It grieves me greatly to know that we are operating on the wrong side of Sharia law: April 16, 2006 Opinion: DNA Should Not Be Used as a Tool to Identify Family Trees An unsigned article in the Arab Times of Kuwait claims that use of DNA will lead to the "disintegration of families." The article objects to the use of DNA, mostly on religious grounds, claiming that such technology is against Islamic Sharia (the code of law based on the Koran). The article quotes Dr. Mohammed Al-Tabtabaei, Dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Kuwait University, who stated, "Islam does not allow the use of DNA fingerprinting to prove genealogy and no family can reject any of its members based on results of such tests." He also said that Islam does not allow linking the crimes of fathers to sons as each of them is accountable for his own actions. However, Dr. Al-Tabtabaei conceded that DNA has many uses outside of family tree studies. He stated, "Although security departments can use DNA fingerprinting for issues related to national security, this technology should not be used as a tool to identify the family tree of anybody." Dr Ahmed Al-Hajji, a Fiqhi (Islamic jurisprudence) expert, said, "If there is no other strong proof, DNA fingerprinting can be used to identify maternal relationship if two women claim to be the mother of the same child. However, this technology cannot be used to prove paternal relations." The Islamic Juristic Group (IJG) said, "DNA fingerprinting can be used only in criminal investigations and not to identify the genealogy of anyone. In case of disputes over a new born baby or lost child, such tests can be used to identify the parents of the child." (from Dick Eastman's 4/17 newsletter)