Lemba People - Judaic or Arab Links

Judaic or Arab Links

Many Lemba beliefs and practices can be linked to Judaism. According to Rudo Mathivha, this includes the following:

• They call God Nwali.
• They observe Shabbat.
• They praise Nwali for looking after the Lemba, considering themselves part of the chosen people.
• They teach their children to honor their mothers and fathers.
• They refrain from eating pork and other foods forbidden by the Torah and Qur'an, and forbid combinations of permitted foods.
• Their form of animal slaughter, which makes meats fit for their consumption, is a form of shechita.
• They practise male circumcision; (furthermore, according to Junod, surrounding tribes regarded them as the masters and originators of that art).
• They place a Star of David on their tombstones.
• Lembas are discouraged from marrying non-Lembas, as other Jews are discouraged from marrying other non-Jews.

According to Magdel le Roux, the Lembas have a ritual of sacrifice which they call the "Pesah", which seems similar in many ways to the Jewish Pesach or Passover.

Circumcision, not marrying non-Lembas, their dietary practices and a suggested relationship between many Lemba clan-names and known Arabic Semitic words; e.g., Sadiki, Hasane, Hamisi, Haji, Bakeri, Sharifo and Saidi led W. D. Hammond-Tooke to the conclusion that they were in part, Arabs.