Zulu traditional religion

Individuals base their morality or behavior ethics on his judgment or “apprehension of the Ultimate Reality.” [3] Unkulunkulu is sometimes conflated with the sky god Umvelinqangi[4] (meaning "he who was in the very beginning"), the god of thunder, earthquake whose other name is Unsondo, and is the son of Unkulunkulu, the Father, and Nomkhubulwane, the Mother.

[citation needed] The word nomkhubulwane means the one who shapeshifts into any form of an animal.

European settlers used the word Unkulunkulu in order to try to explain their belief in the God of the bible to the people of Zululand.

[citation needed] According to Irvin Hexham (1981), "there is no evidence of belief in a heavenly deity or sky god in Zulu religion before the advent of Europeans".

[5] However, other scholars such as Eileen Jensen Krige, Isaac Schapera, Axel-Ivar Berglund (1976), Hammond-Took, and John Mbiti disagree with Hexham's analysis.