PROMOTING RELIGIOUS HARMONY IN THE WORLD: LESSON FROM THE YORUBA IFÁ HERITAGE

In Ifá/Òrìṣà Tradition, We do not believe that if you don't serve Ifá, Obatala, Sango, Ogun, Osun, Èṣù you will go to hell. But we believe that if you are destined from Ọ̀run (heaven) to be guided by any of these deities and you refuse to serve them in your life on earth, you will not have a good and smooth life as ordained for you from heaven. This is why none of the followers of these divinities will go about doing evangelism to cajole followers into their fold.

If you are not ordained from Ọ̀run to follow Sango on earth, if you follow Sango, he cannot bring forth any good thing for you. 

And if you are ordained to follow Sango on earth, if you go to follow another deity for whatever reason, you cannot prosper. It is not a curse, it is a divine order. This is true for all the deities.

This is why Ọ̀rúnmìlà/Ifá and the Yoruba people didn't have an institutionalized religion before the advent of foreign religions which posit that everyone must follow him/them or perish if they don't.

The philosophy of Ifá recognizes the reality of diverse deities that are all connected to the supreme being Olódùmarè. All these divinities have their roles in the universal order as ordained by Olódùmarè. 

They are not meant to compete with each other but to cooperate with one another to achieve the ultimate good as ordained by Olódùmarè.

This is the knowledge that the Yoruba people had which helped to promote religious harmony among them despite the diversity of belief. The Sango devotee didn't think evil of the Èṣù devotee; Obatala devotee didn't think evil of the Ọ̀rúnmìlà devotee. In fact, they saw the need for one another as they were inspired into harmony by Ifá.

This, the younger religions have to learn from the Yoruba in order to promote religious harmony and peaceful coexistence. 

We all originated from Olódùmarè and we cannot wipe out one another, we must find a way to peacefully coexist.

Àṣẹ.

By Ayobami Ogedengbe