Question Summary:
Can postmortems be used for solving crimes?

Question Detail:

Can postmortems be used for solving crimes?

Answer :

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
 
We acknowledge receipt of your enquiries and the response follows hereunder:
 
Islam has set up some regulations about tackling matters such as crime, murders and suspicious deaths:-
 
Crimes under Islamic Law can be considered into three major categories. The three major crime categories in Islamic Law are: 
 
1- Hadd [plural Hudud] Crimes.
2- Ta’zeer Crimes. 
3- Qisas Crimes (Revenge crimes restitution).
Punishments are prescribed in the Qur’an and emphasis on corporal and capital punishment. Theft is punished by imprisonment or amputation of hands or feet, depending on the number of times it is committed . . .
1- Hadd Crimes 
Hadd crimes are those which are punishable by a pre-established punishment found in the Qur’an. These most serious of all crimes are found by an exact reference in the Qur’an to a specific act and a specific punishment for that act. There is no plea-bargaining or reducing the punishment for a Hadd crime. Hadd crimes have no minimum or maximum punishments attached to them. If you commit a crime, you know what your punishment will be. There is no flexibility or in the punishment for Hadd crimes of Islamic Law. 
No judge can change or reduce the punishment for these serious crimes. The Hadd crimes are: 
1- Murder
2- Apostasy from Islam   
3- Theft 
4- Adultery
5- Defamation
5- False accusation of adultery or fornication 
6- Robbery 
7- Alcohol-drinking and so forth...
 
Hadd crimes have fixed punishments because they are set by Allah Ta’ala and are found in the Qur’an. Hadd crimes are crimes against Allah's law and Ta’zeer crimes are crimes against society. A Qaadhi (judge) will impose the Hadd punishment when a person confesses to the crime or there are enough witnesses to the crime. The usual number of witnesses is two, but in the case of adultery four witnesses are required. Islamic law has a very high level of proof for the most serious crimes and punishments.
2- Ta’zeer Crimes 
Ta’zeer crimes are less serious than the Hadd crimes found in the Qur’an. Ta’zeer crimes can and do have comparable "minor felony equivalents." These "minor felonies" are not found in the Qur’an but abstracted from the Ahaadeeth of the prophet (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam). The Islamic judges will punish the offender in almost any fashion. They vary according to the gravity of the crime and the extent of the criminal disposition of the criminal himself. 
Ta’zeer crimes are acts which are punished because the offender disobeys Allah's law. Ta’zeer crimes can be punished if they harm the societal interest. Shar'iah Law places an emphasis on the societal or public interest. The assumption of the punishment is that a greater "evil" will be prevented in the future if you punish this offender now.
Judges have the choice to choose from any number of punishments that they think will help an individual offender. Some of the more common punishments for Ta’zeer crimes are public or private censure, family and clan pressure and support, seizure of property, confinement in the home or place of detention, and flogging, bribery, selling tainted or defective products, treason, usury, and selling obscene pictures.
3- Qisas Crimes and Diyah 
A Qisas crime is one of retaliation. If you commit a Qisas crime, the victim has a right to seek retribution and retaliation. The exact punishment for each Qisas crime is set forth in the Qur’an. If you are killed, then your family has a right to seek Qisas punishment from the murderer. Punishment can come in several forms and also may include "Diyah." It is paid to the victim's family as part of punishment. Diyah is a form of restitution for the victim or his family. The family also may seek to have a public execution of the offender or the family may seek to pardon the offender.
Qisas crimes include: 
1- Murder (premeditated and non-premeditated). 
2- Premeditated offences against human life, short of murder. 
3- Murder by error. 
4- Offences by error against humanity, short of murder etc....
 
In the case of a suspicious crime, where the murder is unidentified and anonymous, the Qaadhi will erratically select 50 people. They will take an oath that they never murdered nor did they know about the assassination. If the murderer was found, Qisas will be applied; otherwise everybody in that locality will have to give Diyah.
 
"The post-mortems even though it’s condoned in the Shari’ah, however; can be used in Islamic Courts as supporting evidence.  Conversely, it cannot be the sole evidence to prove a huge crime like ‘Qatal’ (murder) which entails inflicting severe punishment on the criminal. Post-mortems cannot replace witnesses who must be present to testify to the charges in question.
 With post-mortems, there is always a percentage for mistakes in the analysis; therefore, scholars state that “The prescribed punishments (Hudud) are to be fended off for the least occurrence of suspicion”. [Ashbah Wan-nazair by Allama Ibn Nujaim].
 
And Allah Ta'ala Knows Best


Wassalamu Alaykum


Ml. Mohammad Ashhad bin Said
Correspondence Iftaa Student, Mauritius
 
Checked and Approved by:
 
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah