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الدين يمثل جزءا أساسيا من حياة المجتمعات الإفريقية، وكل جماعة إفريقية عملت في الوقت نفسه كجماعة دينية، ومن هنا استخدم البعض مفهوم "الديانات القبلية" على الديانات الإفريقية التقليدية القديمة، وهو مفهوم لا يتميز بالدقة الكافية نظرا لوجود أسس دينية مشتركة بصرف النظر عن القبلية. وقد ظلت "الديانة" واحدة من أهم القوى الدائمة في إفريقيا، ومكونا رئيسا من مكونات المجتمعات. فالدين موجود في كل مجالات الحياة البشرية في إفريقيا، وقد سيطر على تفكير الإفريقيين إلى الحد الذي أصبح يشكل فيه ثقافتهم وحياتهم الاجتماعية وتنظيماتهم السياسية وأنظمتهم الاقتصادية، وعليه؛ فإن الدين مرتبط بشدة بطريقة الحياة في المجتمعات الإفريقية، ولفهم هذه المجتمعات في جميع أطوارها، والتحولات التي صارت إليها بعد ذلك مع دخول الإسلام، فلابد من فهم الديانات التي كانوا يؤمنون بها.
Religion is an essential part of the life of African societies and of every African group that has worked simultaneously as a religious group. Hence, some have used the concept of tribal religions over traditional ancient African religions, a concept that is not sufficiently precise, given the existence of common religious foundations apart from the tribe. Religion has been one of the most important permanent forces in Africa and a major component of societies. Religion is found in all areas of human life in Africa and has dominated the thinking of Africans to the point where it interfered with their culture, their social life, their political organizations and their economic systems. Therefore, religion is strongly linked to the way of life in African societies and to understanding these societies in all their stages and transformations especially with the entry of Islam, it is necessary to understand the religions they believed in. The beliefs of pagan peoples in Africa are centered on the worship of three fundamental gods, the worship of the Great God, the worship of nature and the worship of the spirit of ancestors. The three gods appear to be common denominators among black African tribes in general. The priest is an important religious figure in the old African faith belief; this position derives from the great role he plays in the African religious life of mediating between the African gods. The pagan worship of Africa represents a series of rituals performed by the African man to please his idolaters of idols, idols and spirits of ancestors, such as rituals of reverence, rituals of sanctification, praise and thanksgiving and so on. In the ancient African religion, there is no clear effect of faith in the Last Day, the resurrection after death, and the penalty that every person receives, if he did good or evil deeds. The African societies remained in their idolatry until God honored them with the penetration of Islam into their lands. The African people believed in Islam and embraced it early, and their Islam was fortified and even some of its kings converted to Islam, as many historians witnessed this.
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