Further Readings
Asante, M. K. (2000).The Egyptian Philosophers.
Chicago: AA Images.
Redford, D. B. (Ed.). (2001).The Oxford Encyclopedia
of Ancient Egypt. New York, Oxford, and Cairo:
Oxford University Press and the American University
in Cairo Press.
EVIL
The concept of evil appears in most African socie-
ties. In the construction of African religion, the
people have always recognized that all things were
not good. However, there are some significant dif-
ferences between the African concept and others.
To demonstrate how evil operates in one particu-
lar society, this entry concentrates on the Yoruba
culture of Nigeria.
Evil, among the Yoruba, is generally referred to
asibi, which is the negative dimension of life. Evil
in its widest and all principal sense is the antithe-
sis and reverse ofire(good). Nevertheless, ire and
ibi are held to be so closely knit that good is
believed to be of no special relevance without evil.
In Yoruba philosophy, ire (good) and ibi (evil)
are held to be the two major forces that control
the universe. This accounts for the sayingtibi tire
la dale aye(“the world is created with an admix-
ture of good and evil”). This is best exemplified
in the Yoruba understanding of conception and
birth. The Yoruba people maintain that the fetus,
which is held to be ire (the good side of concep-
tion), grows along with the placenta, which is held
to be ibi (the evil aspect of conception). The labor
period is always a period of travail, which repre-
sents another aspect of evil. The birth of the baby
is ire (the good) from the evil of the travailing pain
that the mother goes through during delivery.
When the baby is eventually born, thenire ti bori
ibi (“good has prevailed”). That is why the
Yoruba believe that evil is in what is good and
good is in evil (ibi ninu ire, ire ninu ibi).
This explains, in part, why to the Yoruba noth-
ing is held to be good or bad. It is the consequence
on the individual that determines whether some-
thing is good or evil. For example, the Yoruba phi-
losophy states a truism thataisan(diseases) make
adahunse(herbalists) relevant to human existence,
and litigations (ejo) make agbejoro (the advo-
cates) relevant in the society.
What is said previously notwithstanding, the
Yoruba prefer ire to ibi. They know that the mani-
festations of evil are observable in every facet of
life, whether physical, moral, social, or spiritual.
Evil is summed up in four parts: (a)iku(death),
which is responsible for putting an end to human
life; (b)aarun(disease), which is responsible for
afflicting human beings with illness; (3) egba,
which is the misfortune that brings paralysis to
man; and (d)ofo, which is the loss that destroys
or carries away human’s property.
Most of the time, the Yoruba conceive of evil as
a personified masculine being: He eats, sleeps,
dances, and walks about, afflicting humans. The
odu Ogbe-rosun says that evil walks about at
night as it covers itself with the darkness of the
night. That explains, in part, why people are
warned to put off the light so that when evil is
passing by it will not feel attracted to come into a
house as a guest to perpetrate mischief.
The existence of evil does not pose any contra-
diction to the goodness of Olodumare. The
Supreme Being is regarded as a being who does
what she or he wants, but it is generally held that
God does not tempt people with evil, neither does
she or he perpetrate evil against her or his cre-
ation. The Yoruba trace the perpetration of evil in
a society to two sources: namely, visible and invisi-
ble causes. The visible ones are the consequence of
human action or inaction. These include murder,
violence, oppression, victimization, stealing, and
refusal to help those in need. Invisible sources
have a spiritual origin. This is often linked to anti-
wickedness divinities. In the Yoruba pantheon,
Esu (although not the Devil of the Bible) is more
associated with evil than any other god. Perhaps
this explains why many people regard Esu as the
instigator and main power behind all kinds of evil
perpetrated by human beings. The witches are
nothing more than aggrieved ancestors.
Yoruba religion exonerates God from the blame
of evil and misfortune that befall human beings.
The problem of evil is attributed to the concept of
ori (head) and akunleyan (fate). It is held that
whatever one asked for in front ofeleda(creator)
before one was born becomes one’sayanmo(one’sEvil 249