This study examines a central, yet rarely treated, theme in the Islamic history of the Fulani polity in the Hausa lands, a topic that has often been addressed only in passing and seldom through a dedicated inquiry. The present contribution therefore seeks to clarify the institutional sophistication and Islamic normative orientation attained by the Islamic Emirate of Sokoto in the management of economic, and by extension social, affairs, through the hisbah system, a regulatory institution established in Islamic governance since the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphate. Within this historical trajectory, the reign of Sultan Muhammad Bello stands out as a particularly dynamic period of economic expansion and prosperity. The study first situates the Emirate of Sokoto under Muhammad Bello, then considers his life and the reforms he pursued to strengthen the emirate’s structures. It also draws on a corpus of historical documents on hisbah authored by Fulani rulers and Sultans, notably Muhammad Bello and Abd Allah ibn Fudi. Building on these sources, the analysis turns to the hisbah system in Sokoto’s markets, with the aim of reconstructing a more concrete picture of market life in the emirate, the mechanisms of Sharia oversight, and the practical instruments used to extend hisbah across the emirate’s territories. The findings indicate that the hisbah system contributed to organizing the Emirate of Sokoto economically and socially. It also appears as a comparatively innovative institutional arrangement in West Africa, one that reinforced the emirate’s Islamic character. The emirate’s legal and regulatory framework is further shown to be distinctive, while remaining closely aligned with the social realities of African communities that sought to implement the principles of Islamic law (Sharia).