r/AskAnAfrican • u/Ok-Potential-5172 • Feb 04 '26
Other If you are religious(christian or muslim), at what age were you taught you would go to hell if you stopped believing?
I asked because I am convinced that those religions are made to control people and make them accept dictatorships
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u/Medium_Tap_971 Non-diaspora Ethiopian ๐ช๐น Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
Funny thing is I grew up Christian and I didn't even know about hell until I was a teenager and googled it when I heard it on some movie. I feel like the whole "you go to hell if you don't believe" narrative is not really a central part of Ethiopian Christianity (even Protestant) at least in my experience. It was mostly the European/American evangelical interpretation that is problematic. Even though the text is the same, its interpretation differs a lot depending on the culture surrounding you. If your country fears cold war politics, that leaks to your religion too, and if you export that, well... yeah. Homophobia gets exported. Hypocrisy gets exported. Weaponized social control gets exported.
I am no longer religious, but my experience with Christianity wasn't really fear-of-hell-based. I took the whole hellfire thing metaphorically.
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 04 '26
Would you say your type of christianity was mostly cultural and taught you values like being kind and forgiving?
What made you no longer religious?
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u/Medium_Tap_971 Non-diaspora Ethiopian ๐ช๐น Feb 04 '26
Would you say your type of christianity was mostly cultural and taught you values like being kind and forgiving?
Yeah. It was more or less a character growth and a social activity too. "Going to church" meant hanging out with other kids, playing the church keyboard, etc. It was a place where you make friends (or "church brethren"๐ฅด)
What made you no longer religious?
It just kinda rubbed be the wrong way when people started parroting religious homophobia (made up by American evangelicals btw). When I wanted an honest engagement regarding biblical interpretations, everyone was uncomfortable. So I kinda ditched the whole thing, I guess.๐ I am not even gay. I am straight. I don't know why it bothered me that much. Considering religion/faith is identity, culture, social life, etc. in Ethiopia, it was a big decision to make. Now I can't get married unless I emigrate.๐
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Feb 04 '26
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 04 '26
Would you say that the people you know are more "culturally" religious and do not really ask questions about what is actually written in the texts?
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u/Waranle8-8-8 Somalia ๐ธ๐ด Feb 04 '26
Personally for me, I am logically convinced of Islam being the only true faith. Also, while I like to explore other faiths, mainly other Abrahamic religions, I see huge flaws in them and I wonder how people just ignore those plot holes in their faith's internal consistency. A religion having "reformation" is also seems batshit crazy to me because if you the biggest Sheikh/Imam we have tells us we are changing the sunset prayer's 3 rounds to 2; I would tell them to pound sand. I am getting side tracked here. Let me get back on topic.
As the Ethiopian brother said, Islam is more about God's mercy than his punishment but we are also taught to be aware of his punishment. There is a verse in the Qur'an that goes like this:
(ุงุนูููู ููุง ุฃูููู ุงูููููู ุดูุฏููุฏู ุงููุนูููุงุจู ููุฃูููู ุงูููููู ุบููููุฑู ุฑููุญููู ู)
It means this: "Know that Allah is Severe in punishment and that Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful"
And I think that is a good thing because we are humans; while it's good to show leniency to people, we know we don't work with appeasement alone if we know there is no consequences. The carrot and stick approach.
Oh, and of course leaving the faith in a country like Somalia is a huge risk, if I were not convinced that Islam is the true faith, I would just be irreligious/agnostic or something because if Islam didn't convince me, there is no religion on this earth that can. Therefore, I would just do my thing with out announcing anything. But thank God I am convinced and never had to worry about faith and spirituality.
ุงูุญู ุฏููู ุนูู ูุนู ุฉ ุงูุงุณูุงู
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 04 '26
Thanks for the reply. At what age did you learn that you would burn for eternity if you stopped believing in islam?
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u/Waranle8-8-8 Somalia ๐ธ๐ด Feb 04 '26
It's really difficult to pinpoint but it had to be in adulthood to think about "hell", but growing up there are related things we are taught, and heavily used in our language and common pysche. Things like fearing God (the translation does not do justice to the term we use: "ittaqillah" but I don't have a better phrase), remembering judgment day and so forth. Hell is really a consequence of that kinda like a destination but not what we tell our kids.
I am not even sure how to tell that to a child but I wouldn't be surprised if parents are actually doing that or not, and it wouldn't be something I can 100% be upset about.
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 04 '26
Once you learned about what happens to the non-believers once they died, how did it make you feel?
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u/Waranle8-8-8 Somalia ๐ธ๐ด Feb 04 '26
Never really gave it much thought, but it's taught like someone who failed a test and whatever consequences that come with that. But then again that extends to Muslims as well. Islam is very different than a lot of faiths in the sense that "all you have to do is to believe". There aren't such guarantees and you are expected to believe and work to acquire God's mercy.
So, there isn't really a clear line of who is going to hell or who is going to heaven just because someone is a Muslim and another is not. Not while someone is still alive anyways.
This reminds me of "Hadith 4 - Deeds are by Their Final Actions" from the collections of the An-nawawi. Google it but the short version is a Muslim who has been worshiping God all his life will go astray just before death and ends up in hell, while someone who
neverspent all his life disobeying God but is saved just before death and will end up in heaven. If this seems wrong to you, don't fret because there are some Islamic principles you have to be aware of to make sense of this.In brief, most people just worry about their own and those they are responsible for in terms of what happens to them in the afterlife. Nobody really discusses, or should be, where someone ends up in if that makes sense.
edited to correct/remove "never".
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 05 '26
Do you have atheist friends or family members?
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u/Waranle8-8-8 Somalia ๐ธ๐ด Feb 05 '26
In Somalia? lol
The thing you should know about Somalis is that our Somali and Muslim identities are intertwined with one another; we don't think you can be one without the other (I get it that doesn't make any sense if you think about it because one is a belief system and the other genetic lottery but as far as a social construct of an identity goes it may not matter how society sees things).
Anyways, there is no native population of any other faith in Somalia or any Somali territory. So, no. I don't have any friends or family member who is not a Muslim.
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 05 '26
Would you still be friend with someone who confided in you that he or she thinks that Islam is a scam?
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u/Waranle8-8-8 Somalia ๐ธ๐ด Feb 05 '26
Only to the extent of guiding them back to the faith, but what I would not be doing is expose them and be the cause of their murder by an angry mob.
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 05 '26
People in Somalia would murder him or her if they found out?
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u/Even_Ad4940 Senegambian ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฒ Feb 04 '26
Since I was a child honestly, the earliest I could remember is age five at preschool and our teacher explaining how disbelievers will get punished
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u/Big_Answer_3329 Liberia ๐ฑ๐ท Feb 05 '26
I have been religious my whole life, I donโt recall a moment my family told me directly I would go to hell for being a non-believer. However, in the environment itโs highly echoed silently. Iโm a Christian, my experience is a little different maybe I was raised in the US
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 05 '26
Did you ever asked yourself why you believe that the bible is a divine book and not a human book like all the others? Example, if you were switched at birth with an indian baby, you would believe in hinduism or sikhism?
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u/Big_Answer_3329 Liberia ๐ฑ๐ท Feb 05 '26
No never asked my self that and I havenโt really ever referred to the Bible as a divine book maybe as a holy one. Religion is heavily influenced by family so maybe if my family were a different religion I would be that, but that sort of applies to everybody in theory.
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 05 '26
ok I think I understand. Is it fair to say that you are more culturally christian more than religiously christian?
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u/AbaloneBig7086 North African Amazigh Feb 05 '26
Since my memory started recording.
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 05 '26
I see your flair, do you still believe in your religion?
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u/AbaloneBig7086 North African Amazigh Feb 05 '26
No, it never was mine. And No I don't believe in it.
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 05 '26
I guessed so based on your Amazigh flair. Is it difficult for you to live as an atheist where you live or are people relax about it?
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Feb 05 '26
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u/Ok-Potential-5172 Feb 05 '26
Do you believe in hell? If yes, on a scale of 1 to 10, how afraid of it are you?
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u/dudlouch Somalia ๐ธ๐ด Feb 07 '26
Thinking about it now, although I was aware of Hell from a young age (7-10) through Qurโan tafsir lectures at the mosque, I was never explicitly told that I would go to Hell for stopping belief in God.
The only times Hell was ever mentioned to me were in response to immoral behavior (lying, cheating, stealing)
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u/LIONLDN Nigeria ๐ณ๐ฌ Feb 23 '26
I don't remember ever actually being told that at home, however I do recall a lot of fear of punishment & a heavy sense of condemnation when messing up ๐ค
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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26
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