Can a Woman Hold a Position of Convicting Males?

Can a Woman Hold a Position of Convicting Males?

I am a very new American convert. I am also a woman. I chose to convert to Islam after much research and soul searching. I am a graduate student studying Forensic Pathology/Psych. I also work as a criminalist for our State Police Jurisdiction. As a new convert, I am trying to follow the teachings of the Prophet (Pbuh). I go to many sources for this information, including fellow Muslims. I had a chance visit from a colleague named "XYZ". XYZ indicated that it is against Islam for a woman to be in a position where she either directly convicts, or indirectly helps to convict a male. My role is to obtain evidence in the crime scene and also to testify regarding said evidence in court. He indicated that a female in such a male dominated industry is detremental to all present. He also said a woman should never reign justice in a males trial. XYZ said that women could and should participate in other womans justice issues. Please let me know if this is true. I have gone on line in the Pak chat rooms as well as the Middle Eastern ones, but no one really knew the answer. It was debated, however. I appreciate your assistance. Reply To say that something is prohibited in Islam needs a clear directive from either the Qur'an or the sayings of the Prophet (pbuh). Whoever tells you that a job or anything else is prohibited in Islam, has the responsibility of pointing out the particular directive, on the basis of which he is giving his opinion. As I see it, there is nothing in the directives of the Qur'an or the sayings of the Prophet (pbuh) that says that such and such jobs are prohibited for women. What we do get from these sources is that if men and women are to sit or work together at any place, both should follow the etiquette prescribed in the Qur'an for such interaction. I hope this helps.