Dear Editor,

I thank you for publishing my reply to Mr S. Mc Doom's letter of 9th December, 2001, albeit you edited out some parts which I consider important. One important part you edited out is concerning the concept of God in the African faiths as against Islam.

African faiths are often derided by Islam and even by some Christian sects as polytheist (worship of many Gods) and as having material representations of the Deity. Islam aggressively carries this "One-God" boast as being superior to African religions without really understanding the African concept of God and Africans, over the centuries, have been persecuted by Islam for "polytheism" and "idolatry".

Mr McDoom writes: "Allah (God) is Unity, not Duality, Trinity or more ... Slavery to Allah frees Man and I call Mr Nkofi to this one slavery should he wish to be really free." In other words, Mr McDoom claims that the Muslim God, Allah, is the One, the Unity and that there are no other deities, though there are other supernatural beings such as Angels, Jinns, Devils, Burak, etc. sharing the supernatural world with Allah.

When Mr McDoom claims that the Muslim God is "One" or "Unity" he is placing a limitation on that God. God, in the African religious tradition has no such limitations as in Islam for God is Infinite. The African concept of God is therefore, that God is at one and the same time, Unity, Duality, Trinity and more. In African Faiths, God is the "One" and "the Many" at the same time, for if God were to be limited to either the "One" or the "Many", such would destroy the concept of the infinity of God. I call Mr McDoom to grasp this concept of the infinite god and eschew his concept of the limited and finite God should he wish to be really free.