The Kano State Hisbah has stated that it will invite the parents of Shatu Garko, the winner of the 2021 Miss Nigeria.
Garko from Kano State, won the contest emerging as the first hijab-wearing contestant to clinch the pageant since it’s inception in 1957.
Reacting to Garko’s victory, Haruna Ibn-Sina, Kano Hisbah board commandant during an interview disclosed plans to invite the new Miss Nigeria’s parents,Garko adding that her participation in the beauty pageant was “illegal”.
Ibn-Sina added that participation in beauty pageantries is against Islamic tenets, and Garko’s action could encourage other girls to do same.
He said;
“We (Hisbah) has confirmed that Shatu Garko is a Muslim from Kano state and her parents come from Garko LGA. Kano is a Sharia state and this is why we will not allow the matter to die like that.
“We will invite the parents to talk to them about the actions of their daughter and the fact that what she did is illegal in Islam. This is to make them know that she cannot continue that path and also stop other girls from copying her.”
Ibn-Sina also backed the claim with some verses from the Quran, and further claimed that such contest teaches girls not to be shy and reserved. The Hisbah Commandant also said that organisers of such beauty pageants are at the risk of God’s wrath.
He added;
“In Islam, it is forbidden for anyone to participate in a beauty contest. A lot of things happen in such contest which is against Islam. For instance, there is usually a lot of people exposing their bodies during the event while such contest teaches girls not to be shy and reserved.”
Though Miss Garko participated in the pageant adorning her hijab, the Hisbah commander further condemned the exercise as a whole, saying it was against Quranic instruction.
Before now, Hisbah, which was adopted in many northern states in early 2000, had banned tailors, supermarkets and boutique owners from using mannequins to display clothes in the state.
In June, the religious police arrested 40 teenagers for selling condoms and Marijuana in Kano and also prohibited the sharing of pre-wedding photos of the daughter of Emir of Kano Zahrah Bayero, who married Yusuf Bihari, saying it is a sin.
