The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has revealed that he advises his daughters to retaliate if their husbands ever slap them. He stated this during the National Dialogue Conference on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention from an Islamic Perspective.
The former Emir emphasized that domestic violence is a pervasive issue, citing data from nine Shari’a courts in Kano over a five-year period. According to his research, domestic violence accounted for 45% of harm-related cases within this timeframe.
Sanusi addressed the misinterpretation of religious teachings often used to justify wife-beating. He acknowledged that some use Islamic scripture to permit “light” discipline but noted that in practice, these rules are rarely followed. “Nobody who is angry remembers to use a chewing stick or a handkerchief,” he remarked, referencing the traditional tools suggested in the text.
Instead, he highlighted the severity of abuse recorded in Kano courts, where women reported broken limbs, knocked-out teeth, and violent beatings. In extreme cases, husbands, alongside their co-wives, assaulted one of the wives. Some instances led to criminal trials involving the offenders.
Sanusi firmly condemned all forms of gender-based violence, declaring it unequivocally prohibited in Islam. “Beating your wife, daughter, or any woman is haram—it is prohibited. Allah commands that all harm must be removed, and gender-based violence is undoubtedly harm,” he stated.
In a bold statement, the Emir shared the advice he gives his daughters before marriage: “If your husband slaps you, and you come home to tell me without slapping him back, I will slap you myself. I did not send my daughter to be a punching bag. If he doesn’t want you, he should send you back to me. But under no circumstance should he raise his hand against you.”
He concluded by stressing the need for societal re-education on the dignity and respect owed to every individual. He urged parents to teach their daughters to reject abuse and their sons to understand that violence of any kind is unacceptable. “Violence against another person violates the basic dignity of a human being, and it cannot be tolerated,” he affirmed.
