches, schools and hospitals and made journeys to spread the gospel.
Perhaps the greatest service of the missionaries was the promotion of Western education and the development of vernacular literature. Alexander Mackay was instrumental in building schools. The schools established during his time include Maseno High School, and Alliance High school in Kenya, Mt. St Mary’s
Namagunga, St Mary’s College Kisubi, Namilyango College, Gayaza High School, King’s College Buddo, Mackay College Nateete in Uganda. Others were later established under the Christian Missionary Churches throughout the countries of East Africa.

Apart from giving to the converts a new religious faith which they considered superior to the traditional religions, the Christian missionaries started the work of building churches. The missionaries established and built churches in almost all areas of East Africa where they operated in. This was to ease the spread of the
gospel. The churches were the meeting points for Christian converts to address their problems. The churches built included Namirembe Cathedral and Lubaga Cathedral in Uganda. The missionaries also greatly improved health services. While carrying out missionary work, the missionaries built health centres that later turned into
hospitals to treat people. All missionary churches in Uganda today have hospitals. The hospitals include Dr Albert Cook Mengo (1897), St. Francis Nsambya and Lubaga hospitals in Uganda; Berega Mission Morogoro, Chimala Mission Hospital and Mikocheru Mission Hospital in Tanzania. In Kenya, the missionaries established St. Camillus Mission Hospital and St Mary’s Mission Hospital and

others spread actoss the country whot@’ thoy oporntod, Figure 69 howt the work of missionaries in East Africa,

Activity 6.3: Missionary Activities
In groups;
a) Identify some missionary activities still existing in Uganda or your local area,
b)How are the missionary activities contributing to the development of Uganda
or your local area?
c)Share your views in class and note down the agreed views,

Impact of Missionary activities in East Africa
The missionaries had impacts on the social political life of the people in East Africa- The Christian religion damaged the culture and traditional beliefs of the peop{e of EastAfrica. Instead of adapting the teachings and practices of the nowrei’gicn to suit indigenous values, the early Christian missionaries condemned
African traditjcnal religion as pagan, and to be avoided by their converts,

ignorant of the importance of certain institutions and practices of the people of East Africa, and occasionally being misled by their overzealous followings into wrongly interpreting the people’s heritage, the missionaries compelled pupils in their schools and docile adult converts to shun their own ancestral practices. The education provided in schools in the early days of the missionary activities tended to place great emphasis on the superiority of Western culture. Textbooks were heavily biased towards Western ideas and values. History books tended to exaggerate the achievements of Europeans, making no reference to Africa’s owngreat past.
christian converts were instructed to frown upon the use of indigenous first names in favour of Christian ones. Often, the missionaries condemned the harmless songs and dances of the people. As it happened in Buganda, some of the Christian missionaries often engaged in local politics and took an active part in helping the colonial authorities in their wars of territorial expansion.

Activity 6.4: Impact of Christian Missionaries in East Africa
a) In groups, explain the effects of missionary activities in Uganda up to today.
b) What problems were faced by missionaries in doing their work in East Africa.
•c) Present your findings to the rest of the class.

The Uganda Martyrs
Namugongo Martyrs Shrine
The Christian religion was received with much excitement by the converts, but it came with its own requirements. It denounced all the native religious behavior and practices as heathen and satanic. Therefore, joining it meant a commitment to break away from the old lifestyle, make and adopt new alliances, and adjust to new moral and religious standards, adherence and allegiance. The converts had
diverted their loyalty to some other authority and their allegiance at all costs could no longer be counted on.

The new flock of believers, therefore, were seemingly regarded as rebels who had transferred their loyalty to new religious systems, thus abandoning the Aid tribal traditions. Amidst growing tensions between the kabaka, missionaries and converts, Mutesa 1 died and was succeeded by a youthful Kabaka Mwanga.
He was inexperienced and lacked the zeal like his father The missionaries and converts threatened the existence of the kingdom and his sovereignty. He had to deal with them ruthlessly because unlike his father, he was not diplomatic. Their continued disobedience to Kabaka Mwanga annoyed him and he Started killing them as seen in the sculpture in Figure 6.3 below.

a) Using library or ICT, research and findout why religious Christian converts
were killed at Namugongo.
b)In groups, discuss the importance of Namugongo Martyrs Shrine to Uganda today.
c)List the names of the Uganda martyrs who were killed at Namungongo.
d)How have the Uganda martyrs enabled the growth of missionary work ih
Uganda?
present your work to the teacher for evaluation.