Customary Marriage in African Culture and Religion

In African culture and religion marriage is looked at as categorical imperative. It is a crime against humanity for a man not to get married and beget children. Otherwise who will pour libation for him. God commanded people to get married and bear children. In Africa one of the conditions to become an ancestor is to under go all rites of passage and initiation rites successfully and this includes marriage. Therefore marriage is looked upon as a sacred duty which every normal person must perform. Failure to do so means in effect stopping flow of life through the individual and hence the diminishing of mankind upon earth. Therefore anybody who under normal circumstances refuses to get married is committing a major offence in the eyes of society and people will be against him. Marriage is the meeting point for the three layers of human life. These are the departed, the living and those to be born. Through marriage the effects of death are reduced and neutralized. Marriage and childbearing are the medicine against death. This is a good research for those interested in culture, anthropology, and customs. It can be used in institutes as reference book on customary marriage.