by Shehu AbubakarGusau
Shariah has now been fully integrated in Zamfara as no government can succeed in truncating or frustrating its existence, Governor Mahmuda Aliyu Shinkafi, has said.
The governor said in an exclusive interview with Daily Trust that Shariah has now become part of the life of an average Zamfara man that no one can separate between Shariah from the life style of the people of the state.
Governor Shinkafi said to change or cancel Shariah from Zamfara State would be like forcing the people to change their religion from Islam to any other religion.
"You know they will use the last drop of their blood to resist it."
"To a Muslim, Shariah is a complete way of life. It is the moral teachings of a religion that must be observed by all Muslims. It contains legislations about alcoholism, gambling, prostitution, cheating and other vices associated with our day to day activities.
"When Shariah was first implemented in the state, people were apprehensive. We carried out a lot of enlightenment. The Hisbah then had a hectic time going from one place to the other to arrest offenders. All that is now history.
"There is absolute peace in Zamfara State today because people have abstained from committing crimes. The rate of crime is very low in the state. The Muslims are fully Shariah compliant while the non-Muslims are very cooperative," he said.
Governor Shinkafi said both Muslims and non-Muslims in the state are now very conversant and appreci-ative of the tenets of Shariah which guarantees peace and harmony among them.
He said Muslims in the state were now aware that Shariah has no alternative and so they have decided to respect its teachings. He said the people are now policing themselves to ensure that only the correct things are done.
"Those that were saying that it was only a matter of time the Shariah, would be outlawed or that it was a political Shariah have now been proved wrong. The Shariah has now brought Muslims and Christians in the state very close. The two communities live together in peace.
"Now you cannot find a beer parlor or a brothel in the state. Armed robbers who were mostly being harboured by prostitutes have no where to live in Zamfara since the prostitutes do not exist there any more," he said.
Governor Shinkafi expressed satisfaction with the good rapport existing between the Muslim and Christian communities in the state which he said was as a result of the Shariah being practiced in the state.
He said the effect of the Shariah has gone beyond the 12 states that introduced it, adding, "When you go to places like Enugu State and see those female Fulani that go about half nude before the introduction of Shariah, they now dress in veils (Hijab). The essence of the Shariah as we have been saying always is not to punish but to educ-ate and correct the people.
"Again, to tell you how the people value Shariah and take the teachings very seriously, just last week I was invited to distribute over N8 million zakkat collected from only one local government in Zamfara. In the past, you hardly saw anybody coming out to give zakkat.
"So, the people are now happy practicing the moral teachings of Shariah. Nobody can come and change Shariah now in Zamfara because it has become the way of life of the people," he said.
He said his administration was now addressing the problems of poverty and education which he said has been the major problems of the people.
He said government was now funding Islamiyya scho-ols and was building classr-ooms for them with a view to modernizing the system. He said the government has also improved girl-child education in the state.
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