Kala Kato is a Quranist movement whose adherents reside mostly in northern Nigeria, [1] with some adherents residing in Niger. [2] Kala Kato means a "man says" in the Hausa language, in reference to the sayings, or hadiths, posthumously attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Kala Kato accepts only the Quran as authoritative and believe that anything that is not Kala Allah, which means what "God says" in the Hausa language, is Kala Kato. [3]
Based on their tafsir on Quranic verses like 6:114-115, 18:54, 45:2-6, 56:77-81, and 77:50, Kala Kato rejects the authority of hadiths posthumously attributed to Muhammad and consider only the Quran to be authoritative. [3] One of Kala Kato's leaders from Zaria, Mallam Isiyaka Salisu, says that the mission of the group is to sensitize the Muslim Umma to know that the only way to worship Allah is through the injunctions of the Holy Qur’an. [1]
Other distinct practices of Kala Kato include not eating frozen fish that is not Islamically slaughtered, not using ritual baths, and not saying funeral prayers or putting a shroud on their dead. [1] They are also distinguished from their Sunni counterparts by their practice of Salah. Sunni scholars Aminu Alhaji Bala and Ibrahim Shu'aibu Sa'idu say that some, following Mallam Saleh Idris of Kano, do only one Rakat and say duas rather than recite any Suras from the Quran. They also go directly from Qiyam to Sajdah without doing Ruku. Others, following Mallam Usman Dangungu, Mallam Musa Ibbi, and Mallam Alhasan Lamido of Kaduna, do more than one Rakat and recite Suras from the Quran. They also do Ruku in between Qiyam and Sajdah. [3]
Kala Kato adherents are sometimes mistaken for other Quranists in northern Nigeria who are more educated, affluent, urban, and influenced by the ideas of the late High Court Judge Isa Othman of Maiduguri, who in turn was influenced by the ideas of Rashad Khalifa. These other Quranists are found in most cities in northern Nigeria and have their own mosque in Kaduna. [4]
In Nigeria, Sunni leaders have urged the government to suppress Kala Kato, who have been described as militant. [5] [6]
Tafsir refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a tafsir is a mufassir. A Quranic tafsir attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding and conviction of God's will in Islam.
Islam is one of the two largest religions in Nigeria. Nigeria also has the largest Muslim population in Africa.In 2024, Nigeria had the largest Muslim population in Africa, with around 105 million people who belonged to an Islamic denomination. Islam is predominantly concentrated in the northern half of the country, with a significant Muslim minority existing in the southern region. Most of Northern Nigeria is governed under Sharia law, while the rest of the country is governed under secular law.
The Asr prayer is one of the mandatory five daily Islamic prayers.
Qiyām is an integral part of the Islamic salah. The prayer begins in the standing position and some prayers only require the qiyām, such as Salat al-Janazah.
Tarawih are special Sunnah prayers involving reading long portions of the Quran, and performing up to 20 rakahs, which are performed only in the Islamic month of Ramadan. The entire Quran is recited in the Tarawih prayers at a mosque, typically at the rate of one Juz' per night.
Kano State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. According to the national census done in 2006, Kano State is the most populous state in Nigeria. The recent official estimates taken in 2016 by the National Bureau of Statistics found that Kano State was still the largest state by population in Nigeria. Created in 1967 out of the former Northern Region, Kano State borders on Katsina State to the northwest for about 210 km, Jigawa State to the northeast for 355 km, Bauchi State to the southeast for 131 km, and Kaduna State to the southwest for 255 km. The state's capital and largest city is the city of Kano, the second most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos. The incumbent governor of the state is Abba Kabir Yusuf. He was sworn in on 29 May 2023.
Katsina State is a state in the northwestern geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Katsina State borders the Republic of Niger to the north for 250 km and the States of Jigawa for 164 km and Kano to the east, Kaduna to the south for 161 km and Zamfara to the west. States. Nicknamed the "Home of Hospitality", Both the state capital and the town of Daura have been described as "ancient seats of Islamic culture and learning" in Nigeria.
Katagum is a town, a local government area and a traditional emirate in Bauchi State of north eastern Nigeria. The town is located on the northern bank of the Jama'are River, which is a tributary of the Hadejia. Most of the inhabitants are peoples from the Fulani, Kanuri, Karai-karai and Hausa tribes. The chief agricultural products include peanuts (groundnuts), sorghum, millet, rice, cowpeas, cotton, indigo, and gum arabic. Livestock include horses, cattle, goats, sheep, donkeys and a lot of poultry.
Sujūd, or sajdah, also known as sijda,sejda or shejda is the act of low bowing or prostration to God facing the qiblah. It is usually done in standardized prayers (salah). The position involves kneeling and bowing till one touches the ground with 7 bones (points): the forehead & nose, two hands, two knees and two sets of toes. In accordance with the Sunnah of Muhammad, one's elbows should be far from one's body, unless it causes discomfort to other worshippers. Some scholars hold the position that this applies only to men, and that women are encouraged to tuck their elbows in out of modesty.
A Sunnah prayer is an optional or supererogatory salah that can be performed in addition to the five daily salah, which are compulsory for all Muslims. Sunnah prayer have different characteristics: some are done at the same time as the five daily compulsory prayers, some are done only at certain times, or only for specific occasions ; some have their own name and some are identified by how they are performed. The length of Sunnah prayer also varies.
Barewa College is a college in Zaria, Kaduna State, northern Nigeria. Founded in 1921 by British governor general Hugh Clifford, it was originally known as Katsina College. It switched its name to Kaduna College in 1938 and to Government College, Zaria in 1949 before settling on Barewa College. It is one of the largest boarding schools in Northern Nigeria and was the most-celebrated post-primary schools there up to the early 1960s. The school is known for the large number of elites from the region who attended and counts among its alumni include Tafawa Balewa who was Prime Minister of Nigeria from 1960 to 1966, four heads of state of Nigeria. The school is located along Gaskiya road in the Tukur -Tukur area of Zaria.
Mallam Aminu Kano was a Nigerian radical opposition political leader, teacher, poet, playwright, and trade unionist from Kano. He played an active role during the transition from British colonial rule to independence, the First Republic, Military rule, and the Second Republic. Representing the Kano East constituency, he served as the Deputy Government Chief Whip in the Federal House of Representatives. During Yakubu Gowon's administration, he served as the Federal Commissioner for Communications and the Federal Commissioner for Health. He was a vocal critic of British colonialism and its indirect rule policy in northern Nigeria. A self-described democratic humanist and reformer, Aminu combined his knowledge of Western and Islamic education to champion the liberation of the talakawa (commoners).
Salah is the principal form of worship in Islam. Facing the Kaaba in Mecca, it consists of units called rak'ah, during which the Quran is recited, and prayers from the Sunnah are typically said. The number of rak'ah varies from prayer to prayer. Minor details of performing salah may differ according to the madhhab of the person performing it.
Quranism is an Islamic movement that holds the belief that the Quran is the only valid source of religious belief, guidance, and law in Islam. Quranists believe that the Quran is clear, complete, and that it can be fully understood without recourse to the hadith and sunnah. Therefore, they use the Quran itself to interpret the Quran, an exegetical principle known as tafsir al-Qur'an bi al-Qur'an.
Alhaji Garba Shu’aibu Gashuwa is a contemporary Nigerian Hausa poet.
Yakubu Musa Katsina also known as Yakubu Musa Hassan is a renowned Islamic scholar and a member of the founding leaders of one of the largest Islamic organizations in West Africa JIBWIS, where he still serves as the Chairman Board of Trustees.
The genesis of the 1992 Zangon Kataf crises could at least be traced to the onset of the British imperial regime in the Northern Region of Nigeria, in which the Atyap people began reporting the loss of land to the Hausas. In 1922, it was reported that a large piece of land was acquired by the Emir of Zaria, Dalhatu Uthman Yero, who failed to compensate the indigenous population of the region. In 1966, the land was provided to the Hausa trading settlement in the heart of Mabatado, called "Zangon Kataf", by the emir, Muhammad Usman. The Atyap resided within the district, in the Zaria Province of the Northern Region of, initially, British Nigeria, which became independent Nigeria. It was to remain utilized as a marketplace, where the indigenous Atyap people were banned from trading pork and beer by the settlers.
Sheikh Ahmad Muhammad Ibrahim Bamba was a Ghanaian Islamic scholar. He worked as a lecturer at Bayero University, Kano. He taught Hadith Sahih al-Bukhari in his Mosque at Tudun Yola Kano State Nigeria. He was called Qala Haddasana, a phrase he mentioned often during his teaching.
Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa also known with his honorific as Sheikh Daurawa, is a Nigerian Islamic Scholar from Kano state. His father is a famous Researcher called Sheikh Ibrahim Muhammad Mai Tafsiri, Sheikh Daurawa appointed by Kano State governor Abba Kabir Yusuf in 2023 as commander of Hisbah Kano.
Sheikh Kabir Ahmad Azare was a Nigerian Islamic scholar, preacher, and leader of the Council of Ulama' of JIBWIS Katagum Zone. He was a follower of the Sunni school of thought and a prominent member of the Jama'atu Izalatil Bid'ah Wa'Ikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS) movement. He was known for his vast knowledge of the Quran, Hadith, Fiqh, and Arabic language, as well as his eloquent and captivating lectures.