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NegroNtns: Sango was a ruler of Oyo empire and was later deified after death.

On Ifa and its origin, I am of the opinion that it originated as one of the secrets given by God to Noah in the template handed down for the Ark.

Ask Pastor AIO, I'm sure he has a different and more specific origin to reference.

Like I said what I gave you is just my opinion and is formed from my understanding of the Torah, Bible and the Quran.

Ifa was with mankind before Abraham (AS) was even born, I said to clarify any thought of believing Ifa was derived from any of the scriptures. It existed before them!

Matter of fact some of the rituals of Ifa is also present in Islam as well as Judaism.

I tend to agree with you. Ifa is not only a God among the Yorubas but even among the Igalas uptill now.

NegroNtns: <quote>

How did Ifa originate?

</quote>

As I previously stated, "Ifa" is a shortened term and either there was a prefix or a postfix adjoined to it. In a discussion last year on a similar topic in the Religion section (or might have been the Cultural) I shared some insights on the genesis of Ifa. I will recount here in a summary. My knowledge of the Odus is little to nothing but I understand the skeletal framework that upholds Ifa.


First, what does Ifa mean?  

To understand its meaning we should know its identity. My belief is that "Hanif" is the full term. From that term is derived "Hanifa". Hanif itself means "The Upright" or "The Righteous". This is the identity of Ifa. Each and every verse of Ifa teaches "uprightness" or "righteousness".

Hanif is an Arabic term. Wait a minute! Do not start associating Arabic with Islam in this context. I know majority of us are programmed to conclude anything Arabic as Islam.

One should wonder why a faith at the beginning of mankind should be known in a language that came much later. If Abraham practiced Ifa then we should have a corresponding term in Aramaic for Ifa.

The answer is Yes there was a corresponding term for Ifa in the semitic tongues of Afro Asia but with the sweeping effect, first, of Judaism, followed by Christianity, the practitioners went underground. When Islam came they re-emerged. It will be hard to comprehend that Islam accomodated the Hanifs and gave them sanctuary but campaigned against and even wiped out pagans and idol worshippers. This is because Hanifs did not worship idols and were not pagans, they practiced the faith of Abraham. So it is said that Abraham was himself a Hanif - a "Righteous" man.

So when did Ifa start and where did it come from?

"Righteousness" started at the beginning of creation and was an injunction to man from God giving Adam the first law - "of the trees of the garden you may eat, except two". Mankind had totally departed from "Righteousness"  in the time of Noah. The flood was thus a cleansing ritual to reborn man, but with the cleanliness God also inspired a new world order for mankind. Thus he gave to Noah a number of hidden secrets and messages for creating that new world order. This new order of Hanif or "Righteousness" came with recitals and corpus and number counts. This is the new beginning of a new Hanif and this where the Ifa corpus and verses came from.




I will stop here momentarily for questions.



It is not by accident that  

What is wrong with these people?

Alisha4U:

What is wrong with these people?

They are mad, seriously they have mental problems

when you see people linking yoruba spirituality to arabs and jews you best ignore their display

Chyz2:


Edo will NEVER be yoruba anything!

How did Anioma, Urhobo, Isoko, Bini, Esan,Etsako because Yoruba? lol. . .

Yoruba have even gone as far as to start there history based on the coming of an Edo man, Oduduwa. Can you tell me the meaning of Oduduwa in your language? I can in mine.

Oduduwa means Odu to da iwa
Meaning that which created behaviour

this Yoruba and Binnin ish is not ending any moment from now