20 March 2010

Herald
Davison Moses Foroma

Harare — RECENTLY, the media carried stories concerning Ngoma Lungundu.

The stories as published have raised an important topic, which affects the VaRemba with whom the Ngoma Lungundu is said to be associated.

It is not the association with Ngoma Lungundu that is the issue. Rather it is the identity of the VaRemba, which coincidentally has been raised in these publications, which has caused grave concern to members of this tribe, as serious misrepresentations and distortions have been made concerning their origins.







Professor Tudor Parfitt has been quoted widely as claiming that his researches have established that VaRemba have a Jewish origin.

He uses genetic research done comparing the Y chromosomes found in the VaRemba and those found in a priestly class amongst the Jews, which he claims resemble each other to give credence to his conclusion that this supports the oral history that the VaRemba have a Jewish descent.

Edmore Maramwidze, the Gutu North House of Assembly Member himself a muRemba at the symposium held at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) on the February 17 2010, alleged that the VaRemba are adulterine children born to Jewish men by Gentile women -- a startling proposition indeed.

There are a few VaRemba who have bought into Professor Parfitt's proposition. The bulk of those who have bought Professor Parfitt's argument are members of what is today called the Lemba Cultural Association, founded in South Africa by a group of VaRemba whose forefathers moved into South Africa from Zimbabwe.

The point is that the VaRemba in both South Africa and Zimbabwe are the same people and cannot have different origins.

The oral history as to their origin cannot and should not be different. The oral history of the two VaRemba communities separated by the Limpopo River has to be the same as the ancestors of the majority of the South African group were from Zimbabwe.

Until very recently, about the 1960's, the oral history shared by the VaRemba in Zimbabwe wherever they were geographically located be it Gutu, Masvingo, Chivi, Mberengwa, Hwedza or Buhera has been that their forefathers hailed from Yemen in the Middle East and that they were Arab traders, "vashavi" in Shona.

The VaRemba are more commonly known among the Bantu communities in Zimbabwe as vaMwenyi, a Swahili word, which loosely translates to merchants suggesting they passed through East Africa on their way southwards.

They are a distinct group of people who do not eat meat of certain animals, and who only eat the meat of animals they have slaughtered themselves.

They recite a prayer as they slaughter any animal or bird that is lawful for them to eat. That prayer is in Arabic language and is used by Muslims.

Only their males who have come out of the initiation school have authority to slaughter meat eaten by members of the VaRemba community as it is at the initiation school that the prayer is taught.

The VaRemba bury their dead with the corpse facing the north of north east direction and lying on its right side.

Their culture and original religion (Islam) are inseparable. Although many of them have embraced different religions mainly Christianity as a result of missionary work, their culture has failed to break away from the Islamic influence.

Their males who have come out of initiation school are compulsorily required to carry a knife on their person.

They use the knife for slaughtering among other things. A man who borrows a knife to slaughter exposes himself to ridicule and is suspect.

Traditionally, they are not allowed to marry their daughters to non-VaRemba men. So strong has this tradition been in the part that any women who eloped to non-VaRemba men were regarded outcasts and disowned.

This practice has an Islamic origin.

The VaRemba do not eat food prepared in cooking utensils used by non-VaRemba and boys who have not passed through the initiation school are not allowed to slaughter animals for meat taken by the community.

They have very strict hygienic habits and shave their heads or trim their hair to the same level.

This article is not meant to detail all the customs and traditions of the VaRemba. It was necessary to give some information to those not familiar, in order to assist in identifying the people whose culture and origin is under discussion.

As the customs and traditions of Jews and Arabs are generally similar, it may be difficult to use the similarity of these to VaRemba culture to determine with accuracy the origin of the VaRemba.

If the customs and traditions were the sole yardstick used to determine categorically whether the VaRemba are of Jewish origin or Arabic origin, then it would be inconclusive.

That the Arabic and Jewish customs or culture is broadly more or less the same should not be surprising as in fact the two peoples are cousins being descendants of Ebrahim (Abraham) through Ismail (Ishmael), the eldest son of Abraham and his younger half brother Isaac. Both Arabs and Jews are Semites.

It is proposed to outline below the points which lend support to the oral history that the VaRemba are descendants of Arabs as opposed to Jews. These are:

l The 12 clan names of the VaRemba, which have a definite link to the Islamic religion and not Jewish religion e.g. Hassan, Sharief, Seremani, Sadiki, Haji, Bakari, to name but a few.

l The prayer recited by the VaRemba when slaughtering animals or birds is in the Arabic language and is of Islamic origin. This is taught in Arabic at the vaRemba initiation school together with other prayers.

l The greeting/salutation taught at the initiation school is a Moslem greeting in Arabic.

l The most important prayer taught in the initiation school though in an adulterated form (in terms of pronunciation) is Arabic and Islamic.

l The tradition of carrying knives by VaRemba males who have been through the initiation school establishes an irrefutable link to Arabic tradition or culture, which today is pronounced amongst the Yemenite Arabs. Jews do not practice this tradition.

l The vaRemba are a patrilineal community i.e., they trace lineage through their fathers whereas you can only be a Jew if your mother is a Jew.

l The practice of burying their dead lying on their right side and facing Ka'aba (Mecca) (north of northeast), when one is in Zimbabwe.

l The popular oral history that the vaRemba/vaMwenyi are (varungu), descendants of white-skinned forefathers from Yemen.

l The issue of religion is not insignificant in addressing the origins of the VaRemba. Nowhere in the books of history on Zimbabwe, including the vaRemba oral history has it been suggested that VaRemba ever built a single synagogue, nor has there been any reference to ruins of a synagogue in the areas that the VaRemba temporarily settled on their journey southwards. Neither has it ever been hinted anywhere at anytime that the VaRemba once regarded Saturday as a day of worship (Sabbath for their Jewish cousins), and yet what distinguishes a Jew from other races or nationalities is the Jewish religion -- Judaism, which Jews consider to be exclusively for Jews.

Although the VaRemba of today are of various religious persuasions, this does not discredit their claim to Arabic descent as in this day and age choice of religion has become an aspect of the exercise of an individual's democratic rights. It is, however, contended that the original religion of the VaRemba's forefathers was Islam, and not Christianity or Judaism.

The suggestion by Professor Parfitt that (genetic) evidence exists, which supports the view that the VaRemba are of Jewish descent is not only a misrepresentation of the scientific research carried out by some scientists, but a deliberate attempt to mislead the VaRemba as to their correct descendency.

The results of the genetic research, contrary to what Professor Parfitt claims does not categorically link the VaRemba to a Jewish ancestry. The geneticists have so far not excluded or ruled out the VaRemba claim to an Arabic origin. The results of the genetic research have therefore been misrepresented, and clearly, to the prejudice of the VaRemba.

I state categorically that any MuRemba who subscribes to the view that VaRemba oral history says that VaRemba are of Jewish descent/ancestry is a convert of the recent fabrication, and needs to re-examine his position critically in the light of the foregoing among other proofs to the contrary.

Finally, as for Edmore Maramwidze's hypothesis that is that VaRemba are sons of Jews by Gentile women - it is too far fetched and has neither the support of oral history nor the Bible itself. His, is a lone voice?

Those that are keen on establishing the correct genealogical origin of the VaRemba (if considered necessary to do so in view of the available evidence), should do justice to the VaRemba community, and avoid sweeping statements, and research widely.

Clearly, the distortion that the VaRemba have an oral history that claims that they are descendants of Jews has caused some of us a lot of anguish -- not that there is anything wrong essentially in being a Jew or Gentile for that matter.

Maramwidze and any of those like-minded seem to have left the initiation school half- baked and may be a dangerous example to their VaRemba. It would not be out of place to suggest that they need to be re-initiated.

Davison Moses Foroma is a MuRemba/Lemba. He is a legal practitioner and partner with a reputable legal firm in Harare, Zimbabwe.