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This article doesn't mention the cause of such high rates of inbreeding, so I'll provide that information (kindly supplied by a Muslim friend). Basically, when
by SlyShy 17y ago
This article doesn't mention the cause of such high rates of inbreeding, so I'll provide that information (kindly supplied by a Muslim friend). Basically, when all the children of the family are young they play and do everything together. Childhood friends are likely to be mostly cousins and siblings. Once kids reach a certain age the genders are rigidly separated (with the burka, and adjusted living arrangements). The upshot of this is by the time a young Muslim man is ready to marry, the only women he is familiar with are the girls he grew up with. That is, his cousins.
Further, the etiquette of marriage is extremely complicated in and involves the mutual cooperation of the entire family of both the bride and the groom. So it's a much less complicated affair if the bride and the groom come from the same family--there simply won't be as many disagreements.
It should be noted that cousin-marriage is increasingly uncommon among the more affluent Muslims in countries like the UAE and Bahrain.
- zaidf 17y agoOnce kids reach a certain age the genders are rigidly separated (with the burka, and adjusted living arrangements). My parents are first cousins. And indeed they grew up together. But they didn't get married because they didn't have other options beyond cousins. That part doesn't ring true to my larger family's history with cousin marriages(sample size: 3 cousin marriages). There are so many myths about the harms of cousin marriages, starting with the medical risks. But study after study have shown there is little truth to any of it.
- SlyShy 17y agoI'm certainly not saying people don't have options beyond cousins, but would you agree that it's far more difficult to meet people beyond cousins?
- ars 17y agoThe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westermarck_Effect#Westermarck_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westermarck_Effect#Westermarck_... would argue against what you wrote. I think the causes are more likely that couples meet only through introductions, and their parents know each other. What they need are some matchmakers who make a point of knowing tons of young people, and can introduce them.
- SlyShy 17y agoI'm aware of this effect, and the reason I think it doesn't apply is this: the children play with each other, but they are raised in separate households. (Sloppy writing on my part, I wrote "children of the family are young they play and do everything together" which was an exaggeration. My bad.)