to countenance her husband’s taking her bed and
giving it to his concubine. He claimed that an
attack of jinn, malevolent spirits, had been the
cause of her death. The written account suggests
that there was an expectation that Sarki Maiduwa
would be held guilty, but in the end, because there
was only circumstantial and hearsay evidence, he
was let off. In 1980 in Kano there was a highly pub-
licized case involving Nafiu Rabiu, son of a promi-
nent Kano businessman. He killed his wife, whom
he had kept confined in an urban Kano apartment
by locking her in. The trial was held in a court
presided over by Kano’s last British judge, who
found him not guilty. Public rumor had it that the
judge departed Kano airport with his bags stuffed
with cash given him by Nafiu Rabiu. There was
such a public outcry that a new trial was held,
under a Nigerian judge, and Rabiu was convicted
of manslaughter and sent to prison.
These two cases suggest that the dominant motive
in violence against women is not family honor but
rather the dynamics of jealousy and resentment that
are commonplace in the polygynous household.
Public opinion certainly does not ascribe an honor-
able rationale to such violence, in contrast to the case
for honor killing. There are no allegations of sexual
misbehavior on the part of the woman in these cases,
but rather suggestions that she was assertive enough
to arouse her husband’s ire. The reference to illness
caused by jinnmay suggest a recognition that a
woman’s depression is closely connected to the
dynamics of violence. Both cases can probably be
understood as excesses of domestic violence that
occurred normally but did not result in death.
In examining the support for stoning to death
for adultery that has surfaced since 1999, one needs
to ask whether this is a reversion to tradition or
instead needs to be seen as a new phenomenon, the
product of new forces in the society. In records
from the pre-colonial and early colonial periods
there are no references to this penalty. It was out-
lawed by the British, but if it had been common
there would certainly have been cases arising from
the informal application of this punishment. Yet
there are none. This supports the argument that
deteriorating economic conditions since the 1980s224 honor: crimes of
must be suspected as having a role in the present sit-
uation, creating situations where adultery occurs,
and perhaps lending to growing hostility to inde-
pendent women. The sharp deterioration in eco-
nomic conditions may explain a greater frequency
of situations in which women are divorced and left
on their own, but can find no man who can afford
to marry them. They are thus left vulnerable to sex-
ual victimization. This factor can be seen in the
most widely publicized case, that of Amina Lawal.
Apprehension over rising rates of HIV/AIDS may
also contribute to the focus on adultery.
There is wide recognition in Nigeria that women
such as Amina Lawal are victims, not criminals.
There are women’s rights groups such as Baobab
that speak out strongly in their defense. Northern
Muslim men in positions of responsibility tend
rather to follow the traditional jurist’s tack of qui-
etly pursuing legal arguments to prevent a finding
of adultery. When such a case is brought to court,
as opposed to being settled informally as with the
honor killing pattern, the court can provide a forum
for public discussion of all the issues involved, a dis-
cussion that can put the incident into reasoned and
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