Kala Kato is a

Quranist Quranism ( ar, القرآنية, translit=al-Qurʾāniyya'';'' also known as Quran-only Islam) Brown, ''Rethinking tradition in modern Islamic thought'', 1996: p.38-42 is a movement within Islam. It holds the belief that traditional religious cl ...

movement whose adherents reside mostly in northern

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

,Isa Sa'isu
Kala-Kato: Meet group with yet another perception of Islam
dailytrust.com.ng, Accessed February 10, 2019 with some adherents residing in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesHausa language Hausa (; /; Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people in the northern half of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern half of Niger, Chad and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast. Hausa is a mem ...

, in reference to the sayings, or

hadiths Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...

, posthumously attributed to the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets ar ...

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

. 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.Aminu Alhaji Bala
Qur’anists’ Deviant Da'wah as Reflected in Their Trends of Tafsir in Northern Nigeria
saspjournal.com, Accessed February 10, 2019

Overview

Based on their

tafsir Tafsir ( ar, تفسير, tafsīr ) refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' ( ar, مُفسّر; plural: ar, مفسّرون, mufassirūn). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, in ...

on Quranic verses like 6:114-115, 18:54, 45:2-6, 56:77-81, and 77:50, Kala Kato rejects the authority of

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

s posthumously attributed to Prophet Muhammad and consider only the Quran to be authoritative. One of Kala Kato's leaders from

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

, 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. Other distinct practices of Kala Kato include not eating frozen fish that isn't Islamically slaughtered, not using ritual baths, and not saying funeral prayers or putting a shroud on their dead. They are also distinguished from their Sunni counterparts by their practice of

salah (, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba with ...

. Sunni scholars Aminu Alhaji Bala and Ibrahim Shu'aibu Sa'idu say that some, following Mallam Saleh Idris of Kano, do only one

rakat A Rak'ah ( ar, ركعة ', ; plural: ') is a single iteration of prescribed movements and supplications performed by Muslims as part of the prescribed obligatory prayer known as salah. Each of the five daily prayers observed by Muslims consis ...

and say duas rather than recite any

suras The Abhira kingdom in the Mahabharata is either of two kingdoms near the Sarasvati river. They were dominated by the Abhiras, sometimes referred to as Surabhira also, combining both Sura and Abhira kingdoms. Modern day Abhira territory lies wit ...

from the Quran. They also go directly from qiyam to sajdah without doing

ruku Rukūʿ ( ar, رُكوع, ) can refer to either of two things in Islam: * The act of belt-low bowing in standardized prayers, where the backbone should be in rest, before straightening up to go for sujud (full earth-low bowing). * A paragr ...

. Others, following Mallam Usman Dangungu, Mallam Musa Ibbi, and Mallam Alhasan Lamido of

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern Nige ...

, do more than one

and recite

from the Quran. They also do

in between qiyam and sajdah. 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 Maiduguri is the capital and the largest city of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria. The city sits along the seasonal Ngadda River which disappears into the ''Firki'' swamps in the areas around Lake Chad. Maiduguri was founded in 1907 as a mi ...

, 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

. Kala Kato suffers from periodic attempts to suppress their religious beliefs and practices, often at the instigation of their religious rivals. These attempts are carried out under the pretext of fighting terrorist groups like Yan Tatsine and

Boko Haram Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...

, which their religious rivals conflate with Kala Kato. In Nigeria, for example,

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

leaders have urged the government to suppress Kala Kato.Usman Ibn A. Lapai
Council of Ulama urges Buhari to provide police with adequate equipment
blueprint.ng, Accessed February 10, 2019 However, Kala Kato leaders like Malam Isiyaka Salisu say that Kala Kato is a peaceful movement and is unrelated to these terrorist groups.

References

Quranism Islamic organizations based in Nigeria {{Islam-stub