Kano Hisbah Mass Wedding: Empowerment or Sharia?‎ -By Abdulkadir Salaudeen

When it comes to the topic of marriage, Kano State stands out for many reasons. I will cite just two. One, it is where the government sponsors mass weddings, from time to time, more than any other state in the North. Two, it is the divorce capital of Nigeria.

Is there a connection between government-sponsored mass weddings and mass divorce in the state? We can look at it in two ways. It is either the government’s intervention in marital affairs fuels the rate of divorce or the government is intervening to reduce the number of divorcees and unmarried people of marriageable age.

Another important question: Is the mass wedding in Kano a state social policy to empower people who are ripe for marriage but do not have the means to marry, or is it part of Sharia implementation? Sharia factors into the discussion because the government agency responsible for the conduct of mass weddings in the state is Hisbah, which is known as the Sharia police. This gives it a religious coloration more than a government-sponsored socio-cultural practice.

Are there religious provisions for government-sponsored mass weddings? To put it differently, is it the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) and an Islamically endorsed practice? If it is not the Sunnah of the Prophet, is it haram? There is no binary yes or no answer to this question. If I say yes, the burden of proof will be on me. And what historical or direct scriptural proof can I present to establish that the Prophet SAW, as the political leader in Madina, empowered his companions through mass weddings?

If I say it is haram or against the Sunnah, the onus of proof will still be on me, and I cannot prove it. The mere fact that we cannot trace this practice to the Prophet does not make it haram or against the Sunnah. But Hisbah being in the picture is the problem. People find it difficult to separate religion from this organized mass wedding.

So, why does the government, through Hisbah, regularly organize mass weddings? We learned it is to check prostitution and other social vices, especially among divorcees, widows, and spinsters in the state. If this is the case, then it is a noble intention and Islamic.

If the intention is good, what about the act? The government believes it is empowering the masses who could not marry, but desire marriage, through state support. We were told by the Commander General of the Kano State Hisbah Board, Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa, that some people sell their land, motorcycles, or even take loans just to marry. This is sad.

So, how is the state empowering its poor and jobless citizens who sell their land and motorcycle in order to marry?

According to Daurawa, each couple will receive ₦200,000. Half of it, ₦100,000, as dowry and the remaining ₦100,000 as business capital. That is not all. With the addition of rice, macaroni, cooking oil, furniture, wedding boxes, and clothing.

Two heads are said to be better than one. It is in order to think that when politicians and Hisbah put heads together to address an issue, the outcome should be outstanding. On curbing immorality, addressing poverty and joblessness in the state, what the two heads came up with is empowering the poverty-stricken citizens with macaroni, rice, furniture, and ₦100,000.

Trying to find a befitting word to describe this kind of empowerment, the journalist, Jaafar Jaafar of Daily Nigerian, came to my rescue. In his May 26, 2026 Facebook update, he called it “phallic empowerment.” By “phallic empowerment” he probably meant empowering men through symbols of masculinity— marriage, furniture, dowry—while ignoring real economic capacity. If Jafar is right, this can never be Sharia. Islam should be distanced from this. Even though Hisbah is involved, it is still not Sharia; it is something else.

Sharia is not a dull system. Islam does not solve social problems on the surface. The Islamic approach to social issues is always deep and comprehensive; it is not kindergarten. How can a poor man and a poor lady who could barely feed themselves start married life with a well-decorated house that has furniture? It is not for them. These are couples who should be struggling together to build a home.

What the government provides for them is fake comfort. They will live in a fool’s paradise which is always very ephemeral. The rice, the macaroni, and the oil given to them without real empowerment will last for like two to three months, after which reality will dawn on them.

We phallically empower them, as if it is the Sharia that is being implemented, when they should be skillfully empowered if we really want to practice the Sharia. I learned the multi-billion Aliko Dangote Ultra-Modern Skills Acquisition Centre which was conceived to be a top-notch skill center, unrivalled in Nigeria, and even in Africa, is gathering dust in Kano. Staff are not paid and skills are not acquired.

These staff who are not paid and citizens who could not acquire skills any more would rather be given rice and macaroni and a wife who is an additional liability on top of liabilities.

No wonder these marriages do not last. To arrest the ever-growing rate of divorce, the Hisbah Board warns that intending couples in the state’s planned mass wedding cannot divorce without returning to Hisbah. Can anyone imagine that?

Though, we should not get Hisbah wrong. The intention is good. This is what Daurawa said: “We don’t allow divorce. Any person who wants for any reason to divorce has to come to Hisbah since this is where the marriage was contracted. We have a reconciliation committee that will sit down and resolve issues before any separation is considered.”

While this is a noble intention, it is obviously not Sharia and it is not Islam by any stretch. For, under the Sharia, nobody, not even the court, should claim that authority. One can approach the court or Hisbah to resolve marital issues but no one is under any obligation to seek approval from any authority to divorce one’s wife. Except if marriages conducted by Hisbah have become court marriages, in that case, Islam and Sharia should be excused.

And as I pointed out above, a mass marriage where couples are phallically empowered to live briefly in a fool’s paradise cannot and should not be organized in the name of Islam. It is a state policy that could be criticized or commended by people. Many have commended it and some have criticized it. I have personally commended the noble intention behind it; it is only that I find the approach too problematic for curbing immorality and empowering the masses.

Kano State can do better by empowering people through skills acquisition, job creation, massive investment in agriculture and industry, and also creating a more conducive environment for commercial activities.

And most importantly, our women and girls should be targets of empowerment. When they are empowered, the government does not need to marry them off as if they are orphans who, in addition to having lost their parents, do not also have relatives.

We can always find a better way to help those who need to be helped. Men should be able to manage their phalluses while the government stays off and pays attention to other fundamentals.

Abdulkadir Salaudeen

salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com