What is "rastafari"

Rastafari is an Abrahamic belief which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. Its adherents worship him in much the same way as Jesus in his Second Advent, or as God the Son. Members of the Rastafari way of life are known as Rastafari, Rastas, Rastafarians, or simply Ras. Rastafari are also known by their official church titles, such as Elder or High Priest. The way of life is sometimes referred to as "Rastafarianism", but this term is considered offensive by most Rastafari, who, being critical of "isms" (which they see as a typical part of "Babylon" culture), dislike being labelled as an "ism" themselves.

The name Rastafari is taken from Ras Tafari, the title ( Ras) and first name (Tafari Makonnen) of Haile Selassie I before his coronation. In Amharic, Ras, literally "head", is an Ethiopian title equivalent to prince or chief, while the personal given name Täfäri (teferi) means one who is revered. Yah (יה in Hebrew) is a Biblical name of God, from a shortened form of Jahweh or Yahuah found in in the King James Version of the Bible and many other places in the Bible. Most adherents see Haile Selassie I as Yah or Yah Rastafari, an incarnation of God the Father, the Second Advent of Christ "the Anointed One", i.e. the second coming of Jesus Christ the King to Earth.

Many elements of Rastafari reflect its origins in Jamaica along with Ethiopian culture. Ethiopian Christianity traces its roots to the Church of Alexandria, founded by St Mark, and its 5th-century continuation in the Coptic Church of Alexandria. Rastafari holds many Christian beliefs like the existence of a triune God ("Jah"), who had sent his divine incarnate son to Earth in the form of Jesus ( Yeshua) and made himself manifest as the divine person of Haile Selassie I. Rastafari accept much of the Bible, although they believe that its message and interpretation have been corrupted.

The Rastafari way of life encompasses the spiritual use of cannabis and the rejection of the degenerate society of materialism, oppression, and sensual pleasures, called Babylon. It proclaims Zion, in reference to Ethiopia, as the original birthplace of humankind, and from the beginning of the way of life calls for repatriation to Zion, the Promised Land and Heaven on Earth. This can mean literally moving to Ethiopia but also refers to mentally and emotionally repatriating before the physical. Some Rastafari also embrace various Afrocentric and Pan-African social and political aspirations.

Some Rastafari do not claim any sect or denomination, and thus encourage one another to find faith and inspiration within themselves, although some do identify strongly with one of the " Mansions of Rastafari"—the three most prominent of these being the Nyahbinghi, the Bobo Ashanti, and the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

By 1997 there were, according to one estimate, around one million Rastafari worldwide. In the 2011 Jamaican census, 29,026 individuals identified themselves as Rastafari. Other sources estimated that in the 2000s they formed "about 5% of the population" of Jamaica, or conjectured that "there are perhaps as many as 100,000 Rastafari in Jamaica".

Rastafari is an album by American jazz trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith with the Bill Smith ensemble, which was released in 1983 on the Canadian Sackville label. The trumpeter considers the recording a cooperative effort, it is Bill Smith, co-founder of Sackville and producer of the album, who made it a "Leo Smith record". It was reissued on CD in 2003 with new artwork by Boxholder.