In Memoriam: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918-2013) (original) (raw)

2014, Journal of the American Academy of Religion

Ebrahim Moosa* "A great tree has fallen, he is now going home to rest with his forefathers. We thank them for lending us such an icon." Chief Ngangomhlaba Matanzima, at the funeral of Nelson Mandela in the village of Qunu, Transkei, South Africa. NELSON ROLIHLAHLA (pronounced, ko li shla shla) MANDELA'S DEATH, as his life, demonstrated the possibility of human transformation on a grand scale. Charisma, we learn as students of religion, possessed the power to yoke us to the good if deployed with humility and integrity. It still does, as Mandela taught in exemplary fashion. Like a potter he molded our emotions, rallied us in global solidarity, and renewed our belief that politics retains nobility and religion can enhance community in order to address the innumerable challenges we face in life. The poetics of Mandela's accomplishments are beyond language; yet they are mired in irony. He is unequaled as a revolutionary, a prisoner, and a political healer; but he ached over how life robbed him of the joys of family and deprived him of the ordinary and mundane in life. If human origins first made its presence felt in Africa, as paleontologists say, then Mandela showed how a palpating humanity could yet be retrieved in the most unexpected of places, away from the dominating centers of power. In doing so, he decentered our expectations and