The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II has expressed disgust at the phenomenon of wife-battering, insisting that violence against women is un-Islamic, barbaric and uncivilized.
The Emir spoke yesterday (Monday, December 9) at a two-day workshop organised by the Centre for Islamic Civilisation and Interfaith Dialogue, Bayero University, Kano, in collaboration with the Development Research and Projects Centre ( dRPC)
“The truth is, there’s something odd if we even have to tell Muslims that violence against women is un-Islamic,” the monarch stressed.
“The principle of the basic fundamental dignity of the human being, of the human person, male or female – just that one verse is enough for us to understand that it is haram to violate the dignity of another human being.
“In fact, even among children, when a big child beats a small child, he’s called a bully. When someone who is stronger takes advantage of the weak and commits an act of injustice, it is something that is seen as a matter to be frowned upon. And this is exactly the situation when men beat women or when you beat children.
“We run away, we detest, we reject that which is bad. And we appreciate and love that which is good. And Islam is about noble behaviours, about the noblest of characters.”
He also said that among all the things that Allah has made lawful, divorce is the most hateful.
The monarch observed that given the implications of divorce such as broken homes, the kind of children that are brought up, the suffering inflicted on the wives, one is bond to concur that something is wrong with divorce
Also speaking, the Director of Partnerships and strategic communications, Hassan Karofi who highlighted the DRPC’s 22 years of supporting over 200 Muslim opinion leaders to attend study tours in Egypt, said the conference was aimed at strengthening and repositioning communication, advocacy and model change to prevent GBV in northern Nigeria.
He said: “The Mustim Opinion Leaders for Gender-Based Violence Prevention Project (MOLS4GBV Prevention Project) is an initiative of dRPC to address the issue of GBV in Northern Nigeria by leveraging the influence and authority of religious leaders.”
Earlier, the Director, Centre for Islamic Civilisation and Interfaith Dialogue (CICID), BUK, Dr Taofeek Abubakar Hussain said the event was aimed at unraveling the wrong perception around Islam by bringing stakeholders to enhance perspective to promote prevention of violence against women.
