By Prosper Mene
Muhammadu Sanusi II, the 16th Emir of Kano, isn’t holding back. On Monday, he took a bold stand against men who beat their wives, calling for harsher punishments and warning that any traditional leader in his domain caught abusing their spouse could lose their title. “No true Muslim beats his wife,” he declared during a visit from a team led by Bayero University’s Center for Islamic Civilization and Interfaith Dialogue (CICID) and the Development Research and Project Center (dRPC) at his palace.
Sanusi’s words is a reaction to as violence cases surge in Kano. He slammed the excuse some men use, claiming they’re “correcting” their wives through violence. “What we’re seeing isn’t correction; it’s brutal beating and injuring women,” he said. The Emir urged Imams and clerics to step up, preaching that Islam respects and dignifies women more than any other faith. “We need to teach our people this,” he insisted.The meeting was part of a Ford Foundation project to train Muslim leaders in northern Nigeria to fight gender-based violence (GBV). Dr. Taofeek Abubakar Hussain, who led the delegation, backed Sanusi, saying cultural habits, not Islam are to blame for the violence. He pushed for a Kano State Islamic family law to tackle GBV and suggested training for traditional title holders to root out the problem.Sanusi, who studied Islamic family law for his PhD, shared a grim finding from his research: nine Shari’a courts in Kano showed domestic violence is rampant. He called for dusting off existing Islamic laws and putting them to work. “We’ve got the tools; let’s use them,” he said. And he meant business, warning village and district heads: “Beat your wife, and you’re out.”This isn’t the first time Sanusi’s stirred the pot. Last December, he raised eyebrows by saying he’d told his daughters to hit back if their husbands slapped them.
Some, like former Senator Shehu Sani, called it reckless; others cheered his no-nonsense stance. On Social Media people were buzzing with support for his latest call, seeing it as a push to protect women in a region where one in three faces abuse.Sanusi’s not just talking tough, he’s using his clout as a revered leader to challenge deep-rooted norms. With his mix of scholarship and authority, he’s making it clear: beating women has no place in Kano, or in Islam.
