ReAfrikanization, Trials and Errors: The Arabic Problem

I personally remember being all hyped up as I was learning KiSwahili. It wasn’t until I started to become fluent in the KiSwahili that I realized how riddled with Arabic it is! The name Swahili itself is Arabic. It is an Arab expression that refers to the people they encountered as "the coastal people". I began to realize that many of the words and phrases I was saying that I thought were Afrikan were actually Arabic. I remember thinking “Can’t win for losing. Ta Mare/Kemet is a dead culture with a dead language, and NOW come to find out that Ki-Swahili is damn near 50% Arabic!”. Smh

There are people, elders even, who are carrying Swahili names and don’t even know they are Arabic. Names like Maulana and Mwalimu are both from the same Arabic root. The Arabic root of the name "Mwalimu" is "mu'allim" (معلم), which means "teacher" in Arabic.The Arabic root of the name "Maulana" is "Mawla" (مولى), which means "lord" or "master." "Maulana" is essentially the Arabic phrase "Our Lord" or "Our Master" and is used as a title of respect for learned Muslim scholars. Four (4) of the Kwanzaa principles, yes the majority of them, are Arabic words. Ujima, Ujamaa, Imani and Nia all have Arab roots. The word "Ujamaa" originates from the Arabic word "jama'a" which means "community" or "group of people". Ujima is rooted in al-jama'i - collective. Imani from the Arabic iman - faith. The Arabic root of "Nia" is niyya, which translates to "intention" or "purpose" in English; it is derived from the verb "nawa" meaning "to intend" or "to do something with intention". Yall know how many people have named their lil girls Nia or Imani thinking these were Afrikan names?

This Arabic infiltration is even found in the current most “popular” West Afrikan language; Yọrùbá. And it is most evident in the word people are using as a greeting, and that word is àlàáfíà. This word was suspect to me early on, but didn’t know enough to prove anything. But having previously studied Ki -Swahili, I had gotten familiar with Arabic and the cadence of their words. I kept thinking “I think àlàáfíà is an Arab word but I can’t prove it”.

Then I got to where I could prove it. I found that àlàáfíà is an Andalusian Arabic word rooted in “al-fiya” which means “the health”. Not only is it Arabic but it’s not even a greeting! Even Wesley Snipes named a son of his Àlàáfíà!

These examples are part of the trials and errors of a people trying to ReAfrikanize. However, our elevated ancestors, the Egún-nla, would want us to do better when we know better. Now we are supposed to know better. I shouldn’t have to go any further than that.