As we move forward towards cultural restoration and reconstitution we must be aware of many of the bumps on the road the we ourselves create for ourselves. Part of this is our misuse of language in Afrikan tradition. Many if not most people in the tradition use the word "alaafia" or "alafia" as some form of greeting to one another. This is problematic for several reasons. The word alaafia is not an Yoruba or Afrikan word at all. Period. Let’s look at the root:

alafia: grace; pardon; mercy; health. From Andalusian Arabic al afya ultimately from "Classical" Arabic afiyah (عافية) "health"

It AMAZES me how, even after I inform people of this and they see it for themselves, that they continue to use an ARABIC word to greet Afrikan people in an Afrikan tradition! Are Afrikans today hell-bent on being anti-Afrikan while claiming the lofty ideals of Afrikan spiritual tradition? How does one claim to be an Afrikan Nationalist-Pan Afrikan greet another Afrikan in the nationalistic language of another?

And I have seen Afrikans doggedly holding on to this word as a greeting. Part of restoration is the correcting ourselves along the way of these foreign ideas. This tests our progressiveness as Afrikans. It says a lot about Afrikans who can say: "I have been wrong for this long, but now I am going to correct this so my children will not have to sift through lies, and misinformation to get at the Afrikan truth".

Even for the ones that are dogged in using anti-Afrikan language to greet one another they still have to face the fact as to what the meaning of this word truly is. There is NOTHING in this word that means "peace" as has been mis-propogated for so long now. So, I guess they are cool with walking up to someone saying "Health". Since it is their language anyway, imagine walking up to one of those white arabs and saying “health”. Imagine someone walking up to you and saying in english "health". This person would look at you like you are crazy. But since we are Afrikans that are hell-bent on being anti-Afrikan we are going to MAKE the word "alaafia" mean "peace' or make it be some sort of greeting when it is not.

Some may say "Well, the Yoruba say it". Well, that is how this whole thing started from the first place. I must first say that the Yoruba do not use alaafia towards each other as they do when communicating with us. That is one thing for New Afrikan people to contemplate in and of itself. But the Yoruba themselves got this word from the islamicized Hausa of present day Nigeria. There is nothing wrong with cultural exchange between Afrikan ethnic. However, when that exchange is foreign and creates confusion within the spiritual traditions and culture of Afrikans then there is a great problem here. The Hausa form of this word if "lafia". The Yoruba so-called indigenized it by adding the "a" in the beginning. On page 30 of Kayode Fakinlede’s Beginner’s Yoruba one can find a list of arab words that have been infiltrated into the Yoruba language. He has the word alafia listed there as meaning “good health”. Interesting enough, he also has another arabic word there that I have seen many Afrikans here use. This is the word “adura” which is arabic for prayer. The Yoruba word for prayer is ìwuré. And to solve the "alafia" problem Obadele Kamnbon has provided two Yoruba words that loosely mean "peace, calm, kwk" which are idera, or ifayabale.

This word alaafia has even infiltrated the Ki Bantu language. Speaking of Ki Bantu I often wonder why Afrikans still call the language spoken by over 100 million Afrikans by an ARABIC name – Ki Swahili. In Bantu, the prefix "ki" means "language". So this is correct. However, the word Swahili is ARABIC and means "coastal people". Since this is essentially a Bantu based language I opt for the name "Ki Bantu". Maybe some other Afrikans here have better suggestions.

While we are at it we may as well mention the phrase "iwa pele". This word does not mean "good" character. Neither one of these words translate into "good". It means "gentle character". The Yoruba phrase for good character is iwa rere. This misoverstanding was started yet by another foreigner to our ways - one named david wilson. Many Afrikans who even know better insist on calling this white boy from transylvannia "Falokun". He falsely uses an Afrikan name and has blinded Afrikan people following his mis-lead. He "wrote" a book some years ago called "Iwa Pele" and all through this new age book of his he stated that iwa pele meant good character. Thousands of Afrikans here in amerikkka ran with it and now the confusion is embedded so deep into their Ori (consciousness) that they will MAKE a way for that word to mean "good character"! They are showing their dogged loyalty to their slave master when they do this.

In conclusion, I would like to say that I am well aware of many of my elders and peers using the foreign terminology of “alaafia”. These people I do not mean any disrespect towards. Do not take this personal. Take it strictly in relation to the cultural restoration movement that has been waging for the past 40 plus years. Please take it from the perspective of nation-building and nation-healing. Finally, are YOU ready to end any anti-Afrikan activity you may be involved in and/or perpetuating?

The general greeting in Yoruba is "pele o" which means "I greet you gently". We use "E pele o" to greet an elder, priest, or group of people. "E kaaro" is greetings for the morning. "E kaasan" is greetings for your afternoon, and "E kaale" is greetings for your evening.

Baba Fáwèsagù, Áwotúndé Dòsùnmú Yáo Fáseéyën

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