Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence

Forensic evidence has emerge as one of the important tools to connect an accused to the crime for which he is charged and to identify him in case he is of mysterious identity. Its role is also crucial in affirming material facts relevant to issues contested before a court in civil suit. It has bec...

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Main Author:	Haneef, Sayed Sikandar Shah
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English
Published:	2010
Subjects:	KBP1 Islamic law.Shariah.Fiqh
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/22688/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/22688/1/Forensic_Evidence.pdf

id	iium-22688
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-226882017-03-07T06:48:50Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/22688/ Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence Haneef, Sayed Sikandar Shah KBP1 Islamic law.Shariah.Fiqh Forensic evidence has emerge as one of the important tools to connect an accused to the crime for which he is charged and to identify him in case he is of mysterious identity. Its role is also crucial in affirming material facts relevant to issues contested before a court in civil suit. It has become indispensable in the process of implementing justice in the Western legal systems. In the Islamic jurisdictions, on the other hand, although its use and admissibility has been attempted – its evidential weight continues to invoke juristic discourses and legal theorization. It is often classified as a kind of qarinah whose admissibility as a mode of proof has invoked the same polemics that surrounds qarinah itself. This essay, however, argues: first, forensic evidence ipso facto represents an expert opinion from forensic scientists. It is as such derives its legitimacy from the Islamic sources as a separate method of proof. Second, it as a means of proof is another sure way of establishing the truth (al-bayyinah) – distinct from qarinah. It, in terms of standard and evidential weight, amounts to oral testimony perceived and revealed through scientific eyes as it unlike qarinah not only gives rise to suspicion and conjecture but affirmatively proves and disproves facts and relevant facts. Lastly, in terms of function it not only tracks and traces the physical evidence against the accused in a criminal trial, it also discloses other issues of psycho anthropological relevance to all types of cases. Accordingly, a thoughtful reflection about the reality of forensic evidence, as argued above would broaden our horizon of thinking about the ways that legal justice could obtain today. 2010 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/22688/1/Forensic_Evidence.pdf Haneef, Sayed Sikandar Shah (2010) Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence. In: IIUM Research, Innovation & Invention Exhibition (IRIIE 2010), 26 - 27 January 2010, Kuala Lumpur.
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	KBP1 Islamic law.Shariah.Fiqh
spellingShingle	KBP1 Islamic law.Shariah.Fiqh Haneef, Sayed Sikandar Shah Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence
description	Forensic evidence has emerge as one of the important tools to connect an accused to the crime for which he is charged and to identify him in case he is of mysterious identity. Its role is also crucial in affirming material facts relevant to issues contested before a court in civil suit. It has become indispensable in the process of implementing justice in the Western legal systems. In the Islamic jurisdictions, on the other hand, although its use and admissibility has been attempted – its evidential weight continues to invoke juristic discourses and legal theorization. It is often classified as a kind of qarinah whose admissibility as a mode of proof has invoked the same polemics that surrounds qarinah itself. This essay, however, argues: first, forensic evidence ipso facto represents an expert opinion from forensic scientists. It is as such derives its legitimacy from the Islamic sources as a separate method of proof. Second, it as a means of proof is another sure way of establishing the truth (al-bayyinah) – distinct from qarinah. It, in terms of standard and evidential weight, amounts to oral testimony perceived and revealed through scientific eyes as it unlike qarinah not only gives rise to suspicion and conjecture but affirmatively proves and disproves facts and relevant facts. Lastly, in terms of function it not only tracks and traces the physical evidence against the accused in a criminal trial, it also discloses other issues of psycho anthropological relevance to all types of cases. Accordingly, a thoughtful reflection about the reality of forensic evidence, as argued above would broaden our horizon of thinking about the ways that legal justice could obtain today.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Haneef, Sayed Sikandar Shah
author_facet	Haneef, Sayed Sikandar Shah
author_sort	Haneef, Sayed Sikandar Shah
title	Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence
title_short	Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence
title_full	Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence
title_fullStr	Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence
title_full_unstemmed	Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence
title_sort	forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in islamic jurisprudence
publishDate	2010
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/22688/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/22688/1/Forensic_Evidence.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:34:32Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:34:32Z
_version_	1777408957454745600

Forensic evidence: a rethinking about its use and evidential weight in Islamic Jurisprudence

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