‘Emir Sanusi deliberately misunderstood on polygamy’

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, was deliberately misunderstood in the proposed Islamic Family Law, the Secretary of the committee and Head of Department (HoD) Islamic Law Bayero University Kano, Dr Usman Muhammad Shu’aib has said.

He was speaking yesterday in Abuja at the annual Ramadan Lecture of the AlHabibiyyah Islamic Society of Nigeria (AIS) themed; ‘Polygamy: Shari’ah vs Culture’.

He said the committee headed by Dr Bashir Aliyu, was aimed at understanding issues on marriage, inheritance, orphans, widows and divorcee among others in order to save Muslims from misguidance.

Shu’aib charged Muslims to always ensure fairness and justice in the practice of polygamy to avoid the wrath of Allah.

He said though Islam clearly spelt out conditions for marriage and polygamy, some individuals hide under some fabricated Hadiths and selfish desires to circumvent the laid down guidelines for polygamy.

“In Islam marriage occupies a central position in the development and survival of mankind. Polygamy as practiced by true Muslims comes with a lot of guides on how it is to be conducted and the rights of the couples are clearly defined and the requirements that the husband must fulfil in order to be fair and just to all the wives,” Shu’aib said.

He said Islam forbids a man from marrying another woman if he will not be fair in the treatment he gives them or discriminate among them and their children.

He quoted Prophet Muhammed as saying, “A man who marries more than one woman and does not deal justly amongst them, will be resurrected with half of his body paralyzed.”

While blaming the Almajri or beggars syndrome in most part of the North to lack of Islamic knowledge and improperly constituted marriages, he urged Muslim men to prepare to cater for the essential needs of their wives like food, clothing and shelter before going into marriage, to avoid some of the rampant societal vices.

Earlier, the Chief Imam of the society, Ustaz Adeyemi Fuad, said the theme was carefully chosen to enlighten the public on the provisions of Islam on some contentious issues.

He urged Muslims to use the Ramadan period to pray for peace and stability of Nigeria, while contributing their quota to national development.

On President Muhammadu Buhari’s health challenge, he urged Nigeria’s to continue to pray for the wellbeing of Mr President and Nigeria as a whole.