NEW ERA

Libya Will Follow Sharia Law

Making post-Gaddafi era more Islamic.

The leaders of Libya's National Transitional Council say they will make Islamic law, or Sharia, the "main source" of legislation, giving the country a more Islamist character than it had during the Gaddafi era. Enshrining Sharia as the basis of rule will place Libya alongside Iraq and Egypt, which ensure that no laws contradict the tenets of Islam but do not interpret them as strictly as Saudi Arabia or Iran. The country's transitional leader, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, said in the ceremony marking the liberation of Libya that polygamy will be legalized, banks charging interest will be abolished, and women will have the right to ask for a divorce but will forgo rights to alimony—all tenets of Islamic law.