Christianity in Kenya
Christianity, in a wide variety of forms, accounts for the majority of practicing Kenyans. The Christian population can be divided into two groups: Protestants and Catholics. Not to mention the various "sub-groups" that make up these groups: Evangelicals, Anglicans, Lutherans, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Methodists, Roman Catholics, and many others...
Christianity was introduced to Kenya through the religious groups and movements that existed in Western Europe and America. African Christians have thus inherited the various structures and traditions imported from these churches. The various religious groups sought to make perfect Anglicans, Lutherans, Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Methodists, Roman Catholics, etc., rather than seeking to make followers of Jesus Christ.
To win converts, these groups engaged in verbal propaganda and sometimes even physical violence. The missionaries were more concerned with field evangelism than with encountering and dialoguing with African religions and philosophies. In Kenya, as in most of Africa, Christianity is confronted with the multiplicity of African instituted churches or autonomous or separatist churches. These are small groups that have broken away from the missionary churches and cut themselves off from each other. In addition, the Euro-American missionary control over African converts suggested that Africans should remain under political and ecclesiastical control. African converts therefore sought to establish their own churches, churches free from missionary domination and paternalism, and to integrate Christianity into African religiosity. Africans have been greatly affected by religious, socio-cultural and political changes. As a result, the African instituted churches wanted to build places where Africans could feel at home and renew the bonds of traditional solidarity. The emphasis of these churches is on revelation and healing, on the work of the Holy Spirit in individuals and communities.
Islam in Kenya
Islam, which is predominantly sunni, accounts for about 10 per cent of the population and is almost exclusively concentrated on the east coast where, in total, nearly one-third of Kenyans are Muslims. The shia minority is more heavily represented by people originally from India and Pakistan. Although they represent an insignificant proportion of the population, one Shiite movement is very influential in Kenya, and that is the Ismailis, the followers of Aga Khan, who view Islam in a liberal form (both in morals and economics).
Most Muslims in Kenya practice a moderate version of Islam. However, Wahhabi fundamentalists are becoming increasingly important, particularly by opening numerous Koranic schools (financed by Saudi Arabia).
Unlike Christianity, Islam has adapted its religious beliefs and practices to African religion where there are similarities: for example, the concept of a single universal God; spiritual beings including angels, jinn and demons; and practices of divination and magic. Indeed, Islamic practice encourages the use of good magic. recurrent terrorist attacks by the Somali Shebabs since 2008 have led to mistrust of Kenyans of Somali origin and Muslims in general, despite government efforts to combat religious extremism.
African traditional religions
Kenyans also practice one of the traditional religions that are grouped under the "animist" label. This concerns in particular the Maasai, the Samburu, the Pokot and the Turkana. One cannot discuss the religious question in Africa without talking about social organization and therefore about the relationship between the young and the old, the relationship with nature, the relationship between the sexes, the perception of illness, the acceptance of death, etc. All aspects of African social life are interrelated. All aspects of African social life are regulated by religion. In the absence of written religious texts comparable to the Bible or the Koran, the holders of religious tradition are usually the older members of the community, who pass on their knowledge orally, most often in the form of stories and proverbs.
All the religions we are discussing here are based on the belief in one God, whom the history of religions defines as the Supreme Being. This God-Creator is more or less the same in all African religions: after having created the world, this God loses interest in it and rarely intervenes in human affairs. He is the guarantor of the established order of things, but he takes no active part in it and does not care about humanity. The Supreme Being is rarely the object of veneration or worship. For example, Ngai, the god of the Kikuyu people, is said to have retired to the top of Mount Kenya, where he takes no active part in the vicissitudes of his creatures. However, the Kikuyu always turn their faces towards the mountain when they pray, as a sign of respect. The Creator-God is both good and evil: the people fear him because his rare actions can be violent, but the people are also grateful for his generosity. The Supreme Being is the most important figure in a whole series of spiritual beings who act as mediators between the Supreme Being and humans.
The role of the spirits
In African religions, the various spirits are often more important than the Supreme Being, who is perceived as too distant. It is to these spirits that the people turn to make their requests. For these religions, there are two kinds of spirits: those that are not of human origin and those that, having been human, have become "ancestral spirits". Spirits of non-human origin are often related to natural places, for example, wood spirits or sea spirits. For the Luo, one of the most active and closest spirits is the lake spirit. This is due to the proximity of Lake Victoria, on whose shores the Luo have long lived. The nature spirits do not have a well-defined personality. They are the guardians of the territory in which a given population lives and with which they establish complex social relationships. Other spirits are identified with natural phenomena, such as the spirit of thunder, the spirit of the wind, the spirit of the storm, of the rain, and so on.
All of these spirit entities, which some experts define as "secondary deities," can be good or bad or even have an ambivalent nature. In some cases they are friendly and well-disposed towards humans, in other cases they can be hostile. Some rarely intervene, others are omnipresent in daily life. Some travel a lot, others are sedentary. Each of these entities occupies a well-defined place on a hierarchical scale and their relationships with each other and with humans are codified according to this hierarchical position.
For these religions, certain spirits come into contact with humans: this is the occasion for states of trance or possession. Sometimes, entire families of spirits periodically take possession of a person and dictate his or her actions for the good of the clan or the entire community. The ancestors naturally belong to the second category of spirits. Since death does not automatically transform a relative into an ancestor, precise rites are necessary. They accompany the deceased in the afterlife to help them assume a new spiritual essence. These rites consist, among other things, of "double funerals": in this case, the spirit of the deceased is expected to be ill-disposed towards the living for a certain period of time, until a second funeral, with a series of offerings and collective prayers, reconciles him or her with the family.
In all African societies, the ties between the living and the dead are very strong: the dead must always be respected and appeased through offerings of various kinds. They keep a firm hold on the family structure and one is afraid to provoke their anger. The ancestors represent the most immediate link between the living and the spiritual world, and are able to guarantee the prosperity, health and fertility of their descendants. In Kenya, the social structure of the Kikuyu reflects the world of their ancestors, whom they call Ngoma, including the "Ngoma cia aciari," or immediate ancestors.
The community link
African religion has always been totally community-centered, both in its origin and in its purpose. African religion does not convert outsiders. It is not preached by one group to another. An individual must be born into a specific African ethnic group in order to live the African religion in that group. This is why religion takes on different forms depending on its different ethnic roots.
African religion has a very strong hold on people. Even if they have converted to Christianity or Islam, they do not abandon their traditional religion. It continues to accompany them for generations and centuries. The African religion gives its members a sense of security and is an essential part of the life of the ethnic group. It governs all of life, from birth to death.
African religion has no written doctrine; it is passed on from generation to generation through oral tradition, religious activities, ceremonies, feasts, rituals, proverbs, words of wisdom, myths, and real-life examples.
Hinduism
It represents a tiny proportion of the Kenyan population, but you can see some nice temples in Mombasa, Nairobi or Eldoret. Some of them are very imposing. They are generally dedicated to Vishnu and some belong to the Swaminarayan sect. However, there are so many Hindu movements that it is difficult to mention them all.
