In African Sacred Spaces: Culture, History, and Change, editors ‘BioDun Ogundayo and Julius Adekunle have assembled a diverse set of essays centered on indigenous African ontologies of space and the ways these ontologies become manifest in ritual action, religious theory, and symbolic expression. It is an ambitious project in that it aims to cover the diversity of indigenous African conceptions of sacred space across time within the continent, as well as across the African diaspora. The range of essays is one of the great strengths of the book, as it provides an interdisciplinary approach to a topic that does not always fit neatly into Western academic fields, but often straddles disciplines such as anthropology, ecology, history, sociology, and theology. The editors are also to be commended for bringing together scholars based both in Africa and abroad, and for also including scholars at all stages of their careers, which constitutes a welcome collaborative approach.
While traditional Yoruba religion generally receives the lion's share of attention within the broader study of indigenous African religion — and indeed five of the twelve chapters of this work address religion in Yorubaland or traditional Yoruba religion specifically — several of the chapters do provide information on traditions that historically have received far less attention. Of particular note is Fortune Sibanda's chapter on sacred forests in Zimbabwe and Mukhtar Umar Bunza and Adamu Musa Kotorkoshi's chapter on indigenous sacred sites in Hausaland, Northern Nigeria. In the case of Hausaland, there is far less available scholarship on indigenous Hausa traditions; the hegemony of Islam in the area often causes to be overlooked the presence and importance of indigenous traditions. Although the book is indeed structured around indigenous African perspectives on sacred space and the natural world, several chapters also engage African Islam and Christianity to provide a more comprehensive scope of religious activity and expression in Africa. The most notable examples of this aspect of the book are Muhammadu Mustapha Gwadabe and Muhammad Kyari's chapter on the nature and role of masājid in Nigerian Muslim communities, Enoch Olujide Gbadegesin's chapter on the importance of holy mountains in Aladura Christianity, and Oluwasegun Peter Aluko's chapter on religious activity on the campus of Obafemi Awolowo University.
As the subtitle suggests, some of the most important contributions of this volume concern the dynamics of religious understanding of, and interaction with, space in Africa. Aluko provides an insightful analysis of the way that the intense diversity of religious groups on the campus of Obafemi Awolowo University has inspired their members to seek innovative ways of creating new sacred spaces because the allocated facilities cannot accommodate them all. By focusing on the relationship of both time and space to the sacred, Aluko demonstrates that normally secular or profane places are transformed temporarily and periodically into sacred sites. Additionally, these spaces can become perpetually sacred for those whose religious practice has imbued them with a sense of the transcendent, despite the fact that outsiders may view these sites as merely a lecture hall or athletics facility.
Gbadegesin provides a timely interdisciplinary analysis of the rapid increase in the number of mountains designated as holy by Aladura Christians, particularly in Nigeria. He effectively links the mountains to indigenous religious traditions, biblical narratives, and offers a phenomenological analysis of their potential for religious transformation.
In his chapter, Ogundayo offers an innovative application of traditional Yoruba metaphysics to the natural world, to the sacred tools of Ifa divination, and also to the physical bodies of Ifa diviners. Through a close analysis of Ifa ritual and mythology, Ogundayo argues that sacred space is made by the divining boards that represent the cosmos and act as a conduit for the Divine, by the priests who perform these rituals, and by the places where Ifa's power and message are made manifest.
As with any project that seeks to cover so much intellectual and geographical territory, this volume also has some weaknesses. Given such a wide breadth, the cohesion of some of the chapters is uneven at times, with the two chapters related to the African diaspora having the most tenuous hold on the asserted goal of the work. In addition, some of the chapters are more descriptive than analytic in nature, offering more information than critical insight. Although one of the stated aims of the book is to address the issues of climate change and sustainability from an indigenous African perspective, this theme did not emerge strongly in the majority of the chapters. The high price of the book may present an obstacle for some. But for those looking for information on some less well-covered traditions, and innovative and dynamic approaches to the nature of sacred space and how it operates, this book will constitute a welcome contribution to an exciting field.
