The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, emphasized to his daughters that when they marry, should their husbands strike them, he expects them to retaliate with a slap of their own.
The emir reported that domestic abuse and violence against women constituted 45 percent of the cases dealt with across nine Shari’a Courts in Kano over a five-year span.
He revealed this during the National Dialogue Conference on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention from an Islamic viewpoint. Addressing the conference, the monarch stated,
“One could interpret that verse to suggest that as a husband, I’ve been granted the authority to lightly strike my wife. This can’t be denied, and no one would label it haram if all rules are followed. However, in a society where those guidelines are never enforced, anger often leads to immediate violence rather than proper moderation.
People strike women, punch them, kick them, and abuse them without restraint. I recently completed a doctoral thesis on family law, analyzing cases from nine Shari’a courts in Kano. A significant 41% were related to maintenance issues, 26% concerned harm, with 45% of those involving domestic violence. Furthermore, our in-depth content analysis revealed that not one incident of wife-beating involved just a light hit.
We encountered reports of women with broken limbs, missing teeth, and those subjected to severe beatings with sticks. We’ve seen cases where a husband and his other wives collectively assaulted one wife. There have even been instances where mothers had to send their sons to court due to their violent behavior against their spouses. This brutal treatment is far too common.
Hitting your wife, daughter, or any woman is unacceptable. It is a crime. Let’s not even discuss a handkerchief or a chewing stick; that is utterly haram and strictly forbidden. Allah has stated that all harm must be eradicated, and gender-based violence is undoubtedly harm, thus it must be eliminated.
Such actions are illogical. I’ve reiterated this stance, despite facing backlash, and I will persist. When my daughters are to be wed, I instruct them: if your husband strikes you and you report to me without first returning the slap, I will chastise you myself, for I did not send my daughter into a marriage to be struck. If he does not care for her, he should return her to me, but he must never lay a hand on her.
We must educate our daughters to reject this behavior and instruct our sons that it is simply unacceptable. We cannot allow this to happen. It is imperative that we raise our children to understand that any form of violence against another—be it brother, sister, son, daughter, or wife—violates the inherent dignity of a human being.” he remarked.