Qarinah: Admissibility of Circumstantial Evidence in Hudud and Qisas Cases

Two recent developments in Brunei and Malaysia on hudud and qisas implementation have revived the keen discussion and debate on admissibility of qarinah. The Brunei monarch has already approved the hudud, qisas and ta’zir implementation and a special committee has already been set up to look into several substantive, procedural and administrative matters. In Malaysia, the Kelantan government is currently looking into some preliminary matters regarding hudud, qisas and ta’zir application in view of the recent Federal Government’s green light on the said syariah criminal law application. The said state government is already in the midst of engaging itself into important discussions with other relevant authorities on the said matter. In view of these two recent developments, this paper strives at analyzing the issue of qarinah admissibility in hudud and qisas cases. Attempt is also made in identifying some misconceptions on the said issue while coming up with some analytical response on dispelling the misconceptions. © 2015, Mediterranean Center of Social and Educational Research. All rights reserved.