Heaven And Hell Do Not Exist For Ndị Ìgbò – Reincarnation Is The Ultimate Path Of The Ìgbò Soul (CHI)

Heaven And Hell Do Not Exist: The concept of heaven and hell fire as the final destinations of the human soul after death does not exist for Ndi Igbo. It is a foreign and less-superior concept regarding the journey of the soul. It is a profound mirage, that was used by the European missionaries to imprison the Igbo mind, and distort our original and superior understanding of the cosmos, through our spirituality, odinani/odinala/odinana.

The cosmology and worldview of Ndi Igbo, which is as old as mankind (Mmadụ), does not have any evidence or record of a heaven (with a Caucasian-looking God) and a hellfire (with an African-looking devil). To us, these places do not exist. 

What the Igbo have are places like Obi Ndị Ịchie (a place for revered ancestors), and Ana Mmụọ (land of spirits) which is a spirit realm (dimension) existing in our human plane but unseen by the human eye. And these spiritual realms have nothing to do with singling hallelujah with angels for 24 hours or burning in a furnace for all eternity.

The Igbo belief in reincarnation among other soul-purifying life paths in the Igbo Odinani na Omenani, makes it ridiculous for us as an ancient people to be swayed by such recent and non-existent beliefs such as the Christian Heaven and Hellfire, with its arm-twisting doctrines, that feeds on the fear of being “unbelievers” rather than the cosmic reward for attaining spiritual bliss and oneness with CHI UKWU (the creator, and ultimate source of all that is living). And before we go fully into the Igbo belief in reincarnation, as the ultimate path of righteousness and purification of the CHI (Soul) for an Igbo man or woman, let us explain heaven and hell in brief context.

What Is Heaven and Hell According to Christianity?

According to Christianity, and its guidebook, the Bible, heaven is God’s dwelling place, which is beyond the sky. It is said to be a paradise where all those who believe in the Christian God will eventually go after judgment is passed on them. Even though the Bible is not certain as to the location and complete characteristics of heaven, some of its passages carry descriptions of what Christians should expect, of this spiritual place, with a physical location.

When referring to heaven, the Bible, in 1 Corinthians 15:35-57, talks about experiencing heaven with transformed bodies, not as disembodied spirits. In 1 John 3:2-3, it promised Christians that they will in some way be like Christ; and also, will be like the angels, according to Mathew 22:30. In Revelation 21:4 the Bible promises that in heaven, the pains of this life will be left behind. In Revelation 7:9, heaven is said to be a place where believers from every nation will praise God together. And the Bible further said in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 that Christians will be with the Lord forever, and share in the glory of Christ, according to Romans 8:17.

These and many more passages of the Christian Bible, paint the picture of heaven, as a place where the souls of those who lived good/holy lives, and more importantly, believed in Jesus as God, will go and live with the Christian God. 

Hell (hellfire) however, is a place of suffering, and of gnashing of teeth, where the souls of those who have sinned against the Christian God, and those who do not believe in HIM, will be sent, to burn in the flames of hell for all eternity. Multiple Bible verses speak of hellfire. In the book of Revelation 20:15, when speaking about the names of the believers and righteous being written in the book of life, it said: “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Also, in the book of Revelation 20:10, the Bible speaks of hell saying “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

This hell, as described by the various passages of the European-doctored Bible, has become the basis of the gospel of Christianity. It has become the ultimate line in a collection of threats, that is used by Christians to convert unbelievers to their faith. You would hear it in statements like: “Repent now and accept Jesus Christ, or you will go to hell”. And for as long as this slogan has become a path of the fundamentals of the gospel of Christianity in Igbo land, it is fair to say that many Igbo Christians today, are still Christians out of fear – fear of going to hell, and burning for eternity with the Devil/Satan (who is also non-existent according to Igbo beliefs).  

These two aforementioned and discussed concepts of the afterlife are mainly foreign (Christian) concepts and do not apply to the Igbo, whose Odinani na Omenani, and understanding of the journey of the soul, predates Christianity by thousands of years.

The Igbo Belief In Reincarnation as Opposed To Heaven And Hell

The Igbo, being one of the first peoples on earth, Ndị Gboo, have always understood the journey of the soul, and believed in reincarnation as the only true means through which the human soul, CHI, can attain spiritual purity, and then reconnect back to CHI UKWU, the creator of the Universe, whose creative energy resides with/in Chi na Èké (Chineke). 

Mmadụ (human being), according to Anenechukwu Umeh in his book After God Is Dibia, is “Ọkụ na mmili/mmiri” (energy and water). Mmadụ takes on the bodies/cloths known as Ọgọdọ/Ahụ/Arụ which is applicable and suitable to our plane of existence (earth). He emphasized that we are allowed seven or eight cycles of reincarnation on earth; and that depending on the spiritual merit of each individual, we eventually move to a higher or a lower plane. This means that we each have seven or earth reincarnations on earth, and about the same number of reincarnations in a higher or lower plane (a different world).

We Ndi Igbo refer to cycles of reincarnation and the planes of existence as Ụwa m asaa, Ụwa m asatọ. Which literally translates to My world seven, My world eight.

For the Igbo, in this our present reality, the earth is the place where you must come back to right your wrongs. And we call it Ịlo Ụwa/ỊnO Ụwa. A person who lived his/her life in a bad way, after dying, can/will come back, to suffer the consequences of his/her actions, and also make amends or reparations for a life not well lived. It is in this process, that the CHI/ÒNYE ỤWA is purified and made worthy to ascend to Obi Ndị Ịchie, which is the realm of holy ancestors, who have achieved spiritual enlightenment, and stand in guard and supplication for their descendants still living and going through the phases of reincarnation in Ụwa (the mortal world).

Reincarnation, Ịlo Ụwa/ỊnO Ụwa, for the Igbo, happens 7 times, after which the soul ascends to Obi Ndị Ịchie, or is expunged from existence (for not settling their karma – or turning a new leaf to live a righteous/holy and fulfilled life). Also, the failure to achieve one’s purpose in life (Akara aka) leads to the person returning to the world to fulfill that purpose – destiny. 

Those who do good deeds, keep the laws of Ana (Nsọ Ana), and achieve spiritual growth for their souls, are allowed to reincarnate – return to the earth, and even more so, can return in multiple people. Meaning that a great-grandfather who reached great spiritual and physical heights in his past life can return as one, two, or three of his grandchildren. 

For the Igbo, every one of us is responsible for our good and bad deeds here in this mortal reality. The sins we commit are solely our responsibility, and not that of the devil, as he does not exist. So, whatever sins we commit against our fellow humans and Ana, will be counted against us in this lifetime and even in the next lifetime, till we have attorned for that sin, and have made amends – become better and purer souls.

This is a summary of reincarnation and its pathway to righteousness – what the Igbo have believed in for time immemorial. Not in a Heaven and Hell Fire. 

So How Did The Igbo Come To Believe In Heaven And Hell Fire?

When the missionaries arrived in Igbo land in the 1840s, they came with the grand plan of unseating the Igbo belief, worldview, spirituality, customs, traditions, and egalitarian society, and replacing them with the imported European beliefs enshrined in Christianity, as practiced by the Europeans. 

They falsely depicted the Igbo as not having a true knowledge of “the creator”, whom they called God. And when the Igbo told them that they knew the creator, Chi Ukwu, the missionaries still would not admit that the Igbo view and understanding of the universe and creation was sufficient or valid. So, they superimposed their “GOD” on the Igbo “CHI UKWU” and went further to say that their God existed in a trinity, and as such was a more complete image of the creator. 

This God which they introduced to the Igbo, was said to dwell in “Heaven”. They told the Igbo that those who believe in his son Jesus and did good will go to heaven when they die; while those who didn’t believe in Jesus as the son of God and also died in sin, would go to hell fire and be born for eternity. Hell was where the devil’s dwelling place. And since the Igbo did not also have a devil in their cosmology and belief system, the missionaries falsely took an Igbo deity, Ekwensu (a God of war), and rebranded it to become the Christian devil. 

To the Igbo, at least for the firm in mind, this was a distortion of their worldview, and rightly so, they resisted it. Others, of feeble mind, the Ofeke, accepted this foreign worldview as supreme, and believed it, even though there was no evidence for Heaven and Hell like we do for reincarnation. 

Heaven And Hell In Today’s Teachings, And The Subliminal Insult Of Ndi Igbo

The gospel of heaven and hell as propagated by Igbo Christians today, which was inherited from their European missionaries, insults the very nature of the Igbo, and all people of African descent. This is made evident in the image of God and the Devil, promoted by Christianity worldwide, and accepted wholeheartedly by the Igbo Christians. That image is of a Caucasian (European-looking) God sitting on a throne in heaven, his Caucasian son, and then the African (dark-skinned) looking devil in hell. 

These images are littered all over the internet, movies, and various churches and homes in Igbo land to date. While growing up, before the days of the internet, we saw these images hanging in the homes of our parents, grandparents, and relatives – images of a European-looking Jesus punching and defeating an African-looking Devil. 

Even though Igbo Christians find no wrong-doing in that, because of their worship of Europeans and self-hate, for us who have studied the use of “negative characterization” in the persecution of Africans worldwide, these images speak volumes. They show a conscious attempt by Europeans to claim “righteousness” and “superiority” through resemblance with the Christian GOD, and scornfully liken the Igbo (as well as all Africans) to the source of all evil and iniquity on earth, through the resemblance with the Christian DEVIL. 

When we bring this up as Ndi Igbo who is self-conscious and aware of this trick by European Christianity, our brethren are quick to try to silence us by saying “It does not matter OR that it is not important”. They gleefully preach to us that God is spirit and no one has seen him. But we then ask: If God is spirit and no one has seen him, why then do Christians have European-looking Jesus, whom they call the son of God (and God himself)?

Isn’t it an irony that you have the image of a spirit, you claim to have not seen?

If Jesus is the son of God, and also God himself as purported by Christians; and the long-haired and bearded images of Jesus handed down since around the fourth century A.D is to be taken into consideration, then automatically the Christian God belongs to a race, and that race is European. And this simply means that heaven is a European paradise, where Europeans and all who look like them will be first-class citizens, leaving the Igbo (and other Africans) to become second-class citizens (or slaves), and tools to be exploited, just as it is here on Earth. 

These same Europeans who took the Igbo into slavery for over 400 years, killed them on slave ships, whipped them in the plantations scattered all over the western world, and then finally invaded our homes in the 1800s, killed us, and tu3rned us to their subjects, forcing us to abandon our ways and beliefs and follow theirs, and today are neck-deep in the persecution and enslavement of the Igbo in Nigeria, can never share the same heaven with the Igbo. It will not happen – for a racist and wicked soul here on earth, will eventually be racist and wicked when he/she sheds its earthly body. 

The truth remains that heaven was not meant for the Igbo. It was only introduced by the missionaries as a legitimate tool in the imprisonment of the Igbo mind – in the exchange of our land and resources, for an unseen paradise somewhere in the skies.

In Conclusion,

The Bible, being a compilation of myths, stories, legends, and fiction from various corners of the world, cannot and will not supersede the Igbo worldview and cosmology, designed and handed by our noble ancestors, for Ndi Igbo. It can be the almighty guidebook for Europeans who plagiarized very many ancient stories, and credited them to European names (Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, etc.); but it will not be the guidebook for Ndi Igbo – an ancient people who have for thousands of years developed their spirituality, with established beliefs and evidence on the journey of the soul. 

Ịlo Ụwa/ỊnO Ụwa (reincarnation) remains the only plausible route through which the CHI of any Nwa afọ Ìgbò will attain righteousness and become one with Chi Ukwu, the creator. Let every Igbo man and woman go back to learn and understand the spiritual value and importance of our beliefs, and realize that these beliefs as expressed in Odinani are truly ultimate for us as an ancient people. 

This Piece Was Written By Chuka Nduneseokwu, Editor-In-Chief, of Voice Of The Sun

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