It should be clear that the systems of Shari `ah are concerned with justice. For this reason, it lays down rules and regulations that guarantee the establishment of justice. Scientific methods of verification to prove guilt or innocence can be readily accommodated into the Shari`ah systems, which dispense justice.
Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, states: Truth and justice are the two pivotal values that Islam cherishes deeply and endeavors to establish. As for the first, Allah, the Almighty describes Himself as the Truth, and He orders us to be truthful and strive to know the truth and seek to establish it.
Concerning justice, Allah tells us that He is Just, and He enjoins us to establish it, and eliminate injustice.
Many of the great scholars of Islam such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim and others have reminded us that the essential focus of the Shari`ah, in all its diverse injunctions, recommendations as well as prohibitions, is to establish justice, and nothing but justice.
This applies to the Islamic punishments for adultery and fornication as well; they exist for the sole purpose of rendering justice and ensuring perfect justice and this is why the Shari`ah has insisted on the testimony of four witnesses to prove guilt in the case of adultery. Witnesses in themselves are not the goals but the means to establish the truth beyond a shadow of doubt as far as humanly possible. So, if there are other means of proving guilt, as is the case with scientific tests (i.e., DNA, etc.), they can be taken into account in order to render decisions accordingly.
The admissibility of such evidence can be established through itjtihad (personal reasoning), the purpose of which is to extend the applicability of the Shari`ah to the ever-changing circumstances of life. The Shari `ah is not a static system; rather it has all the built-in mechanisms that enable it to adapt to new situations.
In conclusion, let me summarize what has been said: Scientific methods of verification to prove guilt or innocence can be readily accommodated into the system of the Shari`ah, which dispenses justice.