Kumun u Tamen (Great Beyond): Heaven or Hell in the Tiv Religious World View?

Over several decades, scholars of religion around the world, including both Africans and non-Africans, have been meaningfully engaged in the debate on matters relating to eschatology: death, judgement, heaven and hell, with a particular focus on its manifestation within the African religious worldview. The present paper is anchored on investigating and establishing the truth or otherwise of Kumun u Tamen (great beyond) as heaven or hell in the Tiv ethnic denomination of African religion. The paper offers a comprehensive explanation of the phenomenon of kumu u tamen through a critical analysis of the existing literature. Two schools of thought have been identified regarding the issue of eschatology in African religion. The first school of thought affirms it, while the second denies it as non-existent in the African worldview. The study further found that, although the concept of heaven and hell is vague, it does exist in the Tiv religious worldview. Scholars who deny this are therefore wrong in their assumptions. In preparing this material, the author conducted field research, including organizing numerous interviews in different local government areas of Benue State, Nigeria. The paper calls on scholars, whether from Africa or elsewhere, to refrain from making categorical and sweeping statements denying the existence of eschatological ideas in the African religious worldview. The paper calls for further in-depth study on eschatology, especially with regard to the issues of heaven and hell, to establish the existence or otherwise of the phenomenon. The existing literature on eschatology is often tailored to death in the African worldview, with other aspects being inadequately explored.