A video of the wedding party shows Nigerian singer, Mayorkun singing and some of the party attendees spotting Afro, Mohawk or any of the hairstyles Kano State Hisbah has labelled as “unIslamic” and an insult to Islam.
Some videos of the lavish wedding of Yusuf, son of President Muhammadu Buhari, which have surfaced on internet show attendees in breach of the laws for which the Islamic police, known as Hisbah have diligently punished poor Nigerians.
Yusuf and Zarah Ado Bayero, daughter of Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Ado Bayero got married in Kano State on Friday.
The couple met at the University of Surrey in the UK.
Meanwhile, private jets doted the runway of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano as members of Nigeria's political and ruling class flew in for the wedding.
A video of the wedding party shows Nigerian singer, Mayorkun singing and some of the party attendees spotting Afro, Mohawk or any of the hairstyles Kano State Hisbah has labelled as “unIslamic” and an insult to Islam.
Also, secular songs Hisbah has vehemently frowned upon were played at the party, with young northern men and women dancing to them.
All these have attracted punishments from Kano Hisbah, in cases where poor Nigerians were involved.
Noting the hypocrisy exhibited by the Islamic police, which were nowhere to be found during the wedding, human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore said, “Yusuf Buhari’s wedding and the Kano Hisbah that shaves the head of poor people but was nowhere to be found around the highly secular Muhammadu Buhari son’s wedding: One country, two laws -One is applicable to the poor and the other is applicable to rich and highly connected. Who says poverty is not a CRIME? #RevolutionNow #BuhariMustGo.”
Ironically, Hisbah has been notorious for shaving the heads of poor northerners with Afro, Mohawk and other hairstyles termed as “unIslamic” by the bias Islamic police.
Similarly, in February, a barber from Benue State, Elijah Ode, was arrested by Kano Hisbah in the Sabongari area of the state for giving his customers haircuts said to have offended the Islamic faith.
Two of Ode’s customers were also tortured for having such “offensive” haircuts.
The religious police force reportedly arraigned Ode and had him remanded.
Recently, after it was knocked by the public for being silent on the photographs of the bridal shower of Buhari’s daughter-in-law, Hisbah responded by prohibiting the sharing of the bridal shower photographs.
SaharaReporters had reported that some Nigerians highlighted Zahra's gown, part of which is made from a transparent material, while others pointed out that she did not have her hair covered as is usually done by Muslim women.
The Islamic police described sharing of the photos online by Muslims as a sin.
Meanwhile, the Islamic police have since banned stylish haircuts, sagging of trousers and playing of music at social events by disk jockeys.
Hisbah also banned commercial motorcycles and tricycle riders from carrying two women at a time.
Of recent, the Kano State Hisbah Board banned the use of mannequins to display clothes by tailors, supermarkets and boutique owners in the state.
Hisbah Commander-in-Chief, Ustaz Harun Muhammad Sani Ibn Sina, had said the use of mannequins by tailors, boutique owners and others contravenes the provision of Islamic injunctions.
He added that the agency would educate offenders on how Islam frowns on the use of mannequins and send its officials to apprehend and prosecute them.
The statement read, “Hisbah prohibits the use of mannequins at shops, commercial and private residences and other public places. This violates Islamic provisions, it is also responsible for immoral thoughts among some members of the public, all these are against Islam.
“We have divided Kano into five areas for the monitoring and implementation of the ban across the state.”
The Islamic police force in Kano, therefore, ordered shops to only use headless mannequins to advertise clothing.
This, it said, is because Islamic doctrines are against idolatry.
"Islam frowns on idolatry," Haruna Ibn-Sina, the commander of the Sharia police said.
BBC also quoted him as saying, "With the head on, it looks like a human being."
Ibn-Sina also said the headless mannequins must be covered at all times because to show "the shape of the breast, the shape of the bottom, is contrary to the teachings of Sharia [Islamic law]".
Despite public condemnation, the destruction of beer and other alcoholic beverages by Hisbah has continued in some northern states, including Kano.
For instance, in November 2020, about 1,975,000 bottles of beer estimated at N200 million were confiscated and destroyed by the Islamic police in Kano State.