Application of Islamic law by country article 170, section 5 of the constitution, the jurisdiction of Kadhis’ court is limited to matters relating to "personal status, marriage, divorce or inheritance in proceedings in which all the parties profess the Muslim religion and submit to the jurisdiction of the Kadhi’s courts". Qaddafi merged civil and sharia courts in 1973. Civil courts now employ sharia judges who sit in regular courts of appeal and specialise in sharia appellate cases. The personal status laws are derived from Islamic law. It has a civil law system influenced by customary law. In urban areas, positive law is common. In rural areas
Ban on sharia law restrict judges from consulting Shariah, or foreign and religious laws more generally". As of 2013, all but 16 states have considered such a law. In November 2010, voters in Oklahoma approved a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to ban sharia from state courts. The law was then updated to include all foreign or religious laws. The law was challenged by an official of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. In November 2010 a federal judge ruled the law to be unconstitutional and blocked the state from putting it into effect. The court found the ban had the potential to