Terry Firma

The Council of Islamic Ideology (pictured), Pakistan’s top Islamic body, takes a dim view of DNA evidence in the case of rape. The Council, in a rare nod to modernity, is prepared to consider DNA as supporting evidence in a rape investigation, but decreed this week that DNA can never be primary evidence.

The reason: the Qur’an already provides an established procedure for dealing with rape allegations.

According to Pakistan Today,

Most members of the council were of the opinion that Islam gave detailed guidelines in connection with the nature, accusation, justification, punishment and compensation in case of rape of any member of the society. Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, Maulana Sherani, Mufti Ghulam Mustafa Rizvi and some other members of the council termed DNA test in connection with forced rape as insufficient evidence… Members of the council said rape was a crime that required much care in account of evidences and DNA did not stand with accurate parameters as evidence for the crime.

How does an Islamic justice system prefer to determine whether a woman was raped? Rapists rarely perform their evil in front of witnesses, but by Allah, the victim must produce four of them to have her day in court. That’s correct: The Muslim standard of justice is that four men in good standing must give testimony affirming the rape took place. Women may not testify.

Oh, and spousal rape is not an offense under Islam at all.

Neither is the rape of a non-Muslim woman if she was ‘captured in battle’ or bought as a slave.

Sorry, ladies.

[image via Democratic Underground]