MAAT KHERU: The Voice of 62nd Century KC [21rst Century CE] Pan-Afrikanism: ASPECTS OF AFRIKAN CIVILIZATION [AMADOU HAMPATE BA]

For the Fulani and Bambara Traditions (the only ones that I will refer, because I think knowing them), two terms used to designate the person. For the Fulani, are Neddho and neddhaaku ; For the Bambara, are Maa and Maaya. The first word means "the one" and the second "people person".

The tradition teaches that there is indeed first Maa, Person-bin, and then Maaya, That is to say the various aspects contained in the Maa Maa-bin. As the saying goes Bambara " Maa ka ka sa Maaya Yere kono "" Persons of the person are multiple in person. "We found exactly the same concept in Fulani.

The notion of person is initially very complex. It involves multiple internal plans or stacked concentric existence (physical, mental and spiritual at different levels), and a constant dynamic.
The existence, which begins with conception, is preceded by a pre-existing cosmic where man is supposed to reside in the realm of love and harmony, called Benke-N.

The birth of a child is considered as tangible proof that a part of life anonymous broke loose and became flesh in order to accomplish a mission on our land. Particular emphasis will be given to the baptism ceremony in which we give a " Togo ", Or name, the new-born. The Togo defines the small individual. He is in the larger community.

Three types of birth can take place:

· abortion " ji-good ", Literally" water poured ', regarded as evil

· birth to term called banngi "Happy event not only for parents but for the village, the tribe, and on a wider scale, the whole of humanity

· Finally, post-term birth, called menkono Or " nyangan ", Literally" long belly ", a prelude to the birth of an extraordinary being, the nyangan, That is to say on the sorcerer, who comes into the world armed with a powerful potential.

The development of the person will be to the rhythm of the major periods of growth of the body, each of which corresponds to a degree of initiation. The introduction is intended to give the person a psychic power which determines moral and mental support and the perfect realization of the individual and total.

The traditional view that the life of a normal man has two major phases:

· one ascending, up to sixty-three

· the other descending, one hundred and twenty-six.

Each phase includes three main sections of twenty-one, composed of three periods of seven years. Each section of twenty-one marks a high point in the initiation, and each period of seven years marks a threshold in the evolution of the human person.

For example, during the first seven years of its existence, when the trainee requires the most care possible, the child will remain intimately connected to his mother whom he is dependent for all aspects of his life. From seven to fourteen years, he is confronted with the external environment which influences it receives, but it always feels the need to refer to his mother, who remains his criteria. From fourteen to twenty-one years, he was in school life and its masters, and slowly moving away from the influence of his mother.

The age of twenty-one marks a very important threshold, as is the ritual circumcision and initiation ceremonies of the gods. In the second installment of twenty-one years, man will mature lessons he has received in the previous period. It is then considered wise to listen to, and if it happens we now call it a favor, or probation, and not by right. Forty-three per cons, it is supposed to have virtually reached maturity and is among the masters. Having the right to speak, he must teach others what he has learned and matured during the first two periods of his life. Sixty-three years finally end the great upturn, it is considered to have completed his active life and is no longer restricted by any requirement which does not prevent it, possibly to continue teaching, if such was his vocation or his ability.
At no time, the human person is therefore regarded as a monolithic unit, limited to his physical body, but as a complex, inhabited by a multiplicity in constant motion. It is therefore not a static or be completed.

The human person, such as vegetable seed, is evolving from a valuable asset which is its own potential. It will grow throughout the rising phase of his life, depending on terrain and conditions encountered. The forces generated by this potential are in perpetual motion, like the cosmos itself.

To illustrate this, let us briefly recall the myth of the creation of man in the Bambara tradition:

Maa-Ngala (Or God-Master) s'autocréa. 20 Then he created beings, who constituted the entire universe. But he noticed that among the top 20 creatures, none was able to become his kumanyon, that is to say, his interlocutor. Then he lifted a bit on each of the 20 existing creatures. He mixed it all together and used it to create a 21st hybrid, the man to whom he gave the name Maa, That is to say the first word component his own divine name.

To contain Maa, Being all-in-one Maa-Ngala designed a special body, vertical and symmetrical, can contain both a bit of all existing beings. This body, called FariSymbolizes a sanctuary where all things are in circumduction. This is why the tradition considers the body of man as the world in miniature, in the words " Maa Diny merenin of ye ye , That is to say: "Man is the universe in miniature. "

The whole body corresponds to a specific symbolism. The head, for example, represents the upper level of being pierced by seven large openings. Each is the gateway to a state of being, or world, and is guarded by a deity. Each door opens to another door inside, and so on ad infinitum. The face is considered the main facade of the habitat of those deep Maa, and trappings can decipher the characteristics of these people. "Show me your face, and I'll tell you how to be your people home," says the adage. Each corresponds to an inner world that revolves around an axis or central point.

The human psyche is a complex whole. Like a vast ocean, its known part is nothing compared to what remains to be seen. The maxim Mali speaks on the subject: "It never ceases to know Maa ... "

Why this complexity?

On one hand, the divine name which Maa is invested gives the mind, and to share in the Supreme Force. It calls its essential purpose: to become the interlocutor Maa-Ngala.
On the other hand, the various elements that make him the confluence of all the cosmic forces, the highest as the lowest. The grandeur and drama of Maa just what is the meeting place of opposing forces in perpetual motion, that only a well done on the evolution path of initiation allow him to order, throughout the phases of his life.

The multiple and varied forces that move in the universe hidden Maa are states, or psychic people, from the spirit of Maa itself. The Spirit, and immortal immaterial principle, is not an imaginary being. There. It is he who gives birth to imagination, real power (not to be confused with the imaginary), through which faculty Maa becomes capable of vision and come into contact with spirits or beings living out of it or outside the visible world. To borrow a phrase from my friend Boubou HamaHe "embodies the abstract", which takes him image and form. The spirit Maa allows him to know, understand and strengthen its attention. By developing these skills, Maa becomes able to judge.

As has been perceived, the person is not closed in on itself, like a box securely closed. It opens several directions, several dimensions, one might say, both internal and external.

The various beings, or states that are in it correspond to worlds that lie between the man and his creator. They are related to each other and, through man, in relation to the outside worlds.

First and foremost, the person is connected to his fellows. We can not conceive isolated or independent. Just as life is unity, the human community is one and interdependent.

Because of this deep feeling of unity of life, the human person is not cut off from the natural world that surrounds and maintains relations with it's length and balance, codified rules of behavior it teaches the traditional doctrine Bembaa-sira. Specific laws determine the behavior of man vis-à-vis all the beings inhabiting the vital part of the earth: minerals, plants and animals. These laws can be violated, as it may cause, in the balance of nature and the forces that underlie it, a disturbance that would turn against him.
The concept of unity of life comes from the fundamental concept of equilibrium exchange, and interdependence. MaaWhich contains within it an element of all existing things, is to become the guarantor of the balance of the outside world or the cosmos. Insofar as he returned to his true nature (that of Maa important), the man appears in the world, as the axis required to preserve the many outdoor fall into chaos.

Thus, good or bad conduct of kings and traditional religious leaders, prosperity depend on soil, rainfall patterns, the balance of forces of nature, etc..

As long as man has not ordered the worlds, forces and people who are into it, it is Maa-Nin, That is to say a kind of homunculus, the ordinary man, not man made. Tradition says: " Maa ka se i Kakan Yere Nooter has to bè Maa or yala , That is to say: We can not leave the state of Maa-ninTo reinstate the rule of Maa, if one is not master of himself.

To conclude, I will draw attention to the fact that the tradition is concerned about the human person as multiplicity interior unfinished initially expected to be ordered and to unite to find its rightful place within larger units such as the human community and the entire cosmos.

Synthesis of the universe and the crossroads of life forces man is called upon to become the point of equilibrium where can be conjoined, through him, the various dimensions that it carries. So it really deserve the name Maa, Interlocutor Maa-NgalaAnd maintain the balance of creation.

Reflections on the Islamic religion 1

"May your actions have an effect comparable
that of the baobab seeds. "Fulani proverb.

"When a snake or any animal emerges from the forest,
you can throw what you have in your hand. Proverb Bambara.

1. Why all the prophets do they come from Saudi? Why there is there no prophets black?

The very important question deserves a preliminary explanation. It's about understanding the meaning of the word "Prophet" as understood in the revealed religions, including Islam.

There, according to Islamic teaching resulting from the content of the Quran and sayings of the Prophet Mohammad, three categories of men of God:

a. At the top, Rasul, literally: "Messengers of God, or Great Emailed.

The Rasul is chosen by God through an act of His will to be the instrument of a major revelation from God, intended to be a great nation, or humanity as a whole.

God reveals His Word to His messenger, that becomes a sacred book for men, containing the commandments of God, a holy law for conduct inside and out, and a way back to the Lord.

These are very rare Great Emailed. Their appearance marks a new stage of revelation and, consequently, of human evolution. Each new "descent" of divine revelation comes through them both confirm the previous revelations and supplement, improve on some points, and adapt to new weather conditions.

The Islamic tradition has six Great Emailed Adam, who came down to earth "with the Words of her Lord, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (" Muhammad "in Arabic). They are sometimes called "Sent legislators" because each of them received a new law, tailored to the needs of the time. They are also called "Prophets".

Generally with each of these major Emailed appeared a new religion, although in reality they have always preached a single and eternal religion, that of One God and Lord. From each of them came out a Community.

b. Then there is the Nabis, literally the "Prophets".
This is also holy men who received a divine revelation that they are humble servants, but, unlike Rasul, their message is aimed at large to a small group of men, and sometimes they must keep secret almost. They can be manifested or not manifested Nabis externally, unlike Rasul is always shown.
The Nabi, regardless of the revelation that he is responsible for transmitting, remains under the law of large Rasul that preceded it. He never brings a "Law" new for humanity.
Such is the case of the Prophets of the Bible, who exhorted the Jewish people to return to the pure law of Moses.
Islamic tradition says that there were 124,000 Nabis.

c. Then come Waly, commonly called the "Saints of God." In fact, Waly word means "one who is close" to God, in union with Him, and living in His love. We do not know the number, they are of all ages and all races.

A Nabi is always a Waly, that is to say a Saint of God, receiving a special mission. Likewise, the Rasul is also always a Waly, a Saint of God, bearing the quality of Nabi, that is to say, prophetic dignity, and receiving, moreover, the great mission of revealing God's Word men.

The concept of "Revelation" and "Prophecy" is the basis of the three monotheistic religions say, (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) from Abraham, father of monotheism.

It is found that the six Rasul, messengers of God or the Great belong to a specific branch of humanity: the Semitic branch. One can even say they are out of each other. The revelation was thus its cradle in the Middle East, Palestine and the Arabian Peninsula.
Of the 124,000 Nabis, or prophets, some are mentioned in the Koran. Many left the Middle East. Only four came from Arabia. We can not say where and when the other appeared.

But it must be stressed that the quality of ships or Grand Prophet appears in the heart of the quality of Waly, Saint and Sage of the living God and by God's love in the mysterious circle of "Divine Proximity. However, the quality of Waly knows no limit in time and space.

In this regard, Black Africa has been and still is a land especially rich in Waly.

2. Why do we condemn the centers' Kabaru?

It condemns centers Kabaru ignorance, selfishness and sometimes snobbery.

We must also mention the fact that in many cases, proponents of Kabaru, like all new converts, having committed blunders, for instance, made insulting remarks against other Muslims. The Kabaru would sometimes supplant its predecessors, but it does it very badly. Self-preservation then triggers a response against it normal and humanly conceivable.

But it would be wise to consider the small differences that preclude practitioners Kabaru to rivals like little pecks that will give the chicks from the same clutch when sustenance. Nevertheless, the authorities must ensure that these pecks do not degenerate into bloody brawls. Peace is something sacred and its preservation is an imperative duty that falls to the authorities.

3. Why the discrepancy in numbering of the verses of the Koran?

This difference in numbering corresponds to different ways to cut some verses.

Some verses, in fact, were revealed to the Prophet at once, others several times, that is to say, many revelations concerning the same subject were laid end to end. In the latter case, some gave only one number to this verse, while others preferred to give schools a different number for each passage of Revelation.

It may be pointed out that punctuation does not exist in Arabic, we could be faced with different ways to split sentences. This numbering is in fact occurred well after the death of the Prophet.
This produces, according to different schools - which incidentally are not many - a difference of 430 units on all the Koranic verses.
Note also that this numbering is closely linked to science numéralogique - or the science of numbers it would take too long to discuss here.

4. The Sufi does he live alone or in community? What a Sabaean?

It is open to the Sufi, or live alone in the bush or in town, either to share the normal community life, according to his temperament or temporary requirements of his spiritual life. We saw many Sufis and spend part of their lives in full retirement and return to society to take God's presence among men and be among them, a source of blessings.

The Sufi who lives far from the noise and temptations of everyday life is generally considered in the tradition, as less "realized" that anyone able to maintain the same quality of inner life while leading a normal life among men. This is comparable to a high bank that receives all day long the assaults of waves and managed to resist them.

This design is probably due to the fact that the ideal of Islam does not rejecting the world, but its inclusion in the presence of God. This is not to give up on life, but of the sacred in each of its acts, the connection with God in some way, and ordered by the standards of the divinely revealed law.

As for the Sabians, these are the people of Saba, a region in Arabia. This ancient country was ruled by a famous queen, known as the "Queen of Sheba" (spoken of the Bible and the Koran) and the Arabs call "Balqa '. The Sabians, they say, were worshipers of the stars. They confessed the existence of God, but they viewed as "the soul of the world.

Tradition tells us that the Queen of Sheba and later married the great king Solomon.

The Fulani, them, Balqa consider as "their aunt.

5. Men are different colors and talk about the unity of man. Is this a scientific question? or a religious truth?

I take this question wrong. In fact, I do not see how the color, which is the epidermis, could prevent the unity of man.
All cattle are of the same species, but not all have the same coat color: there are red horse, the horse white, yellow-stained white, black, etc..

One day science will explain why the color of the skin. But she can never deny the unity of man as a human being, subject to the same natural laws everywhere, inhabited the same basic feelings and capable of reason and wisdom - or evil - whatever its origin.
The unity of man is a religious truth confirmed by science.
A verse from the Quran says: "We (ie God) have created you all from a single being. Then you are grouped by families ... "

6. What is the origin of the belief in one God?

It is not easy to define, by modern standards of investigation, the origin of the belief in one God, and this is certainly not me who can do it.

I would however point out that the idea of God is largely due to an attitude of faith, want to discuss or reason to how 'Cartesian' is to fill a barrel of water holes.

Everything is relative to God's Holy, that is to say, is a world that defies analytical instruments and the limits of ordinary human mind, essentially secular and quantitative rather than qualitative.
That which the mind proceeds by analysis and deduction, separating the elements to better examine and compare, the faith, it proceeds by union and integration, and arises from the certainty of the heart, or the certainty of being, as they wish.

Faith puts people before a mystery that he sensed the existence of which he can feel the greatness, and he may even, sometimes, either spontaneously or after a long religious discipline, discover and enjoy the mysterious presence without a physical law external to weigh, dissect and explain this phenomenon. A quantitative law external and purely physical she could never explain the mystery of love?

The belief in a supreme God seems to have always lived in the heart of men, and we find echoes in all traditions, even polytheists. There is much talk of the "father of the gods" or "God of gods," or a "Supreme God" too remote to be addressed to him ... Then you go to the middle forces.

Perhaps this belief is it like an echo, the reflection of the unity of the origin of man? Perhaps it is even a memory "préexistentiel?
The Koran teaches us, in fact, that long before going down to earth, the souls of men were convened in the presence of God, which they attested existence. God told these souls: "Am I not your Lord? - Yes, certainly, they replied, we bear witness! "

This memory is in us but our corporeality, one might say, obscures it. The noise of our thoughts, our desires, forces that run through us, prevent us from him again, to hear his echo. The gravity of matter numbs us and leads us away from the center of our being.
It is important that echo, perpetually forgotten by men, that Divine Revelation is periodically remind men by the voice of his Great Emailed. Revelation is also called in the Quran, the "Great Recall", and this is one meaning of word "dhikr" recall ", mindful of God.
The idea of one God - monotheism or actual - is distinguished from religious forms which are implicitly recognizes one God or supreme, while admitting the existence of other gods.

The prospect pure monotheism dissolves and forms the middle forces, or rather extended to the origin by integrating them into the only power of God, they become, for example in Islam, the "Attributes": God's Mercy, Generosity God, righteousness of God, etc..

Judaism and its two offshoots - Christianity and Islam - are, theologically speaking, true monotheism. Abraham is the Father. He bequeathed to his descendants through Isaac and Jacob. The One God of Abraham is the same one who appeared to Moses, Jesus sanctified and sent Mohammad (transformed into "Mohammed" in French) to close and seal of Revelation, in this cycle of human history.

7. It is said that man is created to the image of God (Bible). Is not this the man who created God in his image? who invented to find explanations that were missing?

The Bible says that man is created in the image of God. This expression should, in my humble opinion, be understood not in the strict literal meaning of words, but as a metaphor.

He must understand by this phrase that God delegated to man a piece of his creative power. Indeed, of all created beings, man is the only one who holds a creative power - as though - in the likeness of the Creator. The man, in fact, has the ability to imagine and design (that is to say, to create in his mind), then give shape and life to that thought by making the outside world.

But when God the Creator is immaterial and eternal and that His creatures can neither reach nor to harm him, the creative man is material and mortal, and moreover, his creations (machines, cars, planes, weapons, chemicals or harmful ideas, etc..) can destroy and kill.
A lot would say this sentence from the Bible, which also exists in Islam, but we do not want to overly the modest reply.
The various sacred books say that "God breathed His Spirit into man." There is therefore something of God in man. But perhaps this "something" does he not found in man, the whole place that was his due? Hence the need to conform to the teachings of the holy prophets, to gradually purify our "inner house" of decluttering and make it the receptacle of the Divine Presence forgotten.
The joke contained in the end of the matter, however, contains in its way, a truth to a theologian and a mystic could understand otherwise.
Indeed, God is transcendent and immaterial, we can not achieve, if not in spirit. However, the spirits of men differ from each other in quality, intensity and responsiveness. In other words, each man conceives God in the faculties of his mind, that is to say in his own way, in his image. For God does not manifest itself at all with the same intensity.

In addition, we must also recognize that many people, from whatever religion they are, they are God's image to suit them, not to say "their service" ...

This is to preserve us from these mistakes that God has taught us, in his Revelations, the voice of his holy prophets, how to serve and look to Him.

8. To say that God exists is a way to maintain peace and to create tolerance among all men.

To say that God exists is not enough to keep the peace. The wars of religion are there to testify. The acceptance and attestation of the existence of God are not a sure way to maintain peace, much less to build tolerance among people.

It is the sincere love of God which alone can lead men to love and respect his neighbor, whatever. Only he can establish peace in the minds and hearts and from there to the rule in human relations.

9. You speak of a manifestation of God in men. What does this mean?

As a manifestation of God in man, I mean that God can illuminate the heart and mind of man by an act of His will. It can inspire and facilitate human spiritual development.

By an effort of inner purification, resting on the sacred practices that promote the relationship between man and God, man can be led to discover in himself a presence - or an act of God - that's the usual inner chaos prevents him from perceiving. It is as if the homeowner discovered dark and closed, opening doors and windows, the sun can illuminate every corner of his house. The sun has always been there. But does it still have the house ready to welcome him.

10. Is God responsible for the destiny of every man?

Ask if God is responsible for the destiny of every man is to rephrase the problem of free will and that of predestination, that all the elders have tried to deal with, but none has ever been solved. This problem, for many centuries, has been much ink and will run again. There is no question that I can resolve this issue.
However one can not deny a man's free will, because God has endowed with a spirit that allows him to choose, and a will to act and allows him to decide. But this free content is like, "embedded" in a general predestination of mankind, as a passenger in a boat or a train. The traveler can not alter the general direction of the vehicle, but it is possible inside the car, for example, to take such a position they like or behave in different ways. This is a result of his limited freedom.

Similarly, in certain inevitable events of life, man can always choose among several possible attitudes: dignity, courage, generosity, peace of heart, or, conversely, meanness, cowardice, selfishness, aggressiveness, etc.. Depending on the chosen approach - sometimes after an intense inner struggle - the man out or grown or declined, that is to say, transformed in one way or the other, from this ordeal. It will emerge better equipped - or less well-armed - to confront the future events of his life.

If the question is so confusing to human logic, perhaps it is because it has a dual dimension: man is both free and not free, enclosed in a number of determinations, general and special - the train - and free to take his journey with dignity, or not.

11. God does not manifest itself equally in every man. And yet, God created men. Why talk of punishment, hell, etc.. ?

As I have said for Question 7The minds of men differ in quality, capacity and responsiveness. As was also said to Question 9Each of us, in his "inner house" has a window more or less open to the sky. But is it still that the window is properly cleaned, or open, to let go its share of light. So every place on earth, does not receive the light with the same intensity or in the same way. But it's always the same light.

It could still take another picture:

Each pool of the bush, small or large, can reflect the sun and reproduce his entire image. Even the smallest puddle, the smallest drop of dew, or mirror the more modest in its own way may contain the sun and bounce light around him.

Thus, for one sun in the sky, thousands of suns, large and small, can shine to the surface of the earth.

Envoys of the Great God, the great saints, great spiritual masters are like huge lakes whose water was quite peaceful and pure reflection of sunlight, without altering a single ray. Huge crowds can come and drink there.

Each of us, even if just a tiny pool of bush can try to keep water pure and quiet of his soul, so that the sun comes admire them whole.

On the question of punishment and reward in other words, hell or heaven - we must not forget that if there was the fear of prison, many men would steal and violate unrestrained . For a certain type of man, the fear of hell is beneficial. Furthermore, how boys behave well for sweets and jams, that is to say, somehow, make a little paradise!

Besides these categories of men, there are also those who do good only by love of good. They do not act out of fear of hell or desire for paradise. They have no reward in sight. This phalanx of men is symbolized in Islam by the Sufis who worship God because He is God, not because it distributes punishment or reward.

12. The intensity of the faith depends on God and not man, no?

Faith depends on both God and man. The spark that ignites the faith comes from God, but its maintenance for the increase in us depends on ourselves.

The athlete receives his strength from nature. But it is through constant practice and proper that maintains and develops.

13. When a man loses his fervent faith, is the fault? When you lose faith, it seems that this is God's fault. It was he who wants it.

As we have said, it is God who lights the faith in us. But it behooves us to maintain by the means that God Himself has given us through his messengers, and revealed Books and inspired men.
My Master Tierno Bokar, Said that the man is like a piece of coal which is on a small red dot: the spark of faith. If he keeps this fire and fuels by appropriate means: prayer ritual sincere, dhikr, meditation, submission to the Divine ... Then the little red dot grows gradually until the entire piece of coal become fire and light.
By cons, if the man leaves the light on the abandonment, and did not fanning the breath of spiritual life, the ashes cover them and it will soon die. It will just be a piece of coal cold and dark.
The question raises another problem: How good faith is it? The Koran speaks of those who praise God when everything goes well according to their desires, and who revolted when an event affects them. While faith is based on a hidden selfishness, the desire to get something for yourself, it is subject to variations and shock more or less violent can make it disappear.

14. Since God knows everything and does what he wants is his fault that men have no faith, if the war and everything else!

As has been said, God has given us a spirit, a willingness and ability to choose and act. It is therefore not the absolute responsibility for our actions. In addition, we warned by his Apostles and his doctors. He gave us the means of distinguishing between good and evil, ie between peace and war.

If men were applying strict laws and commandments of God, they would respect their neighbor and justice could be established on earth.

15. The Christian religion was before, so the Muslim religion must complement and supplant. But why, since both have the same mother: "faith in God"?

Yes, all three monotheistic religions are attached to a common core: the certificate of the oneness of God.

They were not intended to be rivals, but perhaps complementary, and if this was not the case in history, one must look into the cause of human contingencies (historical, economic or passion), which are external to the basic principles, eternal, religions themselves.
Many things escape us in the reasons underlying the emergence of some important events in the evolution of humanity, and no doubt that the onset of the Great envoys, charged with the delivery men a most divine revelation, is a of these events.

However, there is reason to believe that the "descent" of Revelations, at determined times in human history, is not by chance and meets very specific needs. With the course of time, humanity changes, transforms the consciousness that man has life and the universe around him changes. Most often, away from the time of a great Prophet, men lose contact with the essence of his divine message. While one prophetic word in early enough to completely transform a man - even a nation - many explanations and comments at length become necessary.

The descent of a new revelation is sounded at a time and under conditions intended by God Himself, the "Great reminder" of the primordial Truth, the Eternal Religion, periodically forgotten or neglected by men. A great impulse travels again the human soul and allows it to travel a new stage in its collective destiny.
In this sense, a new revelation did not "replace" the previous Revelations, and no Prophet of God has never claimed. Jesus said: "I do not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it." Islam, which literally means "submission" (that is to say, Submission to the Will of God), was not presented as a new religion, but as a reminder, a "surrender to this" the eternal religion preached by Abraham.

16. Why are many prophets, many religions, so there is only one God?

This question builds on the previous. There were actually several prophets, but there was no more religions. Every prophet, every Grand Envoy, has always called men of religion initial object, which is love and submission to God - with each time it is true, sort of a preponderance of certain aspects related to the conditions and needs of human development (emphasis on action, or Love, or a knowledge encompassing both).

The basic principles never vary. (The Koran speaks of "Religion Enduring which never changes, but that men do not understand.) By cons, some details of the external law is amended during the descent of a new law with Rasul, the" Great Emailed.

Thus some, poorly lit, see the "new religions" where there are only different interpretations, different or siding, the same eternal religion. When down in the eternal truth in human terms - that is to say in the world of multiplicity: the multiplicity of races, languages, ways of understanding, etc.. - External differences appear and it is inevitable. We must accept as a condition of human life, but trying to find ourselves beyond these differences, what is essential.
The Prophets are considered light rays emanating from a single source. The sun is unique, but its rays are multiplying in all directions, so that no one is deprived of its light.

17. What is religion without faith? Why do you insist more on faith than religion? Is it not to get rid of something embarrassing?

Without faith, which gives it its meaning, religion is no longer a folk fun.

I dwell more on faith, because it is interior, intimate heart of man, so that sometimes the external gestures of religion can be made automatically, without conviction. However, when a dialogue between men of different spiritual horizons, the chances of reconciliation, understanding are greater on the ground of faith than on external practices.

Religion cannot exist without faith, as faith can not sustain itself and purified without the Truth, towards which it tends.
The religious law, lived with sincerity and perseverance, is the man on "the Way", symbolized by the Faith. And this faith, purifying themselves gradually leads man to "Truth".

Hence the triad Act - Track-Truth (Shari'ah - Tariqa - Haqiqa) Taught by Tierno Bokar school tidjanienne Bandiagara, like most Sufis Masters, and echoing the triad taught by the Prophet Muhammad:

· Islam: externals fundamental

· Iman: Faith inner

· Ihsan: perfect behavior, where the man acts under the constant gaze of God.

It goes without saying that Islam is perfect, full, is represented by the union of these three levels, which also correspond to the three physical, mental and spiritual rights - and action aspects, Love and Understanding.

For the pious man, nothing that belongs to religion is never annoying. Only the atheist finds religion "embarrassing".

18. The unbeliever is not it more free than the believer? The believer is a slave to religion, the believer is not bound by anything!

It might be advisable to define the concept of freedom. If freedom involves the power and the right total, for the man choose and act in its own way, I would say that freedom is relative, both for the believer to the unbeliever.

Life on earth is a permanent slavery, one way or another. The fact, for the unbeliever, to be bound by any religious discipline, meaning he provided it is freed from all shackles external or internal? No company exists in one area or another, without a law to ensure its cohesion and allow it to move towards the goal it seeks.

If the man managed to free themselves from any religious law, does not often fall under the yoke of other conventions, social, political or social events, sometimes even more stringent?

Simply observing the world around us - regardless of the continent - it does not allow us to see the almighty power of conventions, prejudices, "systems" that enclose all kinds of people everywhere - when it would be only the tyranny of "modes" and needs "to taste '?

The man, being a social par excellence, can not totally eliminate the conventions that govern human relationships.

But imagine, for a wonder, a man who had succeeded in throwing all conventions and social conventions outside - at the risk of being alone, like a wreck adrift. Would it be provided free of slavery inside? Free of his passions, desires, ambitions, even his habits?
Ultimately, the man can free himself from his conscience, and stifle the voice totally secret from the depths of himself, warned and warned, sometimes?

The question is of great importance, and each of us should always get asked: What is freedom, and to what extent am I free? Are there different kinds of freedoms, and where do they lead?

19. Is religion freed man, or enslaves him?

This extends the previous question.

My belief is that man is more enslaved or liberated by its intimate state by a system external to itself, whether religious or political.
Outside institutions, religious or political, will all offer "free man", although by different routes. But more often, they release a man from a scheme to place it under another. As long as man keeps the heart of intolerance, it is to himself his own prison, whatever its label.

Yes, religion understood and honestly exercised, according to the very principles of His Prophet, as a balm for the heart and diseases of the soul. It can transform and liberate man from his slavery interior so powerful and so detrimental.

It is not my intention to condemn the policy. It is useful and even necessary, to seek the best way to manage human affairs. She gave birth to distinguished men, popular, able to shake the horizons of social life. But it does not create men comforted and comforting, able to soothe the hearts in the storms of life.

A holy man may be a politician. But a politician is not a saint either. We say this is a pragmatist.

20. The believer is a slave to religion, because life becomes futile, and he thinks only a paradise uncertain ...

The fact that a believer to become a servant of God (or trying to become), does not necessarily lead to consider life as a "futility" if the result of a misinterpretation of the true religious teachings.
Perhaps he ignores the words of the Messenger of Allah, Mohammad, who is the problem: "Works for the earthly world as if you were to live forever and works for the future life as if you were to die tomorrow. "

According to this teaching, a Muslim balance must be aware that it will only fleeting time on this earth and eternal life lies in the afterlife. Such a man will share things. He worked for a life that is where it happens.

Life is a wonder. It is a gift from God. On some level it is manifested in the here and now or in the beyond, it can not be vain, frivolous or contemptible. Otherwise, God would have it said it had established the man "his representative on earth"? In another verse of the Koran, God compares life to water it down from the sky. She mingles with the earth and from this union were born the plants that adorn the earth and serve as food for man and animals.
I remember what I have already indicated in Question 4, namely that in its overall appearance, Islam does not rejecting the world, but its inclusion in the Presence of God, his consecration in somehow. It is not proposed to reject the man's life, but to assume all aspects, in accordance with the Law revealed.

As for the "uncertain heaven," I would say that death itself is not uncertain and that the Great Messengers, the Prophets and Saints, who all spoke of a life beyond death, cannot be all impostors.

21. What do you principial Islam?

I call Islam principial all fundamental articles of faith issued by the Koran and promulgated by Muhammad. These are:

· the double formula of faith

o Laa il'Allaha il'Allaahu Muhammadu Rasuul 'Allaah

· the five canonical prayers of the day

· tithe pouch Year End

· fasting month of Ramadan

· the firm intention to make a pilgrimage to Mecca

· believe and confess the existence of God

· believe in the Day of Resurrection

· believe in the existence of angels

· believe in God Sent

· believe the revealed Books

· accept the fate that God gives us.

These eleven Articles are the foundation of the Islamic faith. Well-executed, they prepare the man to a moral and spiritual asceticism which will allow access to the spiritual level where dogma is reduced to four expressions as follows:

· How to worship God?

· The worship as if you can see.

· If one who does not see.

· He sees us.

This stage is divine Truth, where consciousness, awake and irradiated by the Holy Presence, happens a lot of ceremony. At this stage, the believer lives in God, for God and for God.

22. The Koran is a part of the Bible. Why Muslims do they forget the Bible? Why do Christians reject the Koran they?

The Koran is not "part" of the Bible. It is rather a symbiosis, if not a synthesis. It is certainly a reminder of the most significant historical sacred earlier, so they are constantly present in the consciousness of the Muslim and form as the fabric of his religious life.
On 6666 verses that make up the Quran 1080 some trace of Biblical events. How an educated Muslim who recites the Qur'an for all occasions, could he forget the Bible! This holy book is considered the maternal trunk of monotheism, of which Islam is the final expression.

Again, it is necessary to put what is due to human instincts of the commentators, rather than the very principles of religion. The very principles of religion unite, they do not separate. These are the understandings and interpretations, born over time and across the world, separating.

If Christians have denied the Koran, perhaps they have done, sometimes by a superiority complex, and probably by a survival instinct understandable. Perhaps it is only the destiny of our time to enable a better understanding, the conditions of the past did not allow.

I take this opportunity to say that if Christians and Jews had for Mohammad-tenth of respect that Muslims devote themselves to Moses and Jesus called the Spirit of God, "a meaningful dialogue for mutual understanding could be established with a high chance of success.

The moral rectitude, however, command that most Muslims are far from being "listened" to their fellow Christians and Jews.

23. A marabout must be in accordance with religion, he should never say something that put him out of religion. Yet many "baffling". Why there is someone there to tell them?

This question has not considered human weakness, always possible. There has not been on earth one time who had recorded human failures in any area whatsoever, and marabou can not make an exception to the rule. The Church has seen many examples in history, both among its bishops among its popes ...
Islam holds more temporal authority. Otherwise, under the " Sharia "(Divine Islamic law), the perpetrators were prosecuted and severely punished.

Almost everywhere in the world, religions have been separated from the state and no longer carry the judiciary, which presents at once the advantages and disadvantages. Benefits, because religions are now followed by more conviction than coercion, and enthusiasts will no longer satisfy their personal hatred in God's name or under the banner of religion. Disadvantages too, for the holy law can not be saved within the community.

Islam, in fact, has no clergy, like the Church. Each is his own priest, on his prayer mat, and placed before the Imam to lead the prayer may be designated from any believer. There is no external hierarchy and organized, where a "higher" would remonstrate with someone. In ancient times, it was the religious state which ensured the protection of the Act. Nowadays, it is the community to exercise discretion.

24. What are the motives that led to the prohibition of pork or liquor?

God knows best His creatures that they do know themselves, and He knows what is good or bad for their development both physically and spiritually.

Some do not see in these bans, just because a health and hygiene. The pork is indeed one of the most harmful to human health, especially in hot climates where Islam originated. As for the evils of wine and alcohol, they are known.

But no doubt there deeper reasons that elude us in this prohibition. An old proverb says: "You become what we eat, and what are not the African traditions that contradict. The purpose of religion, lest we forget, is to refine and to awaken the conscience of man, to make it sensitive to the Holy Presence of God. The Koran says: "Wherever you are, God is with you. And again: "Whichever way you turn, there is the Face of God. "

But the wine and alcohol and adding to numb the mind of man. Who can say that, somehow, the flesh of pigs does not also an adverse effect in this area? Strictly speaking, moreover, the Muslim has the right to absorb the flesh of animals killed ritually and not their blood, also subject to prohibition, for reasons perhaps of the same order.

25. Why Muslims must learn Arabic to practice their religion?

Ignoring the Arab has never prevented the Muslim faithful to practice their religion with fervor. Believing that one can not practice Islam in Arabic speaker would be to suppose that God hears the Arabic language, which would be ridiculous.
Just at least to know the Fatiha in Arabic contained in the mandatory ritual prayer, and some short passages from the Koran to include in prayer, and some basic formulas necessary for religious life.

If Muslims learn Arabic, it is primarily to direct access to reading and understanding the Koran, and to preserve and perpetuate a way of spiritual communication and communion among Muslim peoples.

It should be noted that reading a holy book in its original language, that is to say in the language itself by which God has spoken, carries a spiritual power and efficiency that does not contain translations. For anyone who has heard the Koran in Arabic, a simple comparison with a translation in French (which can only be approximated) is sufficient to prove it.

26. When one looks at the world, we realize the backwardness of young Muslim states, and the fact that there are many more Muslims in underdeveloped countries than elsewhere. Is it because of religion is a brake?

A perennial propaganda, orchestrated by the enemies of Islam, is intended to make people believe that religion is an obstacle to any development. This new tactic is to replace one that was to be attributed to Islam the original responsibility of polygamy, the holy war and slavery, while Islam is subsequent to such institutions he has tried to limit and codify.

The look he is talking to me seems somewhat superficial. If we had accumulated, in fact, all people in all countries of the underdeveloped world, including in particular Latin America, India, countries in the Far North and some parts of Europe and Central Eastern, etc..), and that we make a comparison of numerical point of view of religion, it is not at all sure that Muslims would come to mind.

But that is not the issue because, in my opinion, is precisely the mistake of linking two phenomena that have nothing to do with each other.

Underdevelopment material (as in fact it is only that), when examined impartially as did some leading economists and sociologists modern, appears as an essentially linked to the geographical, geological and climatic a country, and not as a religious phenomenon. If Europe and parts of the Americas are technically developed as a result of what is called the "Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century, where religions have nothing to do. If South America, Africa, Asia or Oceania fell short, religion is also there for nothing.

It is not my province to talk about the causes of underdevelopment, but there is enough work in this area which indicate that the causes are manifold and certainly not original Islamic country's history, sometimes subjected to colonization or exploitation for centuries, poor soil, malnutrition or poor diet, resulting in a passive attitude toward life and poor mental development of children; scheme purely agricultural country, desert or excess forests, etc..

As for Islam, you really do not know the religion or the prodigious civilization it has created a not so distant past, to consider it as an obstacle to a possible development. Only Islam misunderstood or misapplied - which is often the case, alas! - Could lead to inaction or passivity before the negative conditions of life.

Man, we have said, was instituted by God, "his representative on earth," his "Manager". The Koran contains numerous incentives to effort, to study the world around us to reflect on the wonders of creation. I recall the words of the Messenger of God Muhammad quoted above:

"Works for the life of this world as if you were to live forever,
and for the Hereafter as if you were to die tomorrow. "

In other words, he said:

"Seeking knowledge is an obligation for a Muslim" and
"Go get science, even to China! "

Need I recall the extraordinary progress made in the sciences and the sciences of observation by the Muslim scholars of the Middle Ages (astronomy, optics, algebra, chemistry, medicine, etc..) Progress that Europe inherited the lead then to further?

"Abandonment to God" (Tawakkoul) Preached by Islam, does not eliminate the need for action, but is keeping a peaceful heart at the result of the action, even if adverse, because the results are in the hands of God, then that effort is proper to man.
The great sage Ghazali said: "Only fools can imagine that state Tawakkoul (Surrender to God) we let go. This is sin in the eyes of the law. "

Do not mix, therefore, two different domains. Religions are not meant to promote material progress or technicality. They offered the man a the inner asceticism can lead to balance and peace of heart (Incidentally that suicide is extremely rare in Islam), whatever its conditions of life, happy or miserable . By cons, science has a mission to equip the man of many means to ensure its development and technical equipment.

How it would be desirable that science and religion were like two railroad tracks, moving in one direction, without ever completely separate nor completely confused! Without doubt one and the other would win they would get richer and they each other.

Dialogue between Christians and Muslims

27. We would like you to explain and even more you justifiiez this phrase so important to forget oneself and know: "Stop being who you are and forget what you know ... "

Before addressing the question itself, I would like to quote a Koranic verse that will encourage dialogue between adherents of monotheism from Abraham, that is to say, Jews, Christians and Muslims. Quote: "Say to the Jews and Christians:" 0 people of the Scripture! Come hear a single word. That everything is equal between us and you. Agree that we adore the one God, and that we will associate him anything, and we do not seek one from the other trainers besides God. "If they refuse, say them: "You yourselves are witnesses to resign ourselves entirely to the will of God."
The expression quoted in the question, it is one of many lessons from my Master of Psychology, Tierno BokarTo encourage each partner of a dialogue, whatever, to be fully attentive to the speaker.
To understand each other, it is good to forget for a moment that you are and what we know, to be open, available, and better listening to his interlocutor.

A man so full of himself, eager to spread his knowledge, bringing everything to him, can not be properly tuned to person. He wants to get to listen patiently to hear that it exposes something. Even when he is silent, he already pondering his answer, and ultimately deprives himself of the benefit of exchange and any chance to learn more. Now life is truly everlasting and it is always something to learn.

My Master, Tierno Bokar, used to say:
"There is, moreover, three truths: that of each partner (" my "truth and" your "truth") and THE Truth. The latter is located midway between the two. "

To find THE Truth, in an exchange, it is necessary that both partners' moves toward the other - or "open" to another. This requires, at least momentarily, a self-forgetfulness and his own knowledge. A calabash can not get fresh water ...

28. We do not know what to think of the birth of Jesus ...

The birth of Jesus is not a fact that we can deal with the weapons of our minds and rational mind, nor that we can "explain" only in the limits of our rational knowledge. It enters the realm of "non-events" that go beyond our human understanding, which, like the miracles testify to the sudden and direct a "higher world" in the laws of our earthly world.

Miraculous birth, no doubt. But every birth is not she always miraculous? The development of the embryo takes place in humans, according to laws and rules that science has studied. But if one has "identified" stages of development, it has never provided solved the mystery of the origin of life, which remains unsolved.

"Science" human doing, of course, prodigious feats in the field has started to explore, that is to say that of ponderable and measurable phenomena. But just as it does not explain the mystery of the birth of Jesus, she is able to explain the mystery of life. She studied the "effects", but the mysterious world of causes escapes. The outpouring of life is a miracle that surrounds and sustains us forever, but we see it more because it is "normal" to ask ourselves just what is outside the "usual".

Religious teachings and testimonies of holy men say all there, alongside our physical world and visible, spiritual worlds invisible to our earthly eyes. Birth of Jesus, the descent of "Revelations," the miracles of the Prophets, are the intervention of spiritual worlds, which directly implement the Power of God in our ordinary physical world.

The fact remains that the birth of Jesus is a historical fact. To accept or reject the item clears up the mystery, and not affect the event.
Does Jesus really exist? Jesus he rendered service to humanity? His words, after twenty centuries, they still find the way the human heart and there they awaken an echo deep? That should be our concern.

Epilogue on the "how" of his birth is likely to lead us on the shifting sands of our time, when man denies desecrating everything and just fun.

29. The Fatiha and the Lord's Prayer, is the "rite"?

If, for ritual, we mean a mystical way, if not magic, guide our being to God, and make us receptive to the divine forces for purifying action of the soul, then yes, no doubt, Fatiha and Pater are the same rite. In both cases, the basic prayer was not invented by men, but revealed and communicated by a Great Messenger of God. In both cases, we find seven verses, including:

· first three speak of God alone

· the fourth in a relationship with the man - or the land-

· latest from the world of man (as in a "down" phase).

Both are, as for the Muslim to Christian prayer par excellence.

30. Where does the truth of each religion?

For Muslims, is a revelation, and still comes from the same source: God, through the Prophets and the Great Messengers. I shall not repeat here what I said to questions 6 and 7 about raids revelation in time, like always A and itself, and yet always new in its formulation (such as life, like always through the diversity of beings).

To this question, I can only echo propose another question: where does the life that animates every living being?

31. Are the rules of religion should be practiced the same way in all people?

It would be ideal that the rules of religion are practiced in the same way by everyone.

But, alas! Men are odd. Each is like an atom compared to others.
Everyone has their own movements and is a small universe in the grand universe.

As a result, the practice of religious rules vary from one person to another, as the speed varies from horse to another, the weight of the fist of a boxer to another, the appetite of a stomach to another, patience and endurance of an individual to another, etc..

32. The establishment of a religion is the temptation of a group trying to dominate the world. You see it in the church where the Pope is a political leader who is very nosy.

I do not share this view. The establishment of any religion was initially driven by a preconceived idea of world domination. Rather, the founders of religions - particularly monotheistic religions born in the Middle East - stood up against the abuses of rulers of the world, against frustration of the poor and the oppression of the weak, and against the corruption of morals . None of them, moreover, acted on his own, but only on an order from God.

This is not the ambition of the Great Emailed who were well without - but the power contained in their message, which assured the expansion and entrenchment in the hearts of men.
The temptation of domination does not appear at the initial onset of a religion (rather than "creation"), but eventually, with some leaders faced with political situations, historical or economic interests of their era. The deviations are inevitable in human society.

But whenever religion deviates, the challengers stand in it to request the return to the original tradition, that is to say, the education provided by its founder. This deviation of successive attempts to return to the original tradition explains the emergence, over time, schisms, sects and exegeses of all kinds know that all revealed religions.

As for the indigenous African religions, they ignore the proselytizing, which is often a veil or expansionist desire to monopolize the truth. They seek only to protect their people from all evils, visible and invisible.

It should not honestly certify the slogan cleverly spread and maintained by modern anti-religious policy, that religion is nothing but a subterfuge to dominate and enslave the masses. It is men who dominate or subjugate the masses, using ideas from whatever source, political or religious.

I admit, with regret bitterly that religion can become in the hands of a few ambitious princes and religious leaders, an instrument of power. But it is the same for any ideology, because such is the nature of man, when not filled with the love of God and neighbor.
The simple observation of political customs practiced in the world is enough to prove it. It's all in the name of freedom that dominates his fellow man. Modern ideologies, which attack religion red ball, they not act themselves to conquer the minds of the masses to their cause and bolster their power?

The pope, spiritual and moral leader of over five hundred million souls can not, either in law or humane, impassive witness to the deterioration of society which he is responsible. So I can imagine that engages in dialogue with modern politics, to defend a certain conception of the family, morality and, frankly, the man within his community.

To summarize, it is important not to confuse a religion with the men who embody it in time and sometimes can depart from its principles.

33. Is it possible to change a religion?

We should not "change" religion. Otherwise, this would create a new religion, which is not our responsibility.

By cons, it is always possible to interpret religion in the light of new contingencies occurring in the human mind. The Messenger of Allah Muhammad said: "Tell people to measure their understanding. "Just as the understanding varies from one being to another, perhaps she varies from one period to another. It belongs to man to meditate on the teachings of his religion according to the new conditions of life, and perhaps will find there new areas of understanding and application.

It goes without saying that the language of priests or marabou Middle Ages could not agree more with contemporary masses who attend, with their own eyes and not in a dream, journey man on the moon. The man has technically evolved, the field of consciousness has expanded outwards. Religion must marry this movement, otherwise remain isolated. Do not confuse adaptation and enlargement of understanding with resignation and easy solutions. It is down to the sacred world of religion into the new conditions of life, and not to desecrate it by leaving them.

34. Can there be a truth for every different religion? So why not Animism?

Truth is one and undivided. But, as I reported in Section 27Each of us has their own. This is not necessarily "the" real truth. The Truth in its entirety belongs to God alone. When she descends on the human level, it is necessarily relative. Everyone sees it in his own way, looks at a different angle. In this vein, Animism has its truth, like Christianity, Judaism or Islam, Communism or Maoism.
A man lives a day for the first time a palm tree, branches drooping charge. When asked what the palm, he said it was a tree made of branches drooping.

Another man saw for the first time a palm tree while he was in the form of a slender trunk crowned with palms. He described well.
A third said that the palm was a slender trunk without branches or leaves.

Each of them had contemplated the palm of one stage of its growth, and thought to hold the whole truth of the palm.

Also says that there were several blind put in the presence of an elephant. One felt one of his powerful legs and said: "It is a gnarled trunk and powerful, unshakable. The other, who palpated his side, said: "It is a large, rounded surface. The other finally, having entered the tube, said: "It is a flexible rod and winding like a snake."

Each approach to truth is respectable, and contains a lesson for men. But the whole truth belongs to God, who alone can we move towards it.

35. In the current state of world religions can not they find a common ground?

Beginning with the unification of the three monotheistic religions, what prevents therefore make only great religion?
Religions do not need to seek common ground, it is readily found. It is God. This should be asked to religions is an approach that facilitates a common dialogue to an agreement and a mutual understanding.

What religions should look for is tolerance smart they will be listening to each other.

If each religion insists on monopolizing the real truth, they remain rivals and antagonists. They destroy without building anything. God thank you! there is more openness between the three monotheistic religions. The action is still modest and shy, but she was born, and hope it has the same effect as a seed of the baobab.

As for "doing a great religion", remember, as we have said elsewhere, it is not for man to "create" religions, but to live as perfectly as possible the teaching of the Prophet . No doubt, in so doing, it is better able to understand his fellow man.

36. Ny there not also a common consideration to study between the revealed religions and non-revealed religions?

Because of the unity of the human mind, it is paradoxical that the spirit of the revealed religions do not exist in the non-revealed religions. Faith is in every man, whatever direction it
can take, and, as we said at Question 34Each approach to truth is respectable. As for similarities, they are certainly very numerous, including, for example, between Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Some have sought to reconcile the Christian Trinity of the Hindu Trimurti: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, symbolizing the three energies of life: creation, preservation and destruction. As with African traditions, there would certainly have many commonalities in the areas of morality, the development corporation, and even the existence of a single Creator lying beyond all gods. A huge research work of reconciliation is offered to the goodwill of men in this area.

37. How belonging to the same family, are there so many discrepancies?

I suppose that the questioner has in mind the differences between religions, within the monotheistic family?

I think I have tried in the previous questions, to approach the problem somewhat. The differences are more men and religions themselves. Moreover, A Truth, who belongs to God alone, proves every time in a different light, to complete our investigation. But dazzled man captures a reflection and often no longer wants to consider the other rays of light.

It is in human nature to focus more on what differentiates that which unites, and this is not unrelated to the difficulty of "forget who we are and what we know .

The divergence and discord are inherent in human nature, and perhaps they act sometimes as a stimulus for research in mind. The diversity of men, their nature, their ability to understand, their character, leads to multiple interpretations and opinions. This is true in relations between major religions, but it is also true within the same religion, where similar problems exist with the emergence of various trends and this is true within any system thought whatsoever, and this is true even within a human family, where the community of blood does not everyone have different characters.

38. Why Europeans they accompany the Muslims in prayer? There is a lack of faith or a lack of religion?

The fact that European officials to attend Muslim prayer is not an act of faith or a lack of religion, but rather an act of political vanity.

Religion and Science

39. Science education experimental urges man not to believe. Progress or decline of man?

Say, generalizing, that the experimental sciences grow man not to believe may be committing an error of assessment. There are many scientists that experimental research has, however, confirmed in their belief in the existence of a Force-Cause whose creation is a huge effect. It is this force that the believer calls God.

Einstein, the greatest scientist of our time mathematician, father of modern science, was a believer. It says somewhere (I'm quoting from memory ...): "He that believeth not is a wonderful infirm. "
I do not see why the study and deepening of the wonderful world around us could decrease the faith, quite the contrary.
Science, indeed, discovered the laws of physics hitherto unknown men, they have plunged their faces into the worlds infinitely small and infinitely large to examine the mechanisms, but they never solved the mystery of life and the existence of the universe. The "why" of things they always escapes, and remains available to our meditations.

In addition, the "truths" are constantly changing science, and the horizon of knowledge has been declining. Thus, the discovery of prodigious world of atoms sprayed the "beliefs" of the nineteenth century scientists on the matter by telling us that this, ultimately, that is composed of energy in motion.

The nucleus of the atom itself, that it was believed for a time as the heart of the matter (the "limit", so to speak), proved itself composed of elements swirling energy, separated another by vast distances (relatively speaking), and moved by power of an incredible power.

The men try to master this prodigious strength and use it. But what does this force, where is she, where does the intelligence that rule this vast and remarkable organization? To these questions no one answer, no more than anyone has ever been able to explain the origin of electricity, that man has managed to domesticate. The fundamental questions remain unanswered.
Experimental science is good in itself. It is even necessary. Any mistake is to ask for answers against a field that is not hers.
Scientific research is carried out only with the mental faculties of man, aided by material instruments manufactured by him. The search for religious experience is done with the whole being, aided by internal faculties are not only brain, and supported by spiritual forces from another world. It is, in fact, two different worlds and two different approaches.

As for the second part of the question, it might be good that we agree on the concept of progress. What progress is it?
If progress means move forward, increase, development, it would still be wise to specify in what sense it is performed: material or spiritual?

These two advances may be parallel, but they are not identical.
Scientific discoveries in respect of certain laws of nature represent a major improvement on the intellectual level, but progress stops to external facts. As we have said, the cause of the existence of beings and things remain tight.

As to technical progress, the trouble is that it is often more destructive than really useful. Not to mention the deadly devices to which it gave birth, we can only see the slow deterioration of the natural balance on the planet: air pollution from industrial emissions and exhaust (the inhabitants of Tokyo, Japan, some days are forced to wear gas masks to breathe!), water pollution of rivers in Europe, and even the waters of the ocean. Great scientists have been sounding the alarm on this.

In short, everything is in the hands of man. If it progresses inwardly, morally, spiritually, he can make a wise use of his scientific discoveries, and to benefit all humanity. Otherwise, the outlook may be worrying for him.

40. There are contradictions between what we say religion and what we learned in school (eg on the origins of man ...). Who to believe?

What school secular and materialistic look naturally to atheism and a purely materialistic world is quite normal. The direction of public education in France - which we have inherited in Africa - the result of a historical past where the conflict between secularism and religion resulted in the victory of secularism and atheism. The teaching is therefore a reflection.

The question, ultimately, not so much the problem of the school that the problem was discussed in the previous question: the conflict between materialism and religious beliefs, between material and spiritual.
I can only repeat what I have said previously. Science wonderful, which is teaches the basics in school, faces at every turn to the secret of life. She can not violate it. It scans, analyzes, breaks down, but it always ends remain prohibited at the mystery of the causes. To take the wrong step, she describes as "random" or "spontaneous." She is dizzy from the amplitude of the infinitely large and infinitely small.

The true origin of man remains a mystery. Science focuses on the examination of some fossil bones dating from the distant past, and develops the hypothesis of a gradual and evolutionary lineage from ape to man. But it will still only hypotheses, which change and change gradually as discoveries. Who says that one day this theory will change does not turn? All men of science are also not uniformly agree on these theories.

It is not my subject here deepen beyond my competence. I can only note the inability of men to solve the mystery of the origin of life, and especially the mysteries of spiritual life in man, that we sense in ourselves, and we speak the great symbols of the Books sacred.

Religion and Prayer

41. Why not a single prayer for all if there is one God for all?

When we know why there is no single language for all men created by one God, we understand why there is not one prayer for all believers who pray the same God.

42. Is it permissible to pray before the age?

Yes, it is permissible to pray before the age, and it is very strongly recommended to do so.
What we learn in his tender age is a trait that is marked on the stone. Therefore it is recommended to accustom children to pray before the age required by law.

43. Christians are men and women to pray. Why not the Muslims?

Muslims separate men and women to pray in order to avoid the sight of women distract men from their prayers, and vice versa. The praying man should concentrate and focus his entire being to God. No doubt some men have a concentration of mind enough not to risk being distracted ... It said, however, that except in rare individuals, when a woman enters the sight of man, God leaves his heart and his mind.

The custom is a rule of prudence and wisdom, which applies to all and does not include exceptions.

It should be noted however, that the prayer of man and woman is quite similar and equal in value. There is no difference between them from a religious perspective.

Note also that this separation stops at the great pilgrimage to Mecca, where men and women are mixed, as if approaching a center symbolizing the divine presence, all differences and dualities extinguished . There are more than their souls worshiping the Lord.

Religion and marriage

44. Marriage is he really faith? Obstruction Does he or deepens the faith?

Faith need not be related or subordinate to the marriage or otherwise. Faith is one thing and marriage is another.

Marriage is a social and a physiological necessity. Faith is immaterial and is the world of soul and spirit.

Marriage is highly recommended in Islam, but it is not a prerequisite of validity of the faith.
What is vehemently prohibited in Islam, it is adultery. The Muslim master of his carnal passions is not tied to marriage, which is not obligatory in Islamic law. Many Sufis living in the bush remained unmarried.

The marriage is blessed and consecrated form which allows a man and woman to unite and start a family to perpetuate the race and avoid adultery and confusion of manners.

Twenty-four verses in the Quran of marriage, while only two speak of celibacy. The Prophet of Islam has blessed the marriage, but it did not advocate celibacy.

45. A Muslim man can marry a Christian and vice versa? If yes, what religion to adopt? and children?

Yes, a Muslim man may marry a Christian or Jewish. It is indeed a divine order and permission to read in the Qur'an:

"You are allowed to marry the daughters of honest believers and those who received the Scripture before you, provided you give them their reward (dot). Live chastely with them (righteousness), keeping you from debauchery, and without taking concubines. Those who betray their faith will lose the fruit of his good works and will be in another world among the poor "(Koran, Sura V, verse 7).

For cons, the Muslim woman can marry a Christian or a Jew, according to Islamic law. The logic would there is reciprocity, but we must consider certain factors which justify the wisdom of this prohibition.

On a purely external, it can be said that there was a survival instinct of a community in its early days, when women were rare.
But the deeper reasons lie elsewhere. Indeed, the Muslim, we have said in other chapters, meet Jesus and Moses as prophets of God, like Muhammad. A Muslim husband having a Christian wife has the duty to respect the religion of his wife, and even ensure that it observes well. There should be no pressure on her to lead him to embrace Islam. ("No compulsion in religion", says the Koran). This woman may therefore remain herself, and never hear the blasphemy against the Prophet. It is at least as required by the Act.
By cons, if a Muslim marries a Christian or a Jew, she had a husband who does not recognize his Prophet or his religion, and generally try to make him quit. It can only result in the greatest number of cases, an unbalanced and non-harmonious marriage.
The Act, taking into account the general rule and not always possible exceptions on an individual level, has banned such marriages.

In general, the Act provides that Muslim children follow the religion of the father. But in practice, children often follow the influence is strongest, or most convincing.

46. Polygamy is it a necessity?

Polygamy, according to the social, political and economic, appears in time and space, as an institution sometimes necessary, sometimes undesirable.

When we look around the beings of nature, we realize that the problem of sex is essential for the reproduction of the species. It is therefore much more the domain of physiology as the domain of faith.

There, in the animal kingdom - including humans - different ways of living sexuality:

· the monogamy : When a male and a female live together in pairs, to procreate and multiply

· the polygamy : When a male lives with several females

· the polyandry : When a female is living with several males.

These different ways of life have existed matrimonial all three, both men and animals, well before the advent of monotheistic religions.
A matrimonial regime, by itself, does not fundamentally affects the quality of faith, nor the possibilities of evolution.

Polygamy is not an invention of Islam, any more than monogamy is a creation of Christianity. But these two denominations have spent marital each mode best suited to the inhabitants of its area, given the existing background.

To what extent imposed monogamy, either civilly or religiously, it is practically observed in the West? Who ignores the illegal polygamy is practiced secretly in monogamous countries, which also condemn vehemently and indignantly Islamic polygamy, polygamy also limited by the Act.

I believe that neither the heat nor the cold condition only valid sexual progress of a nation.

That said, I will answer the question in paragraph 46 by this: there are countries where polygamy is a compelling social need. There are others who, by reason of the collapse of the family, put up with monogamy.

In Islam, polygamy is not an obligation, but a tolerance (also limited), given the diversity of temperaments and social conditions of society. The main concern is to avoid adultery, the disorder of morals, illegitimate children and uprooted, only older women.
A verse from the Koran, however, suggests that God prefers monogamy, but that if it is not possible, the man can marry under the conditions specified by the revelation.

47. Why Islam is so strict with the woman? Why religion punishes the woman?

This, again, an issue little known, poorly studied and subject to easy jokes, but not verified. It should not be there either, attributed to religion which is attributable to the character of men.
Let us not forget that Islam emerged in a society where women had no rights, no value, and, even, it happened that they buried the girls alive!

In such a society, Islam, through the power of the Word of God, has established complete religious equality between men and women who practice exactly the same rituals and are called to the same spiritual destiny. From the social point of view, Islam has established a property regime which not only the rights of women, but its assets are safeguarded, that did not exist before, and no long existed in Western countries modern.

According to Islamic law, women can be married without his consent. She has the right to seek divorce if the marriage does not suit him. It retains the absolute disposal of his own property in marriage, including property resulting from the dowry given by her husband. It can sell, manage, operate its own property without the permission of her husband. (Incidentally that this possibility did not exist for the French woman until recent years.)

Whatever the personal wealth of the Muslim woman, she is entirely dependent on her husband who must support herself. Islam does not accept the husband's property encroaches on his wife.
With Islam, women acquired the right to testify in court.
In matters of inheritance, the woman receives less than men, but this is due to family structure of the companies concerned, where the man is still head of the family and responsible for meeting the needs of his family, including women .

As for the accusation that the veil of Islam and cloistered women, it also rests on a misunderstanding. You can read the Koran carefully, you will find verses certainly inviting the woman to hide his "bait" in order not to disturb the men outside his home, but we did find neither the obligation to veil themselves fully, nor to live cloistered. The Koran recommends all occasions modesty, decency, discretion, reserve maintenance and morals, but does not go beyond. It puts men and women on guard against the dangers of promiscuity. That's it.

The custom of locking up women and crush them under the authority of the man is an ancient custom which existed long before Islam. This phenomenon is not due to religion but the very nature of men, who sometimes used the pretext of religion to perpetuate and maintain their way of acting.

As for "punishment", let us, as we have already done elsewhere, that women are equal to men before the Islamic Law. When religion was "Act of State", she punished the guilty, irrespective of gender.

Religion and gesture of charity

48. The purpose of the charity is it the same for Christians than among Muslims?

The charity, whether by a Christian, a Muslim or an atheist, is still a charity, that is to say firstly that a man takes on his own property to give charity, to someone poorer than himself, either by love of God or love of neighbor.

If an atheist denies God, he does not deny the existence of its neighbor, and this does not prevent him from having to charity.
Noted that in Islam the charity has two different forms:

· There the Zakkat, Which is mandatory. This is the tenth of the property must be capitalized that give annually to the poor. The distribution is usually done by religious leaders. The Zakkat provides some movement of goods within the community and can help the disadvantaged.

· There alms free, everyone can always make whenever they want, but that does not relieve the obligation to pay Zakkat. Alms free is recommended in the Koran and the Prophet.

49. Giving a portion of its property is to be pious. Why?

Anyone who donates part of his property that does not make a beautiful act of solidarity.

It is written in the Quran (11, 172):

"Righteousness does not consist turn your faces towards the east or west.
"Pius is one who believes in God and the Last Day, the Angels and the Books, the Prophets,
"Who for the love of God, gives her assets to her relatives, orphans, the poor, travelers and those who ask, who redeem the captives, and so on. "

Being pious is therefore, in addition to faith, to help his fellow man Love of God. True piety can be selfish, or closed upon itself.
According to the Koran, God has made man on earth to be his representative. The man is invested with enormous responsibility, which is to wisely manage and operate the property of the earth for the good of all, and not to selfishly accumulate. This is why Islam, by all means available under the Act tries to prevent hoarding: prohibition of usury, the zakkat annual requirement to run a tenth of the property, the bursting of the legacies of all children to avoid the accumulation of assets in the hands of a single, recommendation Koranic not hoard, etc..

More importantly, if we consider the problem from a higher perspective, we see that God invites man to divest himself constantly to "empty" of selfishness, to become the receptacle of the Divine Presence . God said through the mouth of its ships:

"70 times a day I look in the heart of man, to go down. But I find it almost always full of himself, and cannot enter ... "

To love his fellow man and help him is to love God, who created it.

Religion and development

50. Principial Islam can contribute to the development of humanity?

Yes, Islam can not only contribute to the development of humanity, but he has already done, with a magnitude that has marked human history. The Muslim civilization, not to have been the midwife of monsters techniques, was nevertheless the mother of Sciences who served as a launching pad for modern science, as we said at the Question 26.

Nations, like the marchers, may stop on the road of progress for blowing their fatigues. This does not mean they do not depart again.
I do not repeat what I said in this Question 26On the fact that Muslims are not the only ones who know underdevelopment, which is due to various causes and not for religious causes.
Today, Islam is currently on leave the path of modern progress. What I want is to become the rider of technological civilization, not its frame.

Science without conscience is killing the possessor.

We must never cease to be human. Any discovery that would not serve to humanize and to ensure the happiness of the human masses will fizzle, that is to say, would be futile, if not dangerous.
The true regression in humans, is the moral regression. It is disastrous if it is supported by powerful means of domination or destruction.

Like any authentic divine revelation, Islam, if implemented seriously and lived by men, could greatly help humanity to find a better balance between the material and the spiritual world, both paid and harmonized under the eyes of God and in respect of his Law.

51. There are more Muslims in the underdeveloped countries than in other countries. Is that not the religion that shun progress?

How I would have liked to end my answers in a more gay than the word "no. But my 'no' is a warning for myself as for all young Muslims educated in secular schools. It has inherited slogans orchestrated by the anti-religious spirit, reinforced by the anti-Islamic.

I will not repeat the arguments Question 26 and the previous question, under which all underdeveloped countries do not have a Muslim majority, and that, moreover, Islam has never understood "snubbed" progress (it has proved in the past), when it does not affect the moral and spiritual man.

The time when, either by ignorance or prejudice, religious and political forces of the West strove to make Islam responsible for all evils and sins of the world is over.

The era of convergence religious rang. If the various religious denominations were closing their ears to calls for reconciliation, they would soon hear the death knell for their decline.

The time has come for religions to unite and participate in the conquests of science, not to dominate, but not be dominated.
On a day where religion and science is comply and to cooperate in the common interest of mankind, that day the two rails necessary for the running of our happiness would be raised. Think about it.

Note
1. Dialogue with students of Niger

Reports of the Traditional African Man with God.

Dealing with 'traditional relationship of African man with God, "as has been proposed, generalizing the religious situation throughout Africa, could lead to errors deep. There is not, in fact, an "African man" who represents a type valid for the entire continent, from north to south and from east to west. There is a man of North African, living in the basin of the Mediterranean or the Atlantic Ocean coast. There is a man of the Sahara, which borders with that of the savannah. There is finally the man of the forest. Both types of character, conduct, both ethnic groups, many traditional religious forms.

To remain in the truth and not to risk sweeping generalizations, it should be treated separately from the religion of a given ethnic group: Bambara, Dogon, Baoulé, Mossi, etc..

I therefore, in the context of this study, the traditions of the region I know best: that of Mali, former French Sudan from the colonial era. This country is savanna traditions Bambara, Peul, Malinke, and Dogon, some of which have given birth in the past great empires before they met, and sometimes their merger with Islam, has created a new traditional type of behavior vis-à-vis God, more than elsewhere in continuation of the previous opposition, as we will see later.

As we noted at the outset, the traditional relationship of man with God in Africa can be multifaceted: the events of "Sacred," and cults that are made, vary the gods. "The gods ... "It is true that most traditional religions observable addressed to a plurality of gods, different levels of importance, and sometimes quite unusual to the observer from the outside. In this motley pantheon, what is the place of "God"?

Supreme Being

The existence of a "Supreme Being", not definable and residing in heaven, "is found in most religious traditions of the area, and black Africa in general.

Transcendence and Immanence

Whether "Maa Ngala (Master of All) or Masa Dembali (Master uncreated and infinite) Bambara, or" Geno "(Jehovah) and" Dundar "Fulani, God is considered the Supreme Being , single Creator of all that exists, lies beyond any contingency beyond human intelligence, and yet as both transcendent and immanent to its being on his event. Both above and beyond any scope of any attack, and at the same time everywhere: "Wherever there is the sky, there is" Maa Ngala, the proverb says Bambara.

If this ambivalence can hit a logical mind, for whom the opposites are separated once and for all and can not meet, I hasten to say that no ambiguity interferes with the African spirit, and even less when it relates to " Sebaa Kolibali Mansa ", the" Mighty King, All-Able "(expression, among many others, used to describe God in the Bambara language), or" distant and Kaydara "Fulani.

The tradition teaches that the distance between God and man who knows the claim is no greater than that between the nail and the flesh of the finger it covers, while the man who does not sacrifice to God and do not pray it is separated by a distance equal to the depth of heaven ...

Intermediate agents

In most cases however, the Supreme Being is considered too remote from men so that they have revered him live. They prefer to turn to intermediate agents. Indeed, the "God of Heaven, sometimes picturesquely called" Framing Spaces "or" Bones of the Sky> (ngalakolo) is located at a distance so remote in space and the voice of "Maanin" - the little man, son Adam - can not reach directly. It is appropriate vehicles to transport up her complaints and praises of men.

In the African tradition of Mali, the relationship of man with God did not directly established in the manner favored by the Prophets of Revelation in the monotheistic religions.

Between Sacred Supreme inaccessible directly, and man, spreads out a Sacred income support and springing into the Sacred Supreme, and in turn empties into forces on the auspicious or inauspicious universe, the 'through some agents. It is these forces that manage the happiness and misery of men, not the Supreme Being - although it remains the sole creator of all things - that will address the ritual words, incantations that more prayers , and propitiatory offerings to appease them when they are unleashed.
This manifestation of the sacred through an agent other than himself, which powers have been delegated to some extent by the Supreme Being, is the remote origin of various traditional religious brotherhoods secret, presided over by gods.

Thus the animist traditions Malian know the gods:

o Ntomo

o Nama

o Komo

o Nya

o Nyawrole

o Jarawa, etc..

These are all agents sacred - or spent - managing a parcel of the Supreme Power. Their incarnation (or be in the media object) takes place in ways that are the basis of secret brotherhood.

These agents of the Supreme Being is also divided into two complementary groups: one is public, regular, the other is secret, occult. There is an echo of the scale "exoteric" and "esoteric" revealed religions.

Some animists of Mali, however, give more freedom to the Supreme Being itself, which they call "Maa Ngala," which can be embodied in the form of animal, vegetable or mineral, or a natural phenomenon or supernatural. It was then that he rammed the winds and waves rise in the water. It was he who instructed the thunder. He falls in love with punish or frighten people or animals who offend.

This Supreme Being is terrible, yet compassionate. He agrees to be implored. It was he who inspired the sacramental words. They can touch and to bend. But there is, for cons, sacrilegious words that can trigger anger and get his retribution on those who utter them: all the secret motive of the rite is there in "the Word." It is this which constitutes the basis and the active agent of ritual, or "magic".

Placing and always an intermediary between the Supreme Being and he who seeks finds its echo in everyday life: indeed, Africans regions discussed here always will employ an intermediary to express their wishes or desires someone. Many who lived in Colonial A.O.F. have found that the cook always goes through the boy to ask something to the boss, and vice versa ... It is this situation that gave the "interpreter" official intermediary between citizens and their leader, a prominent place in the colonial administration.
In Bambara, the interpreter is called "Met-mouth. Each has a king, each god has one.

Ancestors

These intermediaries between the divine and human, the four basic elements of nature - fire, air, land and water - played a role. But the closest and most efficient intermediaries is still the ancestor ancestor-founder of the village, or the ancestor of the tribe, because a secret bond of blood connects to his male offspring, while a link milk and umbilical cord connecting it to its offspring by women.
The ancestor, whose tomb should be located in the village or within the family itself, or nearby, is closer to its offspring than is the Supreme Being that dwells in the empyrean, and whose voice made of thunder and storm, is feared. You can talk to the ancestor in the language he used and bequeathed to his posterity. We know the nature of libations and how he likes to spread as to reach him. Being disembodied, the ancestor is placed in conditions that allow it to speak to the Supreme Being.

For animist Bambara, Bobo, mianka, samo, etc.., Please contact the spirits of the ancestors is preferable and more effective than approach the Supreme Being himself. Indeed, between the latter and itself lies the obstacle of plains, mountains and dunes of the clouds. The human voice may be carried and dispersed by the winds that inhabit the space where is the Supreme Being.

It serves always to drink to the soul of the ancestor before asking him a question or seek a service. This religious custom is also remained usual: if you enter a house where tradition is in effect, you will immediately water to drink, you're thirsty or not. The custom command you to take a small sip. It is a ritual. It will not be giving the floor to the visitor when he has wet his lips. "Use something to drink, said the law" Dialan "(great God animist Ferlo-Senegal), as the thirsty man is a man without his wits. "Whoever refuses refuses water life. It therefore refuses the dialogue that establishes the relationship.

The old, dying, become "guardian spirits", provided that their descendants or their country have their remains returned to the traditional funeral honors due to dead ceremonies of the 1st, 3rd, 7th and 40th days after death .

Death allows the soul to regain its fluidity astral, once stripped of its carnal weight which kept close to the ground. It is this gravity, this heaviness, which remains in the body and makes it impure. Once disembodied soul is a good basis from which it can fly to each call to avert the danger which threatens the individual or the community of his lineage.

Presence of the Sacred in all things. Animism.

The African black man is a believer born. He did not wait for the Books revealed to be convinced of the existence of a Force-Power Source of existence and motor actions and movements of people. But for him, that force is not outside of creatures. It is in every being. She gives life to ensure its development and, possibly, its reproduction.

Surrounded by a universe that is tangible and visible: humans, animals, plants, stars, etc.., The black man, any time, perceived that deep down these people and these things lay something powerful that he could not describe, and which inspired them.
This perception of a sacred force in all things was the source of many beliefs, practices varied, many of which have survived, sometimes stripped, it is true, over time, their original meaning deep. All of these beliefs has received the name of "animism" by Western anthropologists, because in fact the Black attributes a soul to everything, soul-force that seeks to reconcile with magical practices, and sometimes sacrifice.

Matches between the analog and its manifestation Sacre Supreme

In the spirit of the Bambara, Bozo's, etc.. The notion of sacred is essentially "ambiguous". It uses almost the same words for both the sacred itself that its manifestations.

The words "nyama," or "do" mean the sacred in itself, but also all that, being in the "likeness" of a quality or skill of the divine, becomes a receptacle or place of event privileged This divine quality.

Thus, advanced age gives a man or a woman of "nyama. Indeed, the transcendent God is the origin of time is, par excellence, a very great age. He therefore made up residence in the body of every age, and age and became a sacred privilege. In Bambara, is the oldest member of the tribe who is custodian of the sacred powers, which alone ought officer. Among other things, its insignia, a ritual stick, a hat and alligator-mouth turban blessed, a ritual knife, a bowl dedicated, special sandals, etc..

The "Koro-ta" - or the fact of "being high" or "be high" (mountain, tree, or royal position) - is also a sign of presence of the "Se", sacred force, of where, by extension, the presence of divinity.

"Ngala Korot Kii! > ("God raises thee up!") Is a propitiatory prayer formula used by both the animist Bambara as a convert to the two great revealed religions: Christianity and Islam, more common in Black Africa that the Judaism.

It was banned in the name of the Deity, to touch everything that was described as "nyama. Whoever violates this prohibition did at his expense, because he exposed himself to receive a punishment commensurate with the seriousness of the breach.

This active force which lurks in the being or object which it lives is a manifestation emanating from the Sacred very high. What are its effects that act against those who come into contact with it recklessly, outside the conditions established ritual.

Good character, respect, charity, the rescue of his fellow men and even animals, were considered as means to neutralize the "nyama" and to prevent manifest as a punishment.

The power source is also considered as residents in some minerals, as it immutable over time, and therefore participating in its immutability. This is why we find some stones or some caves objects of veneration.

If the sacred force - Se, or nyama, or do - living creatures and having a match with a quality analog Sacred very high, it can also be "known" in a particular subject or location, the following a consecration on the part of man: for example, sacred sites, statues "loaded", ritual masks, or tools used for "master of the knife" (murutigi) (The priest to the gods). For the latter, tools rituals are not mere objects but symbols which, as such, are also containers of the infinite power of Mansa-See-Ba (Mighty King), the invisible and very diffuse Creator King of the universe.

Any other than the master of the knife which would handle the tools and rituals commit a prohibited or face punitive shock (strange diseases, loss of property and sometimes violent death ...). Only the master of the knife knows the secret words to speak before touching ritual objects, boosted by touch, bring together those who handled them with powerful hidden forces.

This notion of an invisible presence, powerful, living in multiple places and people, is linked to the existence of "spirits" or "geniuses" jinns). Although very powerful, genius obey men when they are invoked by special formulas inherited from ancestors who concluded pacts with them very specific transmitted to their offspring, and with prohibitions and obligations.

Regulatory ritual life

Immersed in a world filled with forces that inhabit and animate all things, animist Mali was brought to ensure his gestures and his words, to respect the laws of prohibition and obligation to govern its relations with the surrounding forces: he not throw down a tree without having first asked the forces that inhabit it to vacate it will not satisfy his natural needs to apologize before the invisible place, asking them to move away from the place it will stain ...
His whole life will unfold according to a rule passed by the ancestors, and once dictated to them by a god. Religious life, craft, marriage, family, food, everything is governed by specific rules. Nothing is left to chance.

- Wedding

Thus the husband did not seek his wife to obey only his instinct, but it will do for a specific purpose ordered by tradition. The form of customs may vary from one ethnic group to another, but the fact remains a ritual more than sexual behavior in this area - the sexual act is often done to please the guardian gods of the clan. This explains that most marriages are not made animists in the sole name of love. The physical beauty, the natural inclination and age are not absolute criteria in this area. The woman is subject to certain prohibitions Preliminary menstrual periods, some time after mourning for a former spouse, and during the entire time she is breastfeeding a baby.

- Food

The laws governing food and drink are rigorous. Whoever violates the risk of angering the Supreme Being and to introduce into his stomach enough to make you sick. The disease is always a sign of displeasure of the gods.

Whoever takes his meals in the bush begins to throw a few pieces to the four cardinal points before putting anything in his mouth. It is quite a ritual etiquette should be practiced. He will respect the middle of the plate, which is considered as the place where the divine power descends gives the food its nutritional center of everything is like his heart belonging to the gods.

No worldly ...

As you can see, there is little room, if not all, for a "worldly" in the modern sense of the word. There is not a sacred side and the other profane. Everything is connected, everything involves the forces of life are the many aspects of the "Se" primordial sacred force itself aspect of God.

Sanctity of traditional crafts

Among the traditional human activities, although few were those that did not contain a sacred aspect.

In fact, the trades were not considered mere domestic utilities or economic pursuits, but as sacred works, performed by insiders in order to please God, Maa Ngala.

The thirty-three loom parts were not cut at random, but according to a time-honored formula. He had to reconcile the Force-Source to help transform its initial work and divine a human endeavor - the tools. The use of each tool was also preceded by a prayer incantation.

The "language" of the loom is a great lesson in philosophy. Everything speaks: the shuttle, the pedals, the weft yarn, comb, roller, the roller, the smooth, etc.. Each element represents one aspect of the game of life cosmic creative Word, dualism, law graduate, past, present, future, winding time, etc.. By manipulating each piece, the weaver sings or recites a litany precisely because he knows he touches one of the mysteries of life, at least in its symbol, which for him is the same.

It is the same for each traditional activity: blacksmith (which will be discussed later), a shoemaker, pottery (the pottery is traditionally reserved for women, because female symbolism of all that is hollow and therefore, container).

The farmer does not allow open imprudently bowels of the earth without first say the word properly and dedicated. It might kill his seed after having it blessed and recommend to the Force-Source, which monitors everywhere and on everything at once, so that disruption is not playing and that cucumbers do not put themselves to push on branches of baobab ...

The shepherd does not run his flock in the bush without having requested it "to open his mouth good and shut the bad."

Ancestor initiator of a knowledge received "from above"

Most of the animist rituals being done are considered as the repetition of a primordial act, inspired by "Masa-Dembali (Master uncreated and infinite), and forwarded through the chain of ancestors insiders.

It would be difficult to reconstruct the integrity of Black primitive religious thought. But we can say that it is always an elder or ancestor of each clan or tribe, who first came into contact with the "forces of nature agents of God, usually through a be fabulous (spirit, animal, or atmospheric phenomenon of a astronomical), and who received a certain knowledge he transmitted to his progeny.
Thus the ancestor of Samake was put in touch with the invisible by an old elephant lonely, and that clan Diarra was initiated by a toothless old lion without claws ...

One always finds in the Malian tradition, when accomplished this "encounter", the three elements of a triad: the invisible force that inspires and reveals the agent of transmission or revelation which often takes the appearance a fabulous animal or mythical, and whoever receives: man, the ancestor, the initiator.

For older traditional societies, the principle of any real knowledge of any kind it is, always comes from above. "We can not do anything that we come from Masa-Dembali and when he chooses. "So do not we say that man" invents "something, but he" discovered "or" rediscovered "... The thing existed before the man, who only discover or reveal the time chosen by Masa-Dembali.

The ancestors of the farmers, "two hunters (hunter and fisherman) and the" three pastors (shepherds of cattle, goats and sheep) were once made contact with forces hidden in the bosom of the earth, trees and water, and it is through the transmission of this knowledge by means of initiation, which can be accomplished these traditional activities.

Blacksmiths

It is the ancestor of blacksmiths, Nunfayiri, Who first came into contact with the spirits of three lights:

o fire of green wood

o fire within the earth

o Sky Fire

He learned from them to extract iron and converting it into tools. The Fulani, who is his ally-sacred, named him " Bayle , The infinitive " waylude "Which means change. The blacksmith became a demi-god, a creator, capable of getting in touch with the invisible.

Contrary to what some have written, or understood, the blacksmith is not despised. It is feared. It is reserved for gods. He sometimes gives the title of "First Son of the World. It is the only traditional power to be able to pay without difficulty, the eternal conflict between the pastor to the farmer.
As for the loom, each element forge is a sacred symbol of one aspect of the creative force: the bellows, which enters the home, represents the masculine principle transmitting life in the form of steam, home run by the breath being here the feminine principle. The anvil, once traditionally round or oval represents the womb, while the mass symbolizes the male organ.
The forge was in Africa, one of the oldest shrines in which man has worshiped a god, through the fire of the forge. In Bambara, the home is called "fan", which means "egg" and by extension "the egg of the world.
So far, Mali, the blacksmith remained the "Komotigui", Master of the god Komo. He has rights to everyone. His tools and his person is sacred, and even untouchable.

The forge, as well as any other craft workshop, was a "divine service". The construction of these sanctuaries was previously undertaken workshops to all villagers, and they were places of worship of a particular strength of life, before the upheaval born of the clash of colonial and modern civilization does have come to "demystify" into the current workplace.

Sexual Symbolism

The sexual symbolism of which we have spoken about the forge is in fact regarded as inherent in all things. Indeed, without this being of living beings like Adam and Eve, animist traditions of Sudan acknowledged the establishment by the Supreme Being, two fundamental principles: "tyeeya (masculinity) and" musei (femininity), which were with all beings. In West Africa, the principle of sexuality is applied to beings and things of the three kingdoms: mineral, vegetable and animal.

Thus the sky is male, because it covers the land, which constitutes the basis of his masculinity, while the earth is receptive, so feminine and maternal. "Covering" actually means still today, among the Fulani, "marry".

Depending on its shape, an object will be considered masculine or feminine. Anything that is hollow is a symbol of femininity, while the projection of an object is equated with masculinity.

Again, we must emphasize that, for Africans, the symbol is not abstract or mental, but concrete, in that it is on earth, like an echo, or projecting concrete , one aspect of the primordial force. The things below reflect the principles from above, but reflect inhabited, receptacle or place of Presence.

Heaven and Earth, Father and Mother

Thus, the distant and transcendent sacredness of the sky (the male principle and creator) Has not been established on a basis of love, but that of force: the thunder, tornado, the "wrath of Heaven" were manifestations of the existence and power of Masa-Dembali, the Supreme Being. On land, it is in "the Father" embodied what this force, or that power.

While the sacred intimate and close to God, his power of love and mercy, not to seek "heaven", but in the same event, where they are at work: in the heart and guts the Mother in the womb of the Earth Mother.

It's not just drink milk that the baby hung in his mother, but the Divine Mercy itself, and love. Therefore a child weaned too early 1 is regarded as having been deprived of food for Mercy, which was to impregnate his early life, to ensure the smooth.

The mother's womb (in correspondence with the analog blacksmith's shop) is considered the workshop where the Supreme Being to germinate and grow in life. It is therefore the privileged place of transcendence, God at work. This is why the tradition assigns to the woman-mother a row of half-god, while the wife is a wife-partner physical enjoyment. The curse mother, as her blessing, ascends to heaven and never falls ... As they say in saying: "Everything we have, we should do that once his father, but twice to his mother. The father is a "sower sometimes distracted, if not frivolous ... We can accept even an insult directed at the father, but never let pass an insult to the mother.

Mother Earth

The land, feminine and maternal power as we have seen, is the receptacle of the total power that comes from heaven through the "ji" (Water) "Yeelen (light) and even" dibi ( darkness).

Regarded as the Mother of all beings, the sky becomes her husband, the moon its star, the sun's pole. It is the lap, back and breast maternal beings. As soon as our feet leave the ground, we cease to feel at peace.

The spirit - or god - "Lennaya" lies in her "Lennaya" is the confidence that brings peace, confidence of the child based on his mother's womb.

The cult of the earth is the very basis of religion, animism. Whoever does not land on his feet can not be "gonngon-duuru, that is to say," one who acts "or, literally, one who" raises dust. " Whoever does not raise any dust. The proverb "Nii me gonngon yaa-i duuru ntron fla Be Dugu man" ("If you hear" gonngon-duuru "is that your two heels are in contact with the earth") implies that being, for be realized, must exist on the earth. This came on earth is paramount and is prepared with great care at the time of the birth of a child.
The land is called "kolo Dugu. "Dugu" means city - and by extension the habitat - and "kolo" means bones - by extension framework, skeleton. Thus, land is the backbone of the city. Without it, neither dwelling of man nor lair of the beast would find their footing.

No singer disclaims any god without paying tribute to the earth. In this matrix, or on it, or under it, what are the realms of the cosmos.
Agriculture and livestock are the two core businesses animists. These two trades are land and those who practice them are more likely to animism than others.

The earth, mother of beings, on which we come and to which we return inevitably, belongs to nobody. Even the king, where there was one, could be "master of the earth." It could neither be transferred to a private landlord or mortgaged.

He sacrificed because of its fertility depends on that of the whole universe. Thus each village had its priest he called "manager of the land.

The farmer does not sow nor plant before asking the earth to accept at first, then watch over the transformation of the seed he says. He asked forgiveness before splitting with his hoe, so that it accepts the injury without anger.

The field work was regarded as a reproductive process, so in some places, it is men who split the land, while only women are allowed to bury the seed in the bosom of the earth as a matrix, because of their kinship with her analogue.

Indeed, the deep secrets of life are hidden in the bowels of the earth and its excavations. Life began in a cave, says the myth. It developed into a well and was manifested by leaving a slit.

The mother and earth, manifestations of the same mystery, that of germination, of fertility and life, are of paramount importance in the animist tradition. If the father is considered an agent of cosmic contact, in terms of the sacred he gives way to the mother. It legitimizes the child after helping to procreate, but the mother is the perfect being of the child. We can not be without a mother, so we can indeed be unknown father.

The land is considered a living being. It grows, declines and dies.

The Sun and the Moon

The sun, moon, stars and all the major atmospheric phenomena are regarded as agents of the heavenly power. They each embody one of the many strengths of the Supreme Being.

The morning star is the emblem of the supreme power, placed too high, which do not enter the beings of the earth, though their lives depend on this force.

The Bambara called the force "Se", sometimes "Se-Ba" and some add a third term, "massa" to form a triad: "Sheba, massa. The median word "ba" is here a relative pronoun which represents the "force unnamed" which also evokes the grandeur. It is preceded by "Se", strength, and followed by "massa" king. "Se bamassa" therefore means: "King endowed with strength."

The power of the heavenly king, whose place of residence could not be determined exactly, is mythically represented by the sun. King of the visible sky, he pours his seed on the earth as rain, and his breath: the heat, which, according to their intensity, can kill or vivify.

The sun does not always appear to human eyes. At night, some eclipses, clouds may obscure its presence. Its appearance depends on the willingness of Se-ba-massa. Emblem of the king, as kings traditional sometimes not, and its outputs are regulated. But it is invariable in form.

It is not the same one that is sometimes regarded as his wife, the moon. She, like her royal husband, has moments of release. But it turns, and the secret of motherhood and phases of life lies in her: she first appears thin and hollow, rounded and full, finally decreases and disappears. It is the very image of the cycles of life: design, growth and death, and eternal renewal of things: it reappears after three days of damaging his disappearance.

The crescent moon heralds a change. We sing to honor:

Appearance, appearance of new moon,
What everyone seeks the little which he is entitled.
Nobody will act in place of another,
What everyone seeks the little which he is entitled.

For the animist, the moon renews contingencies, and gives everyone the opportunity to act to achieve. He is convinced that no "live the life of his neighbor, that is to say not suffer the fate of his neighbor. Luck and misfortune of each are attached to his feet. If such is the inexorable law of becoming, everyone must act by itself. The "tle" to someone, it's time, opportunities and misfortunes, in a word, his fate, inexorably staff.

The moon, which has a more magical than the sun, holds a prominent place in the life of the animist. It is considered the agent of a deity governing femininity, sexuality, human reproduction and fruiting plants. In it "being hidden" from the woman during her menstrual periods resides. To say she is menstruating, the woman said: "I went into the moon ... "Among the Dogon, this period is marked by an actual retirement of women in a house closed to men, called" pna pna-. It remains there throughout this period, when the matrix is supposed to be occupied by the god of procreation: "Soro".

Land of the dead, the moon is also the mistress of the waters, which obey the law, including the tides. When the storm is a harbinger of rain, the moon we pray not to "suck the rain", and not to make the barren land. It administers the plants. It guides the migration of creatures on land and in water. He was asked not to disrupt the weather.

But it is especially the great queen's magic time. It is considered the "abacus" counter Eternity. It therefore serves as a timetable for covert operations. His calendar is carefully tracked and used to mark the dates of major religious practices of the year.
It was with twenty-eight mansions, and spend the day and night in each. Her husband visits her every night. The four elements parent-fire, earth, air and water - govern each of these seven homes. It is through the mansions of the moon that matches all things were made by insiders. They are the ones that connect them all beings.
The singers of the gods and the masters of ritual knife known secrets of these homes and what to ask for the moon as her husband is there or not. That is to say that there is a key mantra for every home, so for each day.

But do not be deceived: neither the sun nor the moon are worshiped for themselves. They are an emblem embodying a transcendent power, the sign of the operation of this power, but they are not her power.

As for the Milky Way, the highway illuminated only Masa-Dembali borrowed when he had to visit his establishment. The ancestors of humans have their remains.

Ethics linked to a sense of unity of all things

One can not deny the primitive animism educational background required each individual society to encourage them to do good and avoid evil. This teaching is based on a profound conviction that "everything is" in the universe. Nothing is isolated. Any violation of the sacred laws causes a disturbance in the balance of the occult universe, resulting in our land by major upheavals. That's why every violent manifestation of nature - volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, etc.. - Is regarded as the consequence of sins committed against morality or against tradition. In Mali, the animists ignore the concept of "flood", but they know the massive destruction wrought by the Supreme Being to punish the breach of men.

If the individual can make mistakes, whose consequences will affect him or around him, the community itself, considered as a person is also responsible for his actions: his good actions will prevent epidemics, wars, drought , the depletion of mines and wells, etc..
Bambara proverb compares the universe to a large pool:

"Be careful what you throw in the" pool of life ", because of turmoil that is sure to result! If you throw a small rock, the waves will not go away, but if you throw a large piece of wood, the waves did not rest until they filled the entire pond and have reached the shores. Not only do they run the risk of damaging them, but they will return to their point of departure and their encounter with the waves in the opposite direction can cause a shock to disastrous unforeseen consequences. "

Everywhere where tradition is respected, the individual does not count to the community. The family first, then the tribe or village, are units whose interest or premium or destiny that includes individuals who compose them. It is in this context that one must try to understand certain acts of ancient societies, so shocking to our ethics and our current sensitivity. The sacrifices for the salvation of the community were mostly sought after by volunteers as a title of honor.

This profound sense of unity also explains the family solidarity that continues even today, to mark the African society, but unfortunately begins to crumble under the growing influence of modern individualism and the "beggar thy in the race for wealth and power ...

Encounter with Islam

The animistic religions prepared Mali, like all African countries south of Sahara, the idea of the Sacred and a mysterious force creates the universe. The revealed religions, including Christianity and Islam, found a fertile ground for their spread.

I cannot speak of the encounter with Christianity, having no authority, as a Muslim to deal with it, and expressed the hope that this interesting question is treated by a qualified Christian personality.

The empire of Islam. in Africa was established, I will not say on the ruins of animism - as it still survives, despite the blows that are worn by religious and philosophical and technical civilization led by Western colonization - but on its foundations.

The main principles of animism (sacred and secular non-daily life, sense of belonging to a unit which it is attached - the human community or universe - the existence of a Supreme Being transcendent yet immanent presence of the Force all things and in all places ...) found their continuation in Islam, while simplifying and purifying themselves.

The great fear of the mysterious forces lurking everywhere was one of the bases of animism. These forces were not overturned, but reduced to values more accurate: they became subject to a force more powerful and sublime, God's One (Allah), defined by 255th verse of Surat II :

God
There is no god but He, the Living,
The Subsisting Himself.
Neither slumber nor sleep were making
on Him.
Everything in heaven and on earth
He belongs.
Who will intercede with Him except by
His Permission?
He knows
What lies before men, and behind
them
While they embrace His Science
That what he wants.
His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth.
Their continued existence
Do Him is not a burden.
He is the Most High, the Inaccessible.

The Sacred and defined, saw its different aspects and hierarchical oriented towards one pole: God the Creator became the All-Cause-Source of all energies.

Anything that was previously a set of powers and forces all became diffuse "attributes" of God at work in the world.

The divine mystery since ceased to be the privilege of anonymous forces, at times, to become the prerogative of God, "beyond which there is no God, immense and inaccessible as to its essence as the Supreme Being animist, but both "closer to man than his jugular vein ... "And wrapping it in his eyes:" The eyes of the men did not reach. He is reaching the eyes ... "(Quran).

The Supreme God will be with Islam, not a superstitious fear, but a "awe" drawing its source of deep love. This love, in Islam, is more powerful than the child feels for its progenitors. It is the feeling intimately experienced the sacred bond that binds the creature to his Creator, fear of displeasing him coupled with an unshakeable faith in his "God-all-clasping.

The human soul, emanating from a divine place where she tied at the beginning of time, a "Covenant" with God, is living in a transient stay (on earth) where it must remain a time before returning to his eternal origin. But she is forgetful. Also rites were they taught him, from God, through his great messengers, the prophets, to enable him to maintain contact with his principled Source, located in the power of God.

The essential rite of the Muslim celebration, five times a day, at times marked with the solar cycle, the prayer ritual. This sacred office, where every believer, man or woman, is like his own priest spent on his carpet, requires the participation of the mind, heart and body. It includes a set of gestures accompanied the sacramental words, and must be preceded by a purification by a pure water, and a firm intention.

Having completed the physical and spiritual purification, the heart of the believer is able to get in touch with the Divine Power, which became a center of attraction on her prayer mat, facing the Kaaba shrine cubic at Mecca, considered the world center.

Prepared by the ancient tradition to identify all around him a living Presence hidden behind the appearance of things, perhaps the Black African Muslim, while directing his body ritually to the Centre's image what the Kaaba it is particularly well placed to achieve the mystery contained in this Qur'anic verse:

To Him (God), the east and west.
Wherever you turn, there is the Face of God.

Note
1. Tradition states that children must remain "attached" to her mother for 33 months, That is to say 9 months in the matrix and 24 months in her lap. Only then it is considered ritually strengthened the structure of his body, which is the backbone, composed of 33 vertebrae.

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