The endorsement by the Oyo State authorities of the Ifa divination selection of Prince Abimbola Owoade because the Alaafin of Oyo is undoubtedly an official affirmation of the persevering with relevance of an old-time observe within the current tense.
At the same time as Ifa is a documentation of Yoruba thought and philosophy, it’s conveyed in poetry, prose, chant, litany and track. A compendium of aphorisms, proverbs and mythologies, Ifa is the foremost supply of knowledge on the life and views of Orunmila – the avatar of Yoruba thought system and of non secular divination.
It’s tough to establish discrepancies within the particulars of the life and considered Orunmila because the authors of the canon of the oral literature on him have been recognized as his associates or ardent college students who knew him in particular person.
From the start, the custom was established for the obligatory committal to reminiscence by the scholar, of a considerable variety of the greater than 4000 main Ifa texts as precondition for changing into an expert. The more proficient an expert is in memorising a big corpus of the Ifa textual content, the extra competent he’s deemed. Constancy to Ifa textual content is sacrosanct.
It’s refreshing to notice that Ifa isn’t just about divination as is popularly conjectured. A foremost modern Ifa priest or Babalawo says “Ifa offers with all topics … historical past, geography, faith, music, philosophy …There’s definitely no restrict to the subject material which Ese-Ifa might take care of” (Wande Abimbola, 1976). Emanuel corroborates Abimbola: “Topic issues handled by Ifa embody mythology, cosmology, faith, theology, nature, drugs, sociology, ethics, psychology and philosophy” (Emanuel, 2000).
It’s to the everlasting credit score of the resourcefulness of the ancients respecting an unrelenting seek for data, a dedication to its unfettered promotion and an unwavering devotion to its established ethos that we’re blessed right now with simply the world’s biggest data Financial institution or repository, Ifa.
Immediately, a substantial variety of Ifa texts has been transcribed into writing. It is a nice landmark effort relating to the elimination of difficulties every time we try to check concepts in our oral custom with these of others in written kind. There used to happen, the hazard of literal, facile translation as metaphorical translation was largely unattainable.
At the same time as there are not any revealed religions in Africa, Ifa is the incomparable exemplar of the observe of a individuals who undisguisedly current their faith as a human establishment which precepts have been formulated by Olodumare-inspired individuals – not by means of tablets scripted by God and delivered to a patriarch or Messenger for onward transmission to a flustered, distraught folks – a individuals who have been ready however are perpetually unprepared.
We should always be capable to refer a murals to the values of its personal time and of the intervals subsequent to its personal. There’s right now a hazard that’s doing hurt secretly or unobtrusively. It’s a creeping relativism to the impact that values respecting Ifa orthodoxy, for instance, aren’t absolute. There’s a disturbingly observable anarchy of errors.
The unscholarly perspective to wish to exclude critical examine or of paying little consideration to Ifa literature is the consequence of what we skilled within the forwards and backwards disputation that tended to decrease the position of the ardent or dwelling Ifa grasp. Professor Wande Abimbola has been accepted into good and common standing as a traditional Ifa literary historian and diviner. It has grow to be trendy to confer with him as right now’s avatar of the mores and traditions of the Ifa epistemology.
The appliance of contemporary sensibilities to our understanding of the pristine nuances of the wealthy antedeluvian lyric of Ifa is certain to give a deceptive and detrimental perspective to our Ifa heritage. It must be prevented. This, after all, just isn’t a plea for arbitrary subjective misreading or interpretation. We’re nonetheless not entitled to evaluate the pedagogy of Ifa solely from the perspective of our time whilst we’re inspired to re-evaluate the previous by way of the wants of a present-day or of contemporaneous improvement.
It’s to the glory of the enduring, timeless nature or chemistry of Ifa that it has been in a position to endure until right now the onslaught of international or imported religions. It has wrestled valiantly with Western and Arabic anthropology underneath which ethical legal guidelines have been presumed promulgated by the gods of their fathers or patriarchs. The a priori or deductive conceptual formulation strategy of Ifa which although shared by Christianity and Islam, is laughably used towards Ifa as being subjective in content material and intent.
The usage of Ifa divination within the choice means of an oba is, in some sectarian quarters, ignorantly derided as unscientific. The allegation of corruption or of corruptive influences within the appointment of an oba although undermines the integrity of the choice course of, if confirmed, doesn’t exhaust or just isn’t equal to the pristine intention of the method. No social historical past or of the appointment of individuals into workplaces has ever been attainable with out the applying of the ideas of choice and of some try at analysis. That is without doubt one of the pivotal functions of Ifa, correctly so said.
In a scenario of aggressive bidding for social positions or assignments, Ifa’s readability of thoughts and its disinterested historicity are summoned to resolve the befuddling points. Shorn of human political interference, Ifa’s verdict has all the time been simply, truthful and all-time appropriate.
The tradition, faith and language of the Yoruba, encapsulated within the Ifa corpus, are right now threatened with extinction because the folks accord scant regard to this uncommon present of God and as they embrace the mores and gods of different folks. The entire world is pitifully on the brink of dropping “a compendium of the expertise of the Yoruba folks all through the ages; expertise about animals, timber and varied mountains, about forests, about fish, about seas, about …people. It’s a entire library.” What monumental loss will or not it’s!
We shut with a frightful conclusion: “If Ifa turns into extinct, it’s [we], the Yoruba, that go extinct.” Professor Wande Abimbola, undeniably the best Ifangelist of our time, has gloomily warned.
Ifangelism as a counterpoise to Evangelism is the sharing of the excellent news or gospel of Ifa in an effort to persuade somebody to hitch or settle for Ifa epistemology or worldview.
It’s a curious imitative coinage of my pal, Kunle Agboluaje, who’s richly endowed with fast reflexes, swift repartee and a refreshing wit.
Could he proceed to complement our vocabulary.
Rotimi-John, a Lawyer and commentator on public affairs, is the Deputy Secretary-Common of Afenifere.He might be reached by way of:[email protected]
