ZARMA
RegardingAfricanreligions,theZarmarepresent
th e complexintersect betweenthe retentionsof
traditional African sp iritualsystems an dthe
(forced ) adoptionof oneoranother ofthemajor
orthodoxreligions.InthecaseoftheZarma,the
adoptedreligionis Islam.Understandingthecom -
plexityofthisintersectis furtherexacerbated by
th e hegemonictechnique ofeither omitting any
detailedandrespectful discussionofthetraditional
Africanspiritualbeliefs or , inthedi scussion,codi-
fying the traditional beliefs in denigrating or
demonictermsandinterpretations.
It is believ edthattheZarmaoriginatedfrom the
countryofMali.(Zarma isalso spelled Djerma,
Dyerma,Zaberma,andZerma.)TheZarmape ople
are descendedfr omthe great Songhai Kingdom
thatflourishedin the14than d 15thcenturies. Since
thatti me,theyhavemigratedfromMali tolivein
thesouthwestern partsofNigerandNigeriaalong
theNi ge r River.Thelanguage oftheZarmais a
dialect of the Nilo-Sahar anlanguage family.
Traditionally,theZarmaandSonghaipeopleview
themselvesason e fa mily.TheZarmashouldmore
accurately be called the Zarma–Songhai. They
have, ingeneral,a lessstr ictattachment toIslam
andhaveinmanywaysresistedthefullan d co m-
pleteconversionexperience.
Althoughit is estimatedthat75%to80%of
theZarmaprofesstobeMuslimand1%to2%to
beChristian,traditionalAfri canspiritualsystems
se rveastheunrecognizedgroundingbe liefforall
Zarma–Songhai.Ingeneral,theIs lamic beliefsof
the Zarma–Songhaihave been by way ofsyn -
cretismblendedwithtraditionalspiritualbeliefs.
Among the Zarma, the Islamic rituals and
ceremonies are centered on the observance of
Ramadan,whichinvolvesfastingandthepaying
ofalms forthepoor,Tabaski,whichis alsocalled
theFestival ofSacrifice,andthecelebrationofthe
ProphetMuhammad’sbirthday.Thesyncretismis
ob viousintheritualofthenamingdayceremony
ofch ildrenthatis prevalentthroughoutmuchof
Africa,whereprayersarebestowedonthenew -
bo rnafter7 daysof life.Thisritualse emstobean
on goingtraditionalAfricanritualwithoutregard
toIslamor Christianity. Thepractice oftaking
morethanonewifeal sopr ecededtheadventof
Islam.AlthoughtheZarmapracticeofpolygamy,
asin thepast,is mostlyassociatedwi tholderand
wealthy men, its pre-Isla microot meaning
remainsas sociatedwithspiritualevolution,cul-
turalmaturation,andfamilyenhancement.
The Zarma–Songhaibelieve, as is true with
mostAfricanpeoples,thatalllivingthingshavea
kn owableandknowingspiritandthatashuman
spiritspeoplecandirectlyanddeeplycommuni-
cate with the sp iritrealm. Spirit wor kand
reunions (often misunderstood as spirit posses-
sion) arecommonpracticesthatarebelievedto
have healing powers. The Zarma, like ot her
African peoples,knowthathumans liveamong
the diverse forces of the environment and the
energyof theearthcompleteshumansociety.In
effect,thetr aditionalbeliefsoftheZarmautilize
andchannelthecollectiveli feforcetorecognize741