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MOJOLA 65
God’s name in Kiswahili, i.e. Mungu, grafted or transplanted into the Iraqw
linguistic religious space has not caught on, despite years of its presence in the area,
and despite the attempt to popularise it in the language, culture and faith of the
Iraqw-speaking Christians. That Mungu is male or masculine has not helped, given
that the devil is believed to be masculine in contrast to the feminine God. The devil
is given the name Neetlangw. It is he who has to be placated through sacrifice.
Neetlangw, the chief evil being, is the one who demands the blood of cattle, goats
and sheep, or he would avenge himself on the people. He is the cause of evil. He is
assisted by male spirits referred to as Gi’i. “Gi’I” is generally understood to be the
living dead or the “spirits” of the forefathers. Some of these are considered to be
evil in the Iraqw world-view.
As already indicated, in the Iraqw language and culture God’s name is believed
to be Looa. Looa, in opposition to Neetlangw, is believed to be loving and kind.
She is the provider, the protector, the merciful, the giver of life. She is the creator,
the giver of children and blessings. She is light. She is the sun. She watches over
all. She is opposed to darkness. She is the one every Iraqw prays to for protection.
She is the one dear to the heart of every Iraqw. She is the one on the lips of every
Iraqw, Christian or non-Christian, at a time of danger. The primordial cry in a time
of danger is “Ayi 19 ee a Looa”, i.e. “O God, my mother.” The borrowed Kiswahili
term Mungu has not been contextualised or indigenised. Mungu is still a book
affair, a Christian liturgy affair. He is not in the everyday life of the people. Iraqw
Christians do not evince or express strong feelings of closeness or endearment to
God’s name in Kiswahili in the environment of their own language and culture. The
foreign name does not carry as much moral power or force as does the indigenous
name within the general Iraqw social culture space.
At a reviewer’s seminar for Old Testament translation in 1990 that was
organised in Haydom, Mbulu, a number of Iraqw Christian leaders and pastors
were invited for consultation on this matter. It was clear that most of them were not
happy with the choice for the Kiswahili Mungu. Many strongly pleaded for a
change in official church usage from Mungu to God’s name in Iraqw, i.e. from
Mungu back to Looa. One leading Christian woman and teacher at the Waama
Lutheran Bible School in Mbulu stated that she had found it very difficult to do her
evangelical work using God’s name in Kiswahili. She claimed that, on the contrary,
it was much easier to evangelise and discuss religious matters with non-Christian
Iraqw when God’s name is used in Iraqw. One Lutheran priest in the Karatu area of
Iraqw country is said to have rebelled by maintaining or persisting in the use of
Looa in his preaching and teaching. At a translation workshop discussion in
October 1993, which included some leading Iraqw Lutheran Christians, there was a
strong expression of the need to go back to the use of Looa by the Iraqw Christian
churches. Some strongly felt that the next sections of the Old Testament that were
to be be printed, namely Genesis and Ruth, should use God’s name in Iraqw. It was
19 “Ayi” in Iraqw refers only to one’s own mother.