An agreement between a separatist Tuareg rebel group and the Islamist group Ansar Dine to create an Islamic state in northern Mali has hit a snag over how strictly to impose Islamic law, an official of the Tuareg group said Tuesday. The separatist National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad wants a moderate form of Shariah, while Ansar Dine would like a more hard-line version.   »»» NYTimes.com

Shari’ah is NOT a codified set of laws. It is a juridical system and its specific implementation varies from one place to another–just like the various forms of Common Law in English-speaking countries whose legal systems were based on the British system and like the various forms of Civil Law in French-speaking countries whose legal systems are derived from French law.

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