NCJ Number
74285
Journal
REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE DROIT PENAL Volume: 46 Issue: 3 and 4 Dated: (1975) Pages: 373-384
Date Published
1975
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The role of statements made under oath in homicide investigations in countries ruled by Islamic Law, to either corroborate the evidence against a suspect or to exculpate him, is examined.
Abstract
From the strictly religious perspective of an Islamic law scholar, this study discusses various types of evidence in homicide or murder cases which are considered admissible in Islamic courts. The law of retaliation, claiming a life for a life in cases of murder, and payment of compensation to the victim's family for negligent homicide, is examined with special emphasis on the gravity which the Prophet Muhammad ascribes to the taking of an innocent human life. The conceptual framework of this study is religious and metaphysical, rather than legal and criminological in the Western sense. The basic argument is that -- in order to justify application of the law of retaliation -- the scales of justice must be weighed on the side of the presumption of a suspect's innocence, and the evidence against him must be carefully sifted. In the absence of reliable eyewitnesses, statements taken under oath from the accused party denying his guilt, or from the complainants swearing to it, will determine the outcome of all cases of suspicious death. The author supports his arguments by citing judicial decisions by the Prophet Muhammad, reported in the Koran or in other religious writings by Islamic scholars. Footnotes contain references to religious Islamic works only.