Former Senator representing Kaduna Central District, Shehu Sani, has criticized the recent remarks of the 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, regarding domestic violence in marriages.
Sanusi had advised his daughters to retaliate if their husbands slapped them, a comment he made during the National Dialogue Conference on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) at Bayero University, Kano.
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The event, themed “Islamic teachings and community collaboration for ending gender-based violence,” was organized by the Centre for Islamic Civilisation and Interfaith Dialogue (CICID) in partnership with the Development Research and Projects Centre (DRPC), with support from the Ford Foundation.
Reacting in a Facebook post, Sani condemned the promotion of retaliatory violence, stressing that it could irreparably harm marriages. “His Highness Sanusi should not be encouraging this kind of domestic violence in the form of slapping and slapping back. Rather, husbands and wives should learn to control themselves in moments of anger when the devil temporarily visits their homes,” he wrote.
The former senator highlighted peaceful conflict resolution as a more sustainable solution. “When a husband is angry, he should walk out of the house and come back later. When a husband is upset and shouting loudly, the wife should just keep quiet and allow him to relieve all of his words. The sentence ‘I’m sorry’ has a magical spirit that can evict the demon in the house,” he added.
Shehu Sani further cautioned that retaliatory violence escalates marital issues. “The very day slapping and slapping back becomes the order of a family, the marriage is irreversibly destroyed, even if the couple remains together,” he warned.
He also shared advice on preventing domestic violence. “If the man is becoming violent, the wife should protect herself by walking out to his family or her family home. Two people shouting at each other is the source of many divorces.”
Sanusi, during his address at the conference, had criticized the misuse of Islamic teachings to justify violence against women, citing alarming statistics from Shari’a courts in Kano. “About 51 percent of the cases over a five-year period had to do with maintenance, while 26 percent had to do with harm. Out of those, 45 percent were cases of wife beating and domestic violence,” Sanusi revealed.
He condemned the severity of such cases, saying, “We had women whose limbs were broken. We had women whose teeth were knocked out. Beating your wife or beating a woman is prohibited. It is haram. Allah says all harm must be removed.”
The Emir reiterated his controversial stance on retaliating against abuse. “When my daughters are getting married, I say to them: if your husband slaps you, and you come home and tell me your husband slapped you without slapping him back first, I will slap you myself. If you do not like her, send her back to me, but don’t beat her.”
Sanusi, however, emphasized the importance of teaching both sons and daughters about non-violence. “We must teach our daughters not to take it. And also teach our sons that it is not allowed. Violence against the body of another human being violates the basic dignity of a human being,” he concluded.
