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Rabat – Local religious police in Kano state, Nigeria, are engaged in a “war” against fashion mannequins, which they see as forbidden by Islam. The Kano State Hisbah Corps, a government-funded local religious police force, has spent the summer enforcing a ban on the use of the display models for clothing.
A statement by the organization announced that “Hisbah prohibits the use of mannequins at shops, commercial and private residences and other public places,” at the start of July.
Ever since the appointment of hardliner Harun “Ibn-Sina” Sani as the head of the Hisbah religious police, Kano state has seen ever more harsh measures implemented in the name of defending Islamic values.
The Hisbah banned local citizens from sharing photos of the wedding of the son of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari because of the western-style wedding dress of the bride. The organization has issued raids on citizens accused of same-sex and pre-marital sexual activity, seized shipments of beer, and forced students to undergo HIV and pregancy tests. At the end of July, the group arrested a local pharmacist for hosting a woman in his house.
Despite being a less violent group compared to other religious vigilante groups in Nigeria, the group appears to be having a profound impact on life in Kano state.
The increasingly hardline policies enforced by the Hisbah has now reached international audiences for its remarkable stance on mannequins. The group claims that the fashion dolls used to display clothing are “responsible for immoral thoughts among some members of the public,” according to its statements.
The ban demands shop owners to remove the heads of mannequins and ensure no bodily curvature is shown at the penalty of arrest. In order to enforce the ban, the Hisbah religious police has partitioned the state into five segments to allow its thousands of Hisbah officers to monitor local stores and retailers.
