Ubuntu: An African Assessment of the Religious Other

Last Updated on August 5, 2015

Hi recently came across the word “Ubuntu” whilst exploring options for running my computers on free opensource linux based operating systems. There is a linux distribution called Ubuntu which I will be trying out. Anyway… I liked the sound of what this Zulu word “Ubuntu” refers to. Below is a small snippet from one site on this topic (I will post another next): 20th WCP: Ubuntu: An African Assessment of the Religious Other (1) Ubuntu and religion Ubuntu (a Zulu word) serves as the spiritual foundation of African societies. It is a unifying vision or world view enshrined in the Zulu maxim umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, i.e. “a person is a person through other persons” (Shutte, 1993:46). At bottom, this traditional African aphorism articulates a basic respect and compassion for others. It can be interpreted as both a factual description and a rule of conduct or social ethic. It both describes human being as “being-with-others” and prescribes what “being-with-others” should be all about. As such, Ubuntu adds a distinctly African flavour and momentum to a decolonized assessment of the religious other. In fact, the various overlaps between such an assessment and the African way of life as described/prescribed by Ubuntu, make this assessment nothing but an enactment of the African Ubuntu. The first important overlap between Ubuntu and a decolonized assessment of the religious other, has to do with a fundamental presupposition of this assessment, viz. a respect for the other as a religious other. While Western Humanism tends to underestimate or even deny the importance of religious beliefs, Ubuntu or African Humanism is resiliently religious (Prinsloo, 1995:4). For the Westerner, the maxim “A person is a person through other persons” has no obvious religious connotations. He/she will probably interpret it as nothing but a general appeal to treat others with respect and decency. However, in African tradition this maxim has a deeply religious meaning. The person one is to become “through other persons” is, ultimately, an ancestor. And, by the same token, these “other persons” include ancestors. Ancestors are extended family. Dying is an ultimate homecoming. Not only the living must therefore share with and care for each other, but the living and the dead depend on each other (Van Niekerk, 1994:2; Ndaba, 1994:13-14).