The Fundamentals of a True and Lasting African Renaissance:

Master of  Ceremonies

Honurable Guests

Ladies and gentlemen.

The topic of this paper is about the fundamentals of the African Renaissance.  This issue, which is currently widely debated in South Africa and possibly in other countries in the continent, is a subject which is very close to the heart of the President of South Africa, the honourable Mr. Mbeki.

Our interest in it is in  the form of a desire to contribute to the debate by way of pointing out possible moral and spiritual implications of such a vision. The paper attempts to answer the question what is the basic substance and form of a process of wholesome development involving Afrika leading it to its rightful place in the community of nations?

The renaissance is not a new topic at all. You will remember that in the fifteen and sixteenth century the revival of Europe’s interest in the Greek culture and the concomitant development in certain aspects of European cultural life was called the renaissance. According to writers such as Prof. Sipho Seepe Vice-Chancellor of Vista University at Sebokeng, African Renaissance per se is not a new invention at all. He argues that past African leaders such as W.E.B. Du bois, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Mangaliso Subukwe and Steve Biko preached the same concept. And he goes on to point out that these leaders essentially propagated self-reliance, economic recovery, political and economic independence democratic governance and sustainable development as constituting the gist of the then understanding of the African Renaissance.

Current opinion defines the African Renaissance as a process involving the following:

·        The renewal of the African continent­

·        African development and the end of its marginalisation­

·        The rebirth of Africa­

·        A journey of self-discovery and restoration of Africa’s self-esteem. ®

·        Reconstruction and development of the continent anew.¯

·        Rebellion against tyranny, instability, corruption and backwardness¯

·        Recovery of African pride¯

·        Transformation of society¯

The latter definition of African Renaissance, i.e. transformation of society, constitute the focal point of this paper. Our belief is that moral and spiritual transformation of society lies at the root of all aspects of its development, be they political, economic, educational, social, cultural, scientific etc. In the Baha’i Faith ‘Abdu’l-Baha says that development is an organic process in which “the spiritual is expressed and carried out in the material.”° We will come back to that later on in the paper.

Challenges facing Africa today need no explanation. They are well known to everybody. In his speeches on the African Renaissance in various forums, President Mbeki has alluded to the following problems facing Africa:

·        Ending political and national conflicts

·        Ending tribal and ethnic antagonism

·        Lack of democratic rule

·        Political and economic mismanagement

·        Emancipation of women

·        AIDS/HIV

·        Huge foreign debt

·        Reduction of state involvement and participation in the economy

·        Lack of foreign investment in public and private enterprise

·        The challenge of globalisation

·        Lack of consultation, dialogue and peaceful resolution of conflicts.

·        The gap between the rich and poor.

·        Human resources development and education for all, especially the girl-child.

·        Poverty

·        Crime

·        Corruption and self-enrichment

·        Drug abuse, drug dealing and drug smuggling

·        Abuse of political power for material gain

·        Infrastructure development

·        Pollution of the environment and depletion of natural resources

·        Violence against women and children

·        Pre-marital pregnancies and concomitant child abandoment and abortion.

·        Racism and

·        Decline of living standards.

Ladies and gentlemen these are some of the challenges Africa must face up to. We can increase the list multiple times if there was sufficient time to do so. This does not in any way deny the existence of multiple positive developments in Africa. For instance President Mbeki has indicated that Africans could derive inspiration from the fact that they have emerged from challenges equal or greater than the one they are facing today . These he identifies as emergence from slavery, defeat of colonialism and political imperialism, recognition of the bankruptcy of neo-colonialism, the end of the cold war and Afrika’s creative past.± 

The proponents of this philosophy –the African Renaissance - aspire to effect a process that will eradicate all the problems facing Africa and endow Africa with a new vision, attain African solidarity and unity, change Africa’s place in the world for the better, establish institutions and procedures for ensuring peace, democracy and stability, emancipate women and make the 21^st Century Africa’s Century.

We believe that realisation of these lofty ideals  cannot disregard spiritual and religious matters. That fundamental to this process is the spiritual and moral transformation of the African’s themselves. And this we say not because of what we personally know, but due to our sincere belief in the Divine Teachings of Baha’u’llah in which He has endowed us with spiritual solutions to the practical problems besetting, not only Africa, but the whole world.

Therefore, let us now turn to the Baha’i Faith for solutions to the problems and challenges facing Africa. The Baha’i Faith has enunciated spiritual challenges which, should Africa accept and strive to attain,  will result in the resolution of its dilemma. What are these challenges and how are they related to the concept African Renaissance and Development.

Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha’i Faith, points out that at the root of moral decline and the consequent societal ills is “the dethronement of religion and the enthronement of ...usurping idols.”² This statement is in harmony with the teaching of Baha’u’llah that “Religion  is the chief instrument for the establishment of order in the world and of tranquillity among its people.” And further that “The weakening of the pillars of religion hath strengthened the foolish and emboldened them and made them more arrogant.” And again He says: “The greater the decline of religion, the more grievous the waywardness of the ungodly.” He concludes this paragraph by saying that this decline of religion can lead no where but to chaos and confusion. Is this not what we are experiencing in Africa today? We need to acknowledge this verity regarding the pervasive influence religion exercises in human affairs. Our reluctance to look at religion this way does not only deny history but is also illogical. The fact of the matter is that there is no other alternative but to try true religion. What has so far been tried is nothing but imitations, superstitions and human inventions.

Not only does the Baha’i Teachings identify religion as a means of order for mankind. Let us take you back to the statement of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’ we quoted earlier on about what development is. You will remember that He said development is an organic process where the spiritual is expressed and carried out in the material. The immediate implication of this statement is that Africans need pure an unadulterated religious teachings to be a basis of their material development. Without a firm base, the process of development cannot be sustained. That firm basis is supplied by pure spiritual teachings.

This teaching of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’ that material development is a direct outcome of spirituality is in line with the another teaching of  Baha’u’llah regarding the influence of the martyred Christ. He said about this : “By sacrificing Himself (i.e. Christ sacrificing Himself)...a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences...are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent rulers, are but the manifestation of the quickening power released by His transcendent , His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.” ´  This statement clearly establishes a link between the spiritual and the material?

In another instance Baha’u’llah points out the fundamental role of religion in practical human affairs when He says that: “Every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new life into every human frame. ...All the wondrous works ye behold in this world have been manifested through the operation of His supreme and most exalted Will, His wondrous and inflexible Purpose. Through the mere revelation of the word ‘Fashioner’ issuing from His lips and proclaiming His attribute to mankind, such a power is released as can generate...all manifold arts which the hands of man can produce. This, verily, is a certain truth.”µ He goes on to say the same thing about His attribute the omniscient. That when He announces this attribute, such an announcement releases energy for practical attainment by human beings in the area of education and knowledge. Therefore, we cannot divorce practical human attainment from its imperative spiritual basis. Hence, the beginning of the African Renaissance is found in the teachings of religion. 

Here something reminiscence of the African ancestral worship but not necessarily similar to it at all.  Baha’u’llah says that every thing needs a cause, a motive power or an animating principle. The deceased souls who are symbols of detachment and sanctity are like unto a “leaven which leaveneth the world of being, and constitute the animating force through which arts and wonders of the world are made manifest.”11  Thus, human spirituality is indeed the basis of his material and earthly development. The more spiritual we are, the firmer the basis of scientific development.

Those who are inclined to pooh-pooh this understanding as constituting a sublime and platonic philosophy reminding them of Sir Thomas Moore’s Utopia need to be reminded that it is on this very basis upon which Moses built Israel from 300 years of slavery to the enchanting era of King Solomon, which Christ utilized to effect the union of Jews, Greeks, Roman and Egyptians resulting in the flowering of a civilization never before known to those people.  Which Mahummad bestowed upon the erstwhile wild Bedouin tribes of Arabia making them leaders in mathematics, medicine and physics such that they furnish foundation for the current western civilization. 

Now that we have clearly establish the relationship between the spiritual and the material activities of man, we now turn our attention to other essential practical challenges facing Africa and the world. It is required of a transformative movement such as the African Renaissance to have a clear grasp of the collective destiny of man, its current conditions and the means of attaining success in the future. Without a  vision of unchallengeable nobility with implications for both individual and collective life, accompanied by an abundant comprehension of the present condition of the patient and the means to cure the ailment, we cannot even start talking about hope for success.

Any cause requires some kind of a point of fixation that serves to evoke desire for attainment and galvanize energies. Something like a guiding star, a source of synergy for the adherents of that movement. A movement without such a noble desire is destined to fizzle out in no time. The Baha’i Faith describes Oneness of Mankind as the next stage in the collective evolution of mankind on earth. Shoghi Effendi has this to say about this vision of the future: “…It does not constitute a mere enunciation of an ideal…it implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced…It calls for no less than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized world – a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspirations, its trade and finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of the national characteristics of its federated units.”₁₂ It is towards this end that the world is struggling. Any movement ignoring or which is uninformed of the direction of world developments deserve no attention at all. The Baha’i Faith clearly explains that mankind is about to attain a consummate stage of collective evolution of its life in this planet. This evolution began with the birth of the family, it subsequent development into a tribe, which lead to a city state, which later grew into independent and sovereign nations. Today conditions insist that mankind must take the final step in its collective life by forming a World Common Wealth of Nations. We will not go into the details of this Common Wealth of Nation in this paper due to lack of time. However, we want to emphatically declare that true progress in Africa and the world will only come with the growth of mankind’s consciousness of the principle of Oneness of  Humanity as taught by Baha’u’llah. Hence, the success or failure of the  African Renaissance Movement  will also depend on it. No lasting results will be forthcoming from any rehash of the current order. Such attempts have on numerous occasions been made in the past, and failed dismally. Baha’u’llah has said that the present order is “lamentably defective”. Therefore any attempt to rejuvenate it without due attention for the essence of principle of Oneness of Mankind is destined to fail. Shoghi Effendi says that the problem with us is that we are running the affairs of mankind today using inappropriate institutions and principles. We use outmoded national institutions to manage man’s internationalized affairs. Baha’u’llah has long called upon us to convene a vast and all-embracing assembly where the general welfare of mankind as a whole will be discussed and re-ordered. This is a goal towards which all movements must work hard. We need a new civilization. A world-wide civilization capable of establishing and sustaining peace and justice everywhere.

Regarding the individual, the basic component of the process of rehabilitating human affairs, ‘Abdu’l-Baha’ has said: “Today the most pressing of all tasks is the purification of character, the reforming of morals, the rectification of conduct.” ₁₃ We have pointed earlier on that the ills that mankind currently suffer from are from his negligence of religion. The moral degradation, corruption, crime, drug abuse, pre-marital pregnancies, self-enrichment, abuse of political power are all symptoms of  a deteriorating human character. What then can Africans do to lead the way in turning this process around? The Bahai Faith teaches that the African Baha’i is destined to play a leading role in the evolution of the new civilization. This is provided they arise to the challenges facing them and make use of the opportunities before them. The first challenge facing them is that of accepting the Message of Baha’u’llah. The Writings explain that the contribution of the African Baha’i to the coming civilization is dependent upon the degree of his acceptance of the Message of Baha’u’llah. The Africans will make a major contribution to this process of renewal, which the Shoghi Effendi says  means changing the priorities of the world from the material ones to the spiritual ones, i.e. learning to reward people more for their spiritual and altruistic achievements rather than selfish material gains, to the degree of their acceptance of Baha’u’llah.

Furthermore, it is their deeds of dedication and self-sacrifice in the Faith that will enable them to arise to the challenges facing them and earn them the respect and gratitude of the people of the world.

Lastly, we derive inspiration from what we read about the future of the Africans in the Baha’i Faith. We read that Baha’u’llah has compared the Africans to the black pupil of the eye through which “the light of  the spirit shineth forth”. Shoghi Effendi has  said that the races of Africa who live in the so-called ‘dark continent’ are endowed with great spiritual and mental faculties which will enormously contribute to the development of the whole world. And this will occur only as they mature in the Faith. The Guardian is reported to have said that Africa will be the first Baha’i continent.”

In closing, let us remember the words uttered by the Universal House of Justice in the Peace Message where  it says that  “No serious attempt to set human affairs aright, to achieve world peace, can ignore religion.”

List of References

1.                    Article by Prof. Sipho Seepe in the ”City Press” 5 December 1999

2.                    Speech by President Mbeki of S.A. at the launch of the African Renaissance Institute, 11/10/99, Pretoria.

3.                    Statement  by President Mbeki of S.A. on the African Renaissance, 13/08/99, Gallagher, Midrand.

4.                    Statement by President Mbeki of S.A. at the African Renaissance Conference, 28/09/99, Johannesburg.

5.                    ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, Paris Talks, p. 9.

6.                    Ibid, 1

7.                    Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 119.

8.                    Baha’u’llah. Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p.  

9.                    Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, pp. 85-86

10.                Ibid, 9.

11.                Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.

12.                Shoghi Effendi, The world Order of Baha’u’llah, p. 43

13.                ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, Selections From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, p.10