Bob Marley, a respected figure in the world of reggae, left the childhood religion of Christianity and embraced the Rastafari movement in the late 1960s. By all reliable accounts, he remained a staunch Rastafari and a representative of the religion until his death in 1981.
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What is Rastafarianism?
Rastafarianism, more commonly known as “Rastafari” or “The Rastafari Movement”, is a loosely organized Abrahamic belief that holds that Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, who reigned from 1930 to 1974, was the second coming of the Messiah (based on both ancient Biblical prophecies and modern prophecies, including those of Marcus Garvey), that the Holy Land is in Ethiopia, and that black people are the lost tribe of Israel and they must return to their homeland.
The Anglo-Saxon civilization in particular is seen by Rastafari as the legendary Babylon, which is evil and repressive (or, in Rasta vocabulary, “downpressive”).
How did Bob Marley practice his religion?
In the late 1960s, Bob Marley adopted several Rastafari beliefs and practices. He followed a vegetarian diet (as part of the Rastafari dietary practices known as ital, which are based on Old Testament laws and thus bear similarities to kosher and halal diets), grew his hair into dreadlocks (this Rasta practice is based on Leviticus 21:5 “They shall not make baldness upon their heads, nor shall they shave the corner of their beards, nor cut the flesh”), and took part in the ritual.
Marley also took on the role of spokesman for his religion and his people, serving as the first prominent public face of Rastafari and openly advocating for black liberation, Pan-Africanism, basic social justice and an end to oppression and poverty, particularly for Black Jamaicans but also for oppressed people everywhere.
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What was Bob Marley’s cause of death?
Lentiginous melanoma of Acral, a form of skin cancer, claimed Marley’s life. It had come from under a toenail when he was first diagnosed with it in 1977. He first became aware of melanoma in 1977 while playing football. A foot injury turned out to be worse than usual and got progressively worse.
He was told to have his toe removed after doctors determined it was cancerous. However, he refused, as according to his Rastafari belief it is wrong to remove any part of the body’s “sleep”. Instead, he agreed to a skin graft, but unfortunately, by 1980, the disease had already spread all over his body.
