Religion and Origins

Madagascar has a wide range of religious beliefs. According to the article “Traditional Beliefs and Religion in Madagascar,” 55 percent of the population holds the traditional beliefs of the nation, 40 percent are Christian, and the other 5 percent are Muslim. Each of these religious beliefs is very different from each other.

The majority of the people that live in Madagascar hold the traditional beliefs that their ancestors believed in. They believe in a creator, but it is not the same one as in Christianity or Islam. The god in this religion is known as Zanahary or Andriamanitra. These traditional beliefs place an emphasis on the living and the dead having close ties to each other. They believe the dead can speak to the supreme god on behalf of the living. They also believe that their ancestors known as razana are the source of life. These people also think that if the dead is offended bad things will happen to them.

Christianity is the second largest religion of this country. The Christian religion is split between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. These two divisions of the Christian church are divided almost equally. The Catholic Church is more common among the Bestileo people and the Protestant Church is found more among the Merina people. After Queen Ranavalona died Protestantism was adopted by the royal family and is seen more within the upper class of Madagascar.

The other main religion found on the island of Madagascar is Islam. There are followers of both variants of Islam found here. They make up about 5 percent of the total population. There is also a small amount of Hindus that live in Madagascar.

The majority of the religion found here has not changed from the original beliefs that the nation’s ancestors practiced. Christians were discriminated by the Queen Ranavalona and after her death received less discrimination. Islam does not seem to have had a strong impact on this country because only 5 percent of the population practices the religion. The indigenous people most likely held the traditional beliefs of the nation. Most myths found in Africa seem to be related to their religious beliefs.

http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/A-Am/African-Mythology.html

http://www.wildmadagascar.org/overview/loc/28-beliefs.html