aspects of african civilization

7/31/2019 Aspects of African Civilization

1/107

1 | P a g e

1900-1991

Aspects of African CivilizationParis: Presence africaine. 1972. P. 140

Aspects of African Civilization

Paris: Presence africaine. 1972. P. 140

Summary

Notes on the concept of people in Peul and Bambaratraditions

Notes on Culture

o The wisdom and the language question in sub-Saharan Africa

Reflections on the Islamic religion

o Dialogue between Christians and Muslimso Religion and Scienceo Religion and Prayero Religion and marriageo Religion and gesture of charityo Religion and development
http://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/personne.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/personne.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/remarques.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/remarques.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/remarques.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#dialogChrMuslimhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religScihttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religPrierehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religMariagehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religCharitehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religDvlpmthttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religDvlpmthttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religCharitehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religMariagehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religPrierehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#religScihttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#dialogChrMuslimhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/remarques.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/remarques.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/remarques.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/personne.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/personne.html


2/107

2 | P a g e

The traditional relationship of the African man with God

o Supreme Beingo Transcendence and Immanenceo Intermediate agentso Ancestorso Presence of the Sacred in all things. Animismo Matches between the analog and its

manifestation Sacred Supremeo Regulatory ritual life

Wedding Food

o No worldlyo Sanctity of traditional craftso Blacksmithso Sexual Symbolismo Heaven and Earth, Father and Mothero Mother Eartho The Sun and the Moono Ethics linked to a sense of unity of all thingso Encounter with Islam
http://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#Supremehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#transImmanencehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#agentsIntrmdhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#ancetreshttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#sacreAnimismehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#correspondanceshttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#correspondanceshttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#rglmtRituellehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#mariagehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#nourriturehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#pasProfanehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#sacresMetiershttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#forgeronshttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#symbolSexuelhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#cielTerrehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#terreMerehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#soleilLunehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#ethiqueUnitehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#rencontreIslamhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#rencontreIslamhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#ethiqueUnitehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#soleilLunehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#terreMerehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#cielTerrehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#symbolSexuelhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#forgeronshttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#sacresMetiershttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#pasProfanehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#nourriturehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#mariagehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#rglmtRituellehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#correspondanceshttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#correspondanceshttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#sacreAnimismehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#ancetreshttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#agentsIntrmdhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#transImmanencehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html#Supremehttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/rapports.html


3/107

3 | P a g e

Person

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-


4/107

4 | P a g e

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 asevil

birth to term called banngi "Happy event not only forparents 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 anextraordinary being, the nyangan, That is to say on thesorcerer, who comes into the world armed with a powerfulpotential.

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


5/107

5 | P a g e

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 hehas 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.


6/107

6 | P a g e

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'autocra. 20 Then he created beings, who

constituted the entire universe. But he noticed that among the top 20creatures, none was able to become his kumanyon, that is to say, hisinterlocutor. Then he lifted a bit on each of the 20 existing creatures. Hemixed it all together and used it to create a 21st hybrid, the man to whomhe gave the name Maa, That is to say the first word component his owndivine 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. Thisbody, called FariSymbolizes a sanctuary where all things are in

circumduction. This is why the tradition considers the body of man as theworld in miniature, in the words " Maa Diny merenin of ye ye , That is tosay: "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 isthe gateway to a state of being, or world, and is guarded by a deity. Each


7/107

7 | P a g e

door opens to another door inside, and so on ad infinitum. The face isconsidered the main facade of the habitat of those deep Maa, and trappingscan decipher the characteristics of these people. "Show me your face, andI'll tell you how to be your people home," says the adage. Each correspondsto 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 ofMaa 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 ofMaa 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


8/107

8 | P a g e

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 notcut 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--vis all the beings inhabiting


9/107

9 | P a g e

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 ofMaa 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 b Maa or yala , That is to say: We can not leave

the state ofMaa-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


10/107

10 | P a g e

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:
http://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#n1http://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#n1


11/107

11 | P a g e

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

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

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

These are very rare Great Emailed. Their appearance marks a newstage of revelation and, consequently, of human evolution. Eachnew "descent" of divine revelation comes through them bothconfirm the previous revelations and supplement, improve on somepoints, and adapt to new weather conditions.

The Islamic tradition has six Great Emailed Adam, who came downto earth "with the Words of her Lord, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesusand Muhammad (" Muhammad "in Arabic). They are sometimescalled "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 newreligion, although in reality they have always preached a single andeternal religion, that of One God and Lord. From each of them cameout a Community.

b.Then there is the Nabis, literally the "Prophets".This is also holy men who received a divine revelation thatthey are humble servants, but, unlike Rasul, their messageis aimed at large to a small group of men, and sometimesthey must keep secret almost. They can be manifested ornot manifested Nabis externally, unlike Rasul is alwaysshown.


12/107

12 | P a g e

The Nabi, regardless of the revelation that he is responsiblefor transmitting, remains under the law of large Rasul thatpreceded 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." Infact, Waly word means "one who is close" to God, in unionwith Him, and living in His love. We do not know thenumber, they are of all ages and all races.

A Nabi is always a Waly, that is to say a Saint of God, receiving aspecial 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


13/107

13 | P a g e

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
http://www.webguinee.net/bibliotheque/archives/etudGui/03/mverdat0/tdm.htmlhttp://www.webguinee.net/bibliotheque/archives/etudGui/03/mverdat0/tdm.html


14/107

14 | P a g e

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

numralogique - or the science of numbers it would take too long to

discuss here.


15/107

15 | P a g e

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


16/107


17/107

17 | P a g e

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


18/107

18 | P a g e

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 "prexistentiel?

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",


19/107

19 | P a g e

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, Jesussanctified 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


20/107

20 | P a g e

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 inIslam, 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.


21/107

21 | P a g e

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.


22/107

22 | P a g e

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.


23/107

23 | P a g e

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.


24/107

24 | P a g e

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
http://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#q7http://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/ahb/aspects/Islam.html#q7


25/107

25 | P a g e

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 notman, 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


26/107

26 | P a g e

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.
http://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/cerno_bokar_salif/index.htmlhttp://www.webpulaaku.net/defte/cerno_bokar_salif/index.html


27/107

27 | P a g e

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


28/107

28 | P a g e

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 underconditions 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.


29/107

29 | P a g e

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


30/107

30 | P a g e

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


31/107

31 | P a g e

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


32/107

32 | P a g e

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 stiflethe voice totally secret from the depths of himself, warned and

warned, sometimes?


33/107

33 | P a g e

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,


34/107

34 | P a g e

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


35/107

35 | P a g e

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 faitho 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.


36/107

36 | P a g e

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.


37/107

37 | P a g e

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 formutual 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?


38/107

38 | P a g e

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.


39/107

39 | P a g e

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. Whocan 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


40/107

40 | P a g e

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.


41/107

41 | P a g e

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.


42/107

42 | P a g e

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.


43/107

43 | P a g e

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. "


44/107

44 | P a g e

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


45/107

45 | P a g e

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. "


46/107

46 | P a g e

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 hasstarted 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


47/107

47 | P a g e

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 humanheart 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.


48/107

48 | P a g e

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: wheredoes the life that animates every living being?


49/107

49 | P a g e

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


50/107

50 | P a g e

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.


51/107

51 | P a g e

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.


52/107

52 | P a g e

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 consciousnesshas expanded outwards. Religion must marry this movement,

otherwise remain isolated. Do not confuse adaptation and

enlargement of understanding with resignation and easy solutions.


53/107

53 | P a g e

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.


54/107

54 | P a g e

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 belistening to each other.


55/107

55 | P a g e

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


56/107


57/107


58/107

58 | P a g e

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 vastdistances (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.


59/107

59 | P a g e

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


60/107

60 | P a g e

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.


61/107

61 | P a g e

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.


62/107

62 | P a g e

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 stronglyrecommended 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.


63/107

63 | P a g e

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.


64/107

64 | P a g e

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).


65/107


66/107

66 | P a g e

In general, the Act provides that M

aspects of african civilization

Documents