Geocrisiographer | Mapping global crises, conflict, and opportunity Founder of Geocrisisography & Homoluminouslogy
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IFA: YORUBA ORIGIN OR ARAB IMPORT? LET'S SETTLE IT
You are confusing similarity with origin.
Yes, Ilm al-Raml uses 16 figures and 256 combinations. Ifa also uses 16 + 256 Odu. That is a shared binary math, not proof of copying.
Al-Zanati was Berber, not Arab from Aswan. And the earliest clear Arabic geomancy texts are 9th century CE. There is no manuscript showing Arabs brought it to Yorubaland.
The figures look similar, but the content is not. Geomancy = short interpretation. Ifa Odu = thousands of verses, stories, medicine, sacrifice, and a whole cosmology around Olodumare, Orunmila, Ori and Iwa Pele.
Sikidy in Madagascar was clearly influenced by Arabic geomancy. Ifa is debated by scholars - shared ancestor, parallel development, or limited exchange. No scholar has proven "Yoruba imported it from Arabs."
And your own example defeats you. You said Fon call it Fa, Ewe call it Afa. Why do Fon, Ewe and Ga all point back to Ile-Ife?
Ga oral tradition, recorded by historians Kilson and Quaye, says Ga came from Ile-Ife. In 2022, Ga Mantse King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II went to Ile-Ife himself and reaffirmed it before the Ooni.
Fon oral tradition also says they mixed with Yoruba Gedevi on Abomey plateau. Ewe tradition says they left Ile-Ife through Ketu.
So Ile-Ife was the centre everyone was moving OUT of - not a place importing its religion from Arab caravans.
Ifa is not Esin Arabu. It has no Quran, no Islamic cosmology. If similarity = origin, then Arabic geomancy is also Esin Africa, because al-Zanati was Berber and the figures predate Arab manuscripts.
Yoruba did not invent Ifa. They imported it.
Before you let your emotions take over, calm yourself down. The original name of this system was ΚΏIlm al-Raml, The Science of Sand. It was developed by Black populations in Aswan and the Nile Valley long before it ever reached West Africa.
The whole framework is pure binary mathematics. It uses a base of 16 figures that multiply out into 256 probabilities. This is what Yoruba people call the 256 Odu.
If you want to know, go and read the historical manuscripts of North African scholars especially that of Shaykh Abdallah al-Zanati.
He documented this binary science centuries ago. Every single one of the 16 primary Odu in Ifa has a direct Arabic mathematical equivalent in Zanatiβs records.
The figure the Arabs called Tariq is what the Yoruba call Ogbe. The figure they called Jama'a is what the Yoruba call Oyeku. The mathematical coding is identical. You cannot debate this.
When ancient people migrated from the Nubian corridors and Arab Trans-Saharan trade routes opened up, Islamic scholars and merchants brought this architectural blueprint with them into West Africa.
The Yoruba are genius custodians. They assimilated it brilliantly. They mapped this imported Arab-transmitted science onto their own indigenous cosmology, attributed it to Orunmila, and named it Ifa.
But being a great preserver is not the same as being the originator.
This is why you find the very same system everywhere along those migration routes. The Fon call it Fa. The Ewe call it Afa. In Madagascar it is Sikidy. The medieval Europeans even copied it and translated the Arabic name into Geomancy.
If we have been quiet about this, it does not mean we do not know. History does not care about modern sentiments.
By historical origin and transmission, Ifa is Esin Arabu. The blueprint came from Aswan and arrived through Arab corridors.
Facts donβt lie.
Allah knows best.
Ita Yemoo Grove. Igbo Olokun Grove. Oranmiyan Staff. Obalufon Shrine.
These are not stories. They are SITES. You can go and touch them today in Ile-Ife.
Show me one Al-Raml shrine in Ile-Ife older than them. There is none.
To say Ifa came from sand science is to say Yoruba people had no brain until Arabs came.
That is colonial thinking wearing Islamic clothes.
We reject it. We had Orunmila. We had Ife. We had civilization.
Before they wrote, we knew.
The way I dey see small account with big impression they give me fever. The algorithm is terribly funny
TAKE NOTE: IFA PRECEDE AL-RAML
UNESCO did not inscribe Al-Raml as World Heritage in 2008.
UNESCO inscribed IFA DIVINATION SYSTEM.
The world recognized what some of our own people still doubt:
Ifa is a world-class, original system of knowledge.
Hi @grok, following this interesting conversation, can you give me an in-depth background on IfΓ‘? What exactly is it, what are its connections to Arab history, if any, and how could Arab knowledge have reached Yorubaland?
FOR THOSE ASKING FOR IFA ARCHIOLOGICAL ARTIFACT
Let them keep their book β _Kitab al-Fasl fi Usul 'Ilm al-Raml_, 1200 CE.
We will keep our stone β Quartz Opon Ifa, 800 AD.
We will keep our beads β Igbo Olokun, 11th Century.
We will keep our bronze β Ife, 12th Century.
Books can be written. Civilizations cannot be faked.
IFA IS THE SOURCE
You don't need to abuse me. Just bring facts. I said Δ°fa was imported, you are crashing out. It's the pure truth.
Do you people know Reverend Samuel Johnson? He is the most respected pioneer of documented Yoruba history. In his book titled: βThe History of the Yorubas,β he explicitly documented how this system entered Yorubaland. He recorded that Ifa was introduced by a blind man named Setilu.
Setilu was a man from the Nupe country, what the Yoruba call the Tapa people. He was practicing this imported Arab sand divination, ΚΏIlm al-Raml. He migrated into Yorubaland and brought this mathematical science with him.
The early Yoruba priests and indigenous custodians saw the mathematical precision of his divination. They took Setilu's imported Arab science, translated the Arabic concepts into the Yoruba language, and wove it into the indigenous Orunmila cosmology to make it their own.
Some of you are arguing that only the language is different. The real question is who translated from who?
The flow of history only goes in one direction. The 16 binary figures and the 256 probabilities were already documented in Arabic manuscripts by North African scholars centuries before they became Yoruba oral tradition.
The Arabs and the people of the Nile Valley did not travel down to Yorubaland to learn sand divination and then take it back up North. That is geographically and historically backwards. The blueprint came down into West Africa. The Yoruba received it and translated it.
Changing the name of an imported Arab science to fit your local language does not make you the originator. It makes you a brilliant translator and preserver.
Bring your dates, your migration routes, and your historical manuscripts. If you cannot counter Samuel Johnson and the historical Arabic manuscripts with hard evidence, sit down and learn.
NO PRESIDENT IN NIGERIA'S HISTORY HAD THE BALLS TINUBU HAD ON DAY ONE.
This might not sound good to some people. But it is the truth.
We may never have someone who can hold the bull by the horn like Bola Tinubu.
Our President is the first President in the history of Nigeria to implement an action on the _same day_ he announced it.
He said NO SUBSIDY β and it was so.
No committee. No delay. No fear.
For many years, Nigerians have used subsidy to finance the wealth of neighbouring countries and greedy oil merchants.
Most of this fuel was smuggled out of the country. Nigeria was paying for fuel that Nigerians were not even using.
We were subsidising Benin. We were subsidising Cameroon. We were subsidising Togo. We were subsidising Chad and Niger.
Our money was building other economies while our own economy was bleeding.
Since subsidy was removed, Benin, Cameroon, Togo are staging protests with the title βTinubu Must Goβ β because the policy affected their business.
Think about it.
When did citizens of other countries start protesting against the President of Nigeria? When their free fuel stopped flowing.
That alone tells you Tinubu did the right thing.
A President who is loved by smugglers and oil cabals is a President who is destroying Nigeria.
A President who is hated by smugglers and oil cabals is a President who is fixing Nigeria.
Tinubu did not come to please everybody. He came to fix the foundation.
Subsidy removal was painful. Yes. Nobody will deny that.
But subsidy was a cancer. You don't manage cancer. You cut it off.
For decades, every President promised to remove subsidy but none had the courage to do it on day one. Tinubu did it on day one.
That is what leadership looks like.
History will remember him, not as the President who was popular, but as the President who was _bold_.
Nigeria may never have a President like Bola Ahmed Tinubu again.
TINUBU MUST STAY. THE REFORM MUST CONTINUE.
#Tinubu #RenewedHope #Nigeria #FuelSubsidy #TinubuMustStay
Micheal Author πͺ π³π¬πΊπ² retweeted
Or why, in 1903, did the British Colony petition the Ooni to settle the beaded crown dispute regarding the Elepe? Your AlÑà fin is closer to Lagos than the Ooni. Did your AlÑà fin vacate his palace?
KαΊΉΜru mα»Μ ra αΊΉ lαΊΉΜru, kiwα»Μfa mα»Μra niwα»Μfa, kαΊΉΜlαΊΉΜgbαΊΉΜ mαΊΉΜgbαΊΉΜ αΊΉ.
Ikan be
Update! Update!! Update!!!
The question I want to ask this woman is simple: What if the situation involved millions of naira in her bank account, and the only requirement to regain access to that money was to undergo biometric verification by exposing her ears? Would she rather forfeit millions of naira simply because she doesn't want people to see her ears due to her religious beliefs? I believe this is a question worth reflecting on.
Our people should to have a rethink with this two imported foreign ideologies called religions..
Ekan bαΊΉ.
Update! Update!! Update!!!
The question I want to ask this woman is simple: What if the situation involved millions of naira in her bank account, and the only requirement to regain access to that money was to undergo biometric verification by exposing her ears? Would she rather forfeit millions of naira simply because she doesn't want people to see her ears due to her religious beliefs? I believe this is a question worth reflecting on.
Our people should to have a rethink with this two imported foreign ideologies called religions..
A SON CAN NOT BE GREATER THAN IS FATHER, ORANMIYAN CAME FROM IFE-
WE HAVE GONE BEYOND FIGHTING FOR WHO IS HEAD. IT IS TIME TO BUILD YORUBALAND.
There have been several disagreements online regarding who is the supreme king of the Yoruba.
The Alaafin seems to be very confrontational, decorating himself as the supreme head of the Yoruba.
While the Ooni of Ife has not been so outspoken about being supreme, his attitude of comportment and his role as the Yoruba custodian around the world has shown that he is so powerful.
But let us be honest with ourselves.
This fight is no longer necessary.
The Yoruba race has gone beyond fighting for head.
We need to see how we can improve our region, build our people, and live a better legacy.
What is the role of a king in this era?
It should be more of contributing to the progress and success of the Yoruba race.
The Alaafin is king in his domain.
The Ooni is king in his domain.
The Alake is king in his domain.
The Olubadan is king in his domain.
The Awujale, the Owa Obokun, the Deji, the Oba of Lagos, and several other first-class kings β all are kings in their domains.
No one can take that away from them.
These monarchs should UNITE to promote Yoruba civilization. Not competition for superiority.
Because we are no longer in the era of the old empire.
We are in a DEMOCRATIC era.
In the old days, kings fought for land, for tribute, for empire.
Today, the battle is different. The battle is for education, for jobs, for security, for good roads, for industries, for technology, for the dignity of our people.
A king today is not measured by how many kings bow to him. A king today is measured by how many children in his domain go to school. How many youths have jobs. How many businesses thrive. How many Yoruba sons and daughters in diaspora are proud to come home.
If Alaafin builds Oyo and Ooni builds Ife, and Alake builds Abeokuta, and Olubadan builds Ibadan β then Yorubaland is built.
That is true supremacy.
Let us stop dividing our fathers online. Let us stop turning our thrones into a competition.
The Ooni is our spiritual father. The Alaafin is our political father. The other Obas are our fathers too.
Let them respect each other. Let them sit at one table. Let them speak with one voice for Yoruba progress.
Yoruba is too big, too rich in history, too blessed in culture to be reduced to βwho is number one.β
We are ONE.
Let us build. Let us unite. Let us leave a legacy that our children will be proud of.
#YorubaCivilization
In Ile-Ife, Ifa crowns kings. Ifa chooses the Ooni. Ifa settles the throne.
In Arab lands, geomancy never crowned a king.
A borrowed system cannot be the kingmaker of a civilization. Only the source can.
Ifa speaks Yoruba. Odu Ifa speaks Yoruba. Oriki speaks Yoruba. Iwe Ifa speaks Yoruba.
Not Arabic. Not Berber. Yoruba.
A borrowed religion would speak the language of its lender. Ifa speaks OUR language.
Because Ifa is OURS.
IFA: YORUBA ORIGIN OR ARAB IMPORT? LET'S SETTLE IT
You are confusing similarity with origin.
Yes, Ilm al-Raml uses 16 figures and 256 combinations. Ifa also uses 16 + 256 Odu. That is a shared binary math, not proof of copying.
Al-Zanati was Berber, not Arab from Aswan. And the earliest clear Arabic geomancy texts are 9th century CE. There is no manuscript showing Arabs brought it to Yorubaland.
The figures look similar, but the content is not. Geomancy = short interpretation. Ifa Odu = thousands of verses, stories, medicine, sacrifice, and a whole cosmology around Olodumare, Orunmila, Ori and Iwa Pele.
Sikidy in Madagascar was clearly influenced by Arabic geomancy. Ifa is debated by scholars - shared ancestor, parallel development, or limited exchange. No scholar has proven "Yoruba imported it from Arabs."
And your own example defeats you. You said Fon call it Fa, Ewe call it Afa. Why do Fon, Ewe and Ga all point back to Ile-Ife?
Ga oral tradition, recorded by historians Kilson and Quaye, says Ga came from Ile-Ife. In 2022, Ga Mantse King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II went to Ile-Ife himself and reaffirmed it before the Ooni.
Fon oral tradition also says they mixed with Yoruba Gedevi on Abomey plateau. Ewe tradition says they left Ile-Ife through Ketu.
So Ile-Ife was the centre everyone was moving OUT of - not a place importing its religion from Arab caravans.
Ifa is not Esin Arabu. It has no Quran, no Islamic cosmology. If similarity = origin, then Arabic geomancy is also Esin Africa, because al-Zanati was Berber and the figures predate Arab manuscripts.
If Ifa came from Arabs, how did it travel?
By camel? By ship? By book?
But Ile-Ife in 800 AD had no Arab book, no Arab school, no Arab teacher.
Yet Ifa was already there. Explain that.
IfΓ‘ vs. Al-Raml: Why The Yoruba Ancient Wisdom System Is Entirely Its Own
For decades, Eurocentric history books and Arab islamists claimed that complex mathematical ideas had to be imported into West Africa. A common theory suggested that IfΓ‘, the profound Yoruba system of wisdom and divination, was merely a derivative of Aliramy (βIlm al-Raml or Arabic geomancy), which spread across the Sahel between the 9th and 10th centuries.
But modern scholarship, oral history, and deep structural analysis reveal a different truth: IfΓ‘ is an indigenous West African marvel that far predates external contact, possessing a depth of human philosophy that Aliramy simply does not hold.
