THE CONCEPT OF TIME IN AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION
The following are the various identified aspects of the concept of time: 1. Dimensions of time 2. Potential and actual time 3. Time reckoning and chronology 4. Concept of human life in relation to time 5. Death and immortality

1. Dimensions of time
Mbiti identifies two dimensions of time which are: the Sasa period, which encompasses the recent past, the present, and the very immediate future, and the Zamani period, which corresponds with a deeper, more infinite past.
Sasa has the sense of immidiacy and is the period of immidiate concern for the people since that is where and when they exist.The Sasa generally binds individuals and their immediate environment together. It is the period of conscious living. On the other hand, Zamani is the period of the myth, giving a sense of foundation or "security" to the Sasa period; and binding together all created things.( Mbiti 1989:21). Traditionally, Africans are most concerned with what is near; therefore the Sasa is the period of the most consequence because it is "where" or "when" they actually exist. According to Alexis kagame, the African view of the ancestral past provides a basis on which the true meaning of history may be grasped. It is not concerned with the past as such but describes present events as they occured and sprang into being in the past. (http://www.springerlink.com/content) 2. Potential and actual time:
In the Western thought, time is reckoned with an indefinite past, present and infinite future. These are practically foreign to African thinking. For the African, time is equivalent to and can only consist of actual events – events that have just occurred, events that are taking place now, or events that will likely occur very shortly. According to the traditional concept, time is mainly a two-dimensional phenomenon, with a long past, a present and virtually no future. It is a two-dimensional concept of time that only minimally corresponds with Western ideas of the "present" and the "past." To the Africans, the future does not really exist because the events which lie in it have not occurred and therefore, cannot constitute time. (http://lumina.hnu.edu.ph/articles/(5)ekekeOct11.pdf (P230))
Thus, for the African there is a past and a present, but there is essentially no such thing as a future. The African examines what is happening around him and looks back at things that have occurred in order to make meaning and orient himself in time. Events that have not yet occurred and are not imminent are situated in the realm of "No-Time."
A person experiences time partly in his own individual life, and partly through the society which goes back many generations before his own birth. Time moves 'backward' rather than 'forward'; and people set their minds not on future things, but chiefly on what has taken place. Time has therefore to be experienced in order to make sense or to become real (Mbiti 1999, 16-17) 3. Time reckoning and chronology
Africans reckon or divide time for specific and concrete purpose. It is always done in connection with events, and for that reason, people cannot and do not reckon time in the vacuum. To the Africans time is not an abstract phenomenon which is reckoned for its sake but is meaningful at the point of the event and not at the mathematical moment.
According to Pierre Bourdieu’s, African time has no beginning and no end. Africans observed a rythm of social life, a calendar of feasts, a cycle of past times and an annual cycle of agricultural tasks that were all embodied in a single overiding. A good example is in the Bantu- Kongo,. For the Kongo, time is both absract and concrete. At the absract level, time has no beginning and no end, it exists on its own and flows by itself on its own accord. At the concrete level it is the dunga(events) that make time perceptible providing un ending flow of time with specific events of periods of time.
The traditional African counts time daily and yearly by a series of rhythmic events. The day is divided into, grazing time, resting time, drinking time, home returning time and evening milking time. The months are marked by the events in the phases of the moon and the year is determined by the cycle of seasonal events, such as the rainy season followed by the dry season and the cold season
This cyclical format is also derived from the agricultural cycles and seasons. The seasons of the year repeat themselves in an eternal cycle. The agricultural season begins with the rainy season and ends with the dry season” This is why time in Africa is perceived in the movement of natural phenomena, the eternal order which governs the universe.
This concept of time being reckoned with the natural phenomena is seen in the naming of months. Africans do not name the months using the Gregorian calendar which starts from January and ends in December. They rather use the lunar month and name them according to the various events that occur-in those periods. Among the Latuka people of Sudan, for example various names are given to different months based on the natural phenomena that occurred and on the agricultural seasons. October is known as the “Sun‟ because the sun is very hot at that time. December is called “Give your uncle water‟. This is because during that period water is very scarce and people become very thirsty. February is known as,“let them dig‟ showing that it is the time to prepare for planting, since the rainy season is about to set in. May is popularly called “Grain in the ear‟, showing that grain has started bearing. June is called “Dirty Mouth‟, because it is the time of eating grain. July is known as dry grass because rains stop and the grass begins to wither. August is known as “sweet grain” because it is when people harvest sweet grains. September is known as “sausage tree” because at this time the sausage tree begin to bear fruit. And so the cycle is complete and then begins to repeat itself (Mbiti 1989, 21)

4. Concept of human life in relation to time
Human life has a rythm of nature which cannot be destroyed. This rythm includes the various stages of life that includes birth, initiation, marriage, procreation, old age, death, entry in to the community of the departed, and finally entry into the community of spirits when one becomes an ancestor. These are the key moments in the life of an individual and they all define time to the traditional Africans.
In the community or national level, there is a cycle of seasons with their different activities like sowing, cultivating, harvesting and hunting. These are the key events and momements and they may often be marked by religious rites and ceremonies (Mbiti 1989: 24). People will therefore talk about the time of sowing , cultivating or harvesting and they will all understand what period is being being reffered to.

5. Death and immortality
As the individual gets older, he is gradually moving from the sasa (present) to the zamani (past). Immidiately after the physical death, the indidual continues to exist in the sasa period (Mbiti 1989: 25). Through procreation, the dead person’s name is passed on to a grandchild and he can live on in sasa through a grandson who bears his name. These are called the living-dead, because he or she is physically dead but alive in the memory of those who knew him/her and in the world of spirits. This state of being remembered is called “personal immortality”. When there is no longer anyone alive who remembers the living dead personally by name, he or she sinks beyond the horizon of sasa into zamani and the process of dying is completed. The living dead enter into the state of “collective immortality” which is a state of the spirits who are no longer formal members of human families and with whom people have lost personal contacts (Mbiti 1991, 59)

Conclusion
According to Temples, the concept of time among traditional Africans was quite different from the western linear concept of time which has an an indefinite past, the present and an infinite future (http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514264312/html/x254.html)
The concept of time is not an issue for debate among Africans because to them “time is simply a composition of events which have occurred, those which are taking place now and those which are immediately to occur” (Mbiti, 1969: 17)
The mathematical division of time has little relevance for Africans; e.g. the events which occur within a given period are more important than the actual number of hours or days within the same period.
According to Mbiti, an understanding of the African concept of time can help to explain the beliefs, and behaviors of the African people. Furthermore a proper understanding of the concept will help to explain certain attitudes, practices and general way of life of African peoples not only in the traditional set up but also in the modern situation such as political, economic, educational or church life.

Bibliography
Mbiti John, 1989. African Religions & Philosophy : Heinneman, oxford.
Mbiti 1991. Introduction to African Religion: Heinemann, Oxford. http://lumina.hnu.edu.ph/articles/(5)ekekeOct11.pdf ( 31st May 2012) http://www.springerlink.com/content (3rd June 2012) http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514264312/html/x254.html (4th June 2012)