Emir Sanusi calls for stiffer punishment for men beating wives
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has called for stiffer measures to perpetrators of Gender Based Violence in Kano state, saying no good Muslim beats his wife.
He lamented that the rate at which rape and cases of beating of women by the their spouses is becoming rampant in the state, saying Islamic clerics and Imams have a vital role to play in societal behavioural change to end the menace.
Sanusi made the call on Monday when he received a delegation of development Research and Project Center (dRPC) and Bayero University Center for Islamic Civilization and Interfaith Dialogue (CICID) at his palace in Kano.
The group was in the palace as part of its advocacy on their project for mentoring Muslim Opinion Leaders (MOLs) to use them to end GBV in Muslim dominated states of northern Nigeria. The project was funded by Ford Foundation.
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According to the emir, “I never believe in beating women, and those who do, are not beating their wives with the intention of reforming them. What we see today is even serious beating and injuring of women in name of reforming them.
“Islam has respected and dignified women more than any other religion and all those seeking cover under it to abuse women do not even underrated the religion. Whosoever beats and injures his wife is not a good person. I did not say this, it is the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who said it. It is those who do not read that don’t know.”
The emir also said the project is timely as it tries to address one of the most pressing social issues affecting the Muslim dominated states of the north.
He challenged the group to put hands on deck to revive the Kano state family draft that addresses most pressing GBV challenges in the state, adding that, “all the legal frameworks needed are already on our Islamic jurisprudence books, all is needed is to bring them out and put together as a draft for use.
“During my PhD, thesis, which is on codification of Islamic family law, I studied nine Kano Shari’a courts over the period of five years, and the findings show that the trend of GBV is rampant in our society. That is why I told all my district heads and village heads that anyone caught beating his wife does so at the risk of losing his title”.
Earlier, CICID Director, Dr Taofeek Abubakar Hussain, told the emir that the project has trained Shari’a court judges and Islamic clerics on ways of adjudicating on GBV related issues and help them deliver judgement with ease.
Dr Hussain also pleaded with the emir to consider revisiting the Islamic family law draft and called on him to allow them to train traditional title holders under his emirate on roles they could play addressing the issue.
According to the Director, “Islam is full of justice and respect to women, but part of our culture promotes it. We engaged and trained clerics who will go back and use their influence to tell people the Islamic position on GBV. It is not part of our religion as no religion protects the rights of women other than Islam.
“Our aim is to use projects like this to tell people the Islamic position on GBV and how it could be reduced to the barest minimum.
“We have partnership with main Imams in Kano and Kaduna and even other parts of the north. We believe in their influence and how that could help achieve the desired result.”
