Nollywood actor Femi Adebayo has stirred a fresh culture-versus-faith debate after explaining how he handles the clash between Yoruba greeting rites and Islamic teaching on prostration.
Speaking on VJ Adams Live, the actor said he often finds himself caught between belief and custom, and that he leans on what he called common sense. A clip circulating online captured him arguing that full respect for elders and traditional rulers cannot be abandoned just because religion forbids lying flat for anyone but God.
“In Yoruba culture, we prostrate to greet our elders, but it’s not permitted in Islam. Still, I apply common sense. When you’re in the Ooni of Ife’s palace, you can’t refuse to prostrate because of your beliefs. If Obasanjo did it, who are you?” he said.
Adebayo went further on how he personally splits the gesture.
“I have conflict of belief and customs most times, but I apply common sense. For example, Islam says your chest and head should touch the ground only for your almighty which is Allah and Yoruba says you should prostrate completely for your father. Now, I see my father and mother as mini gods. I see the almighty as a super god so I applied common sense to give the super one my chest and my head and just bow for the mini gods. I apply common sense, but there are so many contradictions especially when you’re deep in traditional culture.”
The comments land in a week when public prostration is already trending. Fuji star K1 De Ultimate went flat on stage to honour former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the Olota of Ota’s 60th birthday in Ogun State. Days later, Osun Governor Ademola Adeleke also prostrated before the Ooni of Ife while presenting his certificate of return. Obasanjo himself famously prostrated before the Ooni in 2016.
Yoruba custom expects men to perform idobale, lying or bowing to the ground for parents, elders and kings. Islamic teaching, as many scholars present it, reserves full sujood for Allah alone. That tension has long divided Yoruba Muslims, some of whom bow or kneel as a greeting while others refuse any floor gesture to a human being.