This ancient edifice is located in the second-most populous city in Nigeria, Kano. Fanisau mosque and its Palace structure was built by Sarki Ibrahim Dabo around 1818 as part of the series of Kano palace complex built in strategic towns and villages of Kano to serve as frontier bases for the warriors and as royal courts for administration and control. Fanisau had been a popular rural settlement due to the spiritual value it gained as the early settlement site for Muslim clerics who left written records. It was famous as well for being the site of the early settlers that inhabited Kano. Anchored under the foot hill of Fanisau the structure had enjoyed natural and traditional protection over the centuries.
The mosque in association with the palace structure represents the early history of Islam in West Africa embodying physical architectural elements as well as encompassing political, social, and cultural dimensions of Islamic heritage and African traditional society.
The mosque is still intact and provides the five daily prayer sessions. It serves as well as an Islamic school for the community. The palace structure is a replication of the main Kano Emir’s Palace (Gidan Rumfa) located in the city. Fanisau is still an important site for the traditional durbar festival where the emir and his entourage visit the settlement and hold court sessions in the palace.
Prayers are offered as well in the mosque. Fanisau site was originally managed through a communal system under the traditional authority of the Emir of Kano. However, since the advent of the colonial authority, the traditional management and protection system has increased with the modern state apparatus.