Why Cousin Marriages Should Be Banned
A Muslim’s Support Of The Conservative MP Richard Holden’s Bill To Ban Cousin Marriages In The UK
The British-Pakistani ex-Labour MP (now Independent), Iqbal Mohamed, argued against the Conservative MP, Richard Holden’s proposed ban on first cousin marriages in the UK. Whilst Mohamed’s arguments seem to be measured and reasonable, the practice of cousin marriages (first or second etc.) should be discouraged, and I would support Richard Holden’s proposal to ban first cousin marriages in the UK, as part of his private members bill in Parliament.
Health Issues
Consanguineous marriages (i.e. related by blood, first or second cousins) have been known to increase genetic defects among children. The scientific data is too overwhelming to be ignored. Proponents of cousin marriages argue that the incidence of such genetic defects in absolute terms is only slightly higher relative to similar incidences in the background population. Whilst this is true, this will not be comforting news to children who have disabilities because of such union of their parents. I have seen defects and disabilities in some families that practice consanguineous marriages; it is painful to see this punishment being inflicted on children knowing that their parents and families had a choice to avoid such unions. Keeping properties within the family or not allowing outsiders into a family, are poor reasons to risk the wellbeing of children of blood relative marriages. Moreover, the fact that Iqbal Mohamed MP encouraged education and advanced genetic testing before such marriages take place, is evidence to show that potential defects should be taken seriously when contemplating such unions. I would go one step further, avoiding cousin/blood relative marriages should be taken seriously by communities that are addicted to such unions.
Before We Criticise Cousin Marriages…
…We must not forget that we are all indirect products of cousin marriages at some point in our ancestral tree. Richard Dawkins made an interesting point in one of his books (I think it was, ‘An Ancestor’s Tale, a Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life’), that if each of us has two parents and each parent has two parents, and we journey backwards through this ancestral tree, then the world population should increase. Instead, we see a decrease, why? Because of cousin marriages.
Global Prevalence of Cousin Marriages Today
In the present day, the prevalence of cousin marriages varies around the world. The highest being in Pakistan (60+%) followed by the Middle East countries (around 40%). My country of origin, Bangladesh, is at 17%. I am relieved that my families do not practice cousin nor blood relative marriages. And God bless my enlightened parents who looked for a wife for me outside of our blood relations bubble, otherwise I would have been very vocal about it. India in general has a prevalence of around 7.5% but rises to 42% in the Tamil Nadu region in South India. Israel is at 10%, but when looking at the Jewish communities in general, there is a 1 in 3 chance of inheriting one or more of 47 recessive genes. Because the Jewish population is so small and marriage tends to be limited within these communities (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrachi, Haredi), including cousin marriages, genetic defects tend to be more prevalent than the background population. Europe, US and developed countries have cousin marriage rates below 5%.
A Warning From History
If cousin marriages are unchecked and are on a repeating cycle at every generation, genetic abnormalities will potentiate. A fine example is the European Habsburg dynasty where cousin marriages were the norm. The ‘Habsburg Jaw’ (very pronounced lower jaw and lower lip) was an idiosyncratic deformity of this dynasty. That Spanish arm of the dynasty ended in 1700 because Charles II could not produce any heirs as a result of prolonged cousin marriages among his ancestry.
More recently, in the UK, we have the well known marriage of Queen Victoria to her first cousin, Prince Albert. Their children had inherited numerous health issues related to such a consanguineous marriage.
Thus, Pakistani communities and Jewish communities are sitting on a time bomb where if unchecked, future generations will be radically affected.
Religion
The religious element is interesting and would inform communities what type of husband or wife to marry or avoid. Looking at various religions, there is a general acceptance of cousin marriages. So, why would I be against it? I answer this later.
Judaism
The Torah records cousin/blood relative marriages between Abraham and his niece, Milcah, between Jacob and his two cousins, Rebecca and Leah; also, between Esau and Mahalath.
Christianity
Although the Catholic Church recognises scriptural acceptance of cousin marriages, ecclesiastical law (church rules) forbids it unless the Pope grants a special dispensation. The Church of England allows it, hence, the well known cousin marriage between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, as mentioned above.
Sikhism
The main religious book of Sikhism is the Guru Granth Sahib. It is silent on the issue of cousin marriages. Cultural factors would inform Sikh communities about such unions.
Buddhism
Buddhism is also silent on the matter but Buddha himself is said to have married his first cousin, Princess Yasodhara, when he was 16 yrs old (who was Prince Siddharta before he came the Buddha).
Hinduism
The Hindu stance is more varied. Section 18 of the Hindu Marriage Act in India, 1955 forbids cousin marriages and there is a punishment of imprisonment if such marriages were to take place. Hence, cousin marriages are rare in North India but rise to 42% in South Indian region of Tamil Nadu (as mentioned previously). Some Hindu scriptures do record cousin marriages such as the Bhagvata Puranas which mention Krishna marrying his two cousins, Bhadra and Mitravinda; Arjuna with Subhadra, and Parikshit with Iravati. The Hindu scholar and mathematician, Baudhayana (800 BC — 740 BC) allowed cousin marriages. On the other hand the Vedic Dharma sashtras prohibit it and prescribes ‘Candrayana’ (repentance) if there are intimate relations between cousins.
Islam
The Islamic stance is interesting and should inform Muslim communities on what direction to take when choosing potential husbands and wives. The most important criteria is the religiosity of potential partner. Whilst cousin marriages are allowed, it is discouraged. Prophet Mohammad did allow marriage between his daughter (Fatima) and her cousin (Ali), but most of Prophet Muhammad’s marriages were with non-relatives. There are a couple of sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad but are considered weak in terms of authenticity (note, the sayings of the Prophet are known as ‘Hadith,’ which is separate to the Quran which we believe to be revelation from God), he is supposed to have said,
“Choose strangers for marriage.” Another saying is, “Do not marry close relatives, for the child will be born unhealthy.”
The reasons why these sayings may not be entirely authentic is that the chains of narration that go back to Prophet Muhammad are not complete. There is a strict criteria for authenticity in the Sunni authentication process. Other later scholars such as Al-Ghazali (1058 to 1111 AD) said about a potential wife, “she should not be a close relative, because that reduces desire.”
Ibn Qudamah (1147 to 1223 AD) said, “one should choose a woman who is not a relative, for her children will be more intelligent. Hence, it was said marry non-relatives so that you will not have weak children.”
It can be gleaned from above that whilst cousin or blood relative marriages are allowed under Islamic Law, the ethos is to move away from marrying relatives. The prophetic hadiths mentioned above that are deemed to be weak in authenticity should be revisited by scholars today. Why? Because those sayings provide very unique insights which I haven’t found in other scriptures, the link between blood relative marriages and having unhealthy children. Genetics were not discovered until very recently, let alone genetic abnormalities. Gregor Mendel discovered genetic inheritance and recessive genes etc. in the 19th Century. However, I do not know how widely known the biology of inherited characteristics were hundreds of years ago, but those weak hadiths from Prophet Mohammad in the 7th Century and insights from scholars around the 12th Century do converge with scientific data today around the health risks of blood relative marriages.
Advocates of cousin marriages among Muslims would like for the above sayings of the Prophet to remain weak and inauthentic because they go against their neurotic addiction to blood relation marriages, but the scientific data we have access to today should force them to re-evaluate these sayings, and thereby trigger a behavioural shift. What is most striking is the opinion of Ibn Qudamah in relation to cousin marriages and intelligence of children. In 2014, an Israeli Arab pilot study was published in ‘Frontiers in Public Health’ by Hassan Abu Saad et. al. They looked at intellectual development amongst the Bedouin Arabs in the Southern region of Israel, the Negev. Data was collected on 221 children with IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disability). Over 61% of participants were children of consanguineous marriages (first and second cousins) and 70% were diagnosed with moderate IDD and 20% was severe. The remaining 10% had other disorders. What was hypothesised in the 12th Century by Ibn Qudamah seems to have been confirmed 900 years later in the 21st Century.
Closer to home, the British medical journal, ‘The Lancet,’ published a large study in Bradford (in North England which comprises of a large Pakistani population) in 2013. This study was led by Dr. Eamonn Sheridan. Around 13,500 babies were assessed between 2007–2011, a significantly large cohort. What was found was that 31% of all birth defects were from cousin marriages in the Pakistani community. The positive element of this study is that there was involvement and cooperation from the Pakistani community in this study. Although the Eamonn study was published inn 2013, it would be interesting to know what behavioural changes have taken place within the community eleven years after the study was published. This should not be a sensitive cultural issue especially where the lives of children are involved. If there is pushback with the argument that disabilities are a test from God, that is indeed true. Everything we do is a test, but if we can make decisions that would reduce the risk of abnormalities for the next generations, why wouldn’t the community take action? The absurdity of such an argument is the same as the Jehovah’s Witnesses who forbid blood transfusions based on a misreading of a biblical verse, “You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.” (Acts 15:29). I read in one of their literature that the reward of salvation and a greater afterlife outweighs the risk of avoiding blood transfusion, even if it means death of the patient. God does test us with good and bad, and where there are obstacles, He has also blessed us with tools to overcome them.
A robust academic treatment on the negative impact of cousin marriages has been given by an Oxford academic, Patrick Nash. He has written well researched papers which can be found online. His excellent article in the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion is worth a read here: https://academic.oup.com/ojlr/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ojlr/rwae014/7685593
Removing The Plank In Our Eye First
Jesus said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)
Please allow me to make a necessary digression. Criticism of cousin marriages is welcome, and a robust but mature debate is necessary. I hope it does move through the various stages in Parliament and the House of Lords, leading to a Royal Ascent. The reason for quoting the saying of Jesus above is that the problems and morality of blood relative marriages should not be taken in isolation. Whilst cousin marriages is taboo in Western societies, there is plenty wrong with such societies when looking at other practices. Adultery is allowed and even encouraged by websites such as Ashley Madison, which seeks to promote intimate relations between married people (who are not married to each other). There are no laws against adultery despite existing laws against polygamy. There are practices that are allowed in secular societies which would be looked down by all religions, namely, swinging parties, prostitution, same sex relations, gang bangs, transgender modifications etc. Incest is prohibited in the Sexual Offences Act of 2003 in England and Wales. It gives a list of family members who are prohibited under the incest criteria. However, the mother in law or father in law are not mentioned in the incest list, and I have heard of a case where a husband rejected his wife in order to have relations with her mother….and this was deemed ok. Under Islamic rules, this is classed as incest because the mother in law has the same status as the mother, hence intimate relations are not allowed….in fact it is abhorrent.
What is also sinister is that there is another practice that seems to have been accepted by contemporary British/European societies indirectly, but people of faith would balk at this. That is fantasising of child abuse or paedophilia. Enter Oliver. Those of us growing up in the 1970s will remember the movie, ‘Oliver’, starring Mark Lester. He also appeared in a subsequent movie, ‘What the Peeper Saw’ (1972). The story revolves around a 13 year old boy, Marcus (Mark Lester) who develops a crush for his step mother, Elise (Britt Ekland), after murdering his own mother. There is a scene where he feels Elise’s breasts through her blouse. In another scene he tells her to strip off all of her clothes, which she does obediently. Yet another scene where she gets in bed with Marcus whilst naked.
Another exotic movie is entitled, ‘Malena,’ starring Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro (2000). In this Italian movie Giuseppe plays a 12 year old boy, Renato, who falls for Malena (Monica) who becomes a prostitute and is lusted after by many men with jealous wives. There is a scene where Renato sees Malena’s naked body and feels her thighs and legs. This would be regarded as child molestation but Giuseppe was actually 16 years old when he acted as a 12 year old boy in the movie. Even though the two actors were within the law technically, the innuendo of at 12 year old boy feeling up a naked woman normalises child molestation fantasies. I am not surprised with this movie’s moral compass given that Harvey Weinstein was one of the producers.
The two examples I gave above normalises sexual relations with a child but seems to be acceptable because these themes are in the scripts and these movies would be regarded as artistic. Hence, they fall below the paedophilia threshold even though there is a strong aversion and disgust with child abuse in contemporary British/European/American societies outside of the cinema bubble. However, from a religious angle, especially Islamic Law, these would be deemed as child molestation, not art (the age of consent will vary from culture to culture, and under Islamic principles the two children would be regarded as adults…but let’s leave that to one side and assume these are children).
Taking child molestation to its extreme, there had been cases in the UK of over 1000 young English girls who were victims of Asian grooming gangs, most of whom were Pakistani Muslims. Whilst the far right blamed Islam for providing fuel to these grooming gangs, what is not known is that under Islamic Law the punishment for child molestation is capital punishment. Hence, the jail sentence the gangs received under British law does not go far enough under Islamic (and Biblical) principles. Whilst contemporary British society will understandably show fire and fury against the Muslim grooming gangs, and some would criticise the Islamic religion for being the trigger, I show more fire and fury against the British legal system for not going far enough in punishing these iniquitous grooming gangs.
The reasons for citing various examples in this section is to highlight that whilst the debate and proposed ban on cousin marriages is welcome, we should also be revisiting and engaging in constructive debate on these other practices simultaneously.
Other Muslim Cultural Abnormalities
Whilst Islam (and other religions in general) does allow cousin marriages, it is discouraged. What is encouraged is to marry outside the realm of blood relatives and even beyond the same race, in line with its universalist approach to bring different races together. But marriages outside one’s race is seen as something abhorrent by many Muslim families whilst cousin marriages are viewed as something noble. Not very diverse and inclusive! To put it plainly, it is racism to the core. Just to put the icing on the cake, in Asian communities fair skinned girls are preferred to dark skinned girls as marriage partners. This is racism’s finest hour.
Other abnormal practices we find in many Muslim cultures are female genital mutilation (parts of North Africa), forced marriages of women (many Asian cultures) and so-called ‘honour’ killings (some Asian cultures). Superstition is rife among South Asian Muslims despite its condemnation by our religion. Having boys is preferred to having girls despite the Prophet stating that girls are a blessing. And if the mother gives birth to a daughter instead of a son, she is blamed for it even though the sex determining genes are inherited from the father. You can’t make this up. Moreover, living in extended families where brothers and their wives live under the same household is an absolute no-go from an Islamic perspective where the Prophet warned about mixing between a wife and her husband’s brother, which can lead to temptation. Clueless parents or grandparents who insist on this extended family setup under one roof are absolute geniuses.
Are these culturally sensitive issues? Yes. And….? These remind me of a Hadith of the Prophet when he said that, “Islam came as a strange religion and will return as a strange religion.” In many Muslim societies cultural abnormalities have trumped religious precepts.
Conclusion
Back to consanguineous marriages. There is a very important caveat. Forbidding something that is allowed by religion and vice versa, is wrong. The Quran condemns such actions. So, I have to be mindful of this when I argue against cousin marriages. Although I support Richard Holden’s proposal to ban cousin marriages in the UK, I would regard this as a temporary measure so that future generations of hearts and minds will change through a paradigm shift, where extrafamilial marriage is seen as the norm and consanguineous marriage is regarded as the exception, and only under absolute necessity. The question that logically follows is this. At what point do we draw the line when it comes to marrying relatives? It would be odd to conduct genetic tests on every potential marriage partner to identify the closeness of their DNA; this would be crossing the threshold of insanity. However, a simple rule of thumb would suffice. Look for partners outside of the circle of known relatives.
Finally, my pushback to Iqbal Muhammad MP and communities that are addicted to consanguineous marriages is this, “the world is your oyster. It has fertile ground for good marriage partners for your sons and daughters. So, why on God’s earth would you want your son or daughter to get married to their relative and endanger the lives and health of their children? What are you thinking?”
Note: Since writing the above article in December 2024, subsequent podcast took place on 5th February 2025 where I was interviewed by the ‘Silent Majority’ channel on why I support Mr. Holden’s bill on banning cousin marriages. It was a very good discussion. The link to the podcast is below. There were criticisms made about the points I made. I capture these criticisms below and my responses.
Podcast — Would You Marry Your Cousin? (5th February 2025)
Criticisms of the Podcast Discussion and Counter Responses
Responses to the podcast are coming through and are mixed. This section will be updated regularly to capture criticisms and my replies.
- Criticism from ‘Ella’ — 8th February 2025
I am disappointed in the host bringing in this tory politician to talk about cousin marriages. What expertise does he have on the subject? He is neither a scholar nor a medical doctor! Yet quotes weak hadiths to corroborate his narrative. This tory wrote an open letter to Mohammed bin Salman in late October 2023 asking him normalise ties with Israel. This is after the war had started. He is also a trainer for the Home Office’s controversial PREVENT programme that overwhelmingly targets British Muslims. To call what is halal as ‘abhorrent’ is wrong! Cousin marriages have their pros and cons but I am against any law that bans what Islam has made halal. Far better to have made genetic testing mandatory so that people can take informed decisions. This man is not someone the Muslim community can look up to. A biased podcast!
(Second response from Ella). Please beware of this Tory politician. He has called on Saudi Arabia to normalise ties with the rogue state in the Middle East on 26 October 2023. He was also involved in the PREVENT programme which disproportionately targets the Muslim community. His views on foreign policy etc. are not representative of the Muslim community. Also worth noting that the Lancet study found there is just over a 3% risk of developing congenital abnormalities in cousin marriages compared to 1.7% with in the general population. This means that approx. 96% of children born in cousin marriages are healthy. Women aged over 34 years also carry a similar risk of abnormal foetal development ; 3–4%. So do we ban women over 34 from becoming mothers? I suggested to the host to bring in an Imam or someone from the Bradford community to give a more balanced view. This Tory politician is neither an Islamic scholar nor an academic so he hasn’t the expertise to speak on such topics. It is good to know the host is considering platforming people with more nuanced and diverse views on cousin marriages.
My response — 9th February 2025
Salams sister Ella thanks for your counter response and research you have done. It is welcome. Robust debate and exchange of opinions is very important. In relation to the points you made:
a) I did mention that the ‘ethos’ of Islam is to move away from kin marriages although it is halal. You have a conflated something that is halal/allowed with something that is mandatory. Cousin marriage is seen as mandatory in some communities, which is having a negative impact on children. Cousin marriage is allowed but strongly discouraged under Islam; I used Islamic evidence as well as medical. And this relates to a wider issue of tribalism and clan mentality which feeds into forced marriage and in extreme cases, grooming gangs. If cousin marriage was compulsory under Islamic Law then yes, the ban would have been a problem and a direct attack on Islamic Law. But the trajectory is to move away from such marriages as indicated by the Prophet (S) himself in the weak hadiths (which need to be reviewed given the scientific evidence) and early Muslim scholars who made the link between kin marriage and weak children. Smoking has been regarded as something allowed but discouraged generally by scholars (although the fatwas vary). But scientific evidence shows that smoking does cause serious health effects such as cancer. There is a move in the UK towards an eventual ban on smoking; thanks to the previous Sunak administration this ban is on the horizon. Would this be against Islamic principles? No because the ban would save more lives and improve health. Sugar is something that is halal but diabetic patients would not be allowed to take it for health reasons, so does this go against Islamic principles?
b) I assume you read my article on cousin marriage because you did refer to my other article relating to Saudi Arabia and Israel, and my work with Prevent. You would have read that I stated that the Quran does condemn people who make halal haram and haram halal. That is why I said that the proposed ban on cousin marriage should be temporary so that this addiction can be phased out over a generation.
c) I did read your comments on the grooming gang podcast. Whilst different communities do take part in paedophilia (Jimmy Saville, some Catholic priests), what is different here is the gang element of grooming and a racist (haram) approach of targeting English girls giving them alcohol (haram), drugging them (haram) and raping them (haram). These gangs do need to be called out like other paedophiles instead of engaging in whataboutary which seeks to deflect the problem onto someone else or something else.
d) Yes the stats do indicate that birth defects from cousin marriage is 5–6% which seems to be a marginal difference from the background figures of 2–3%. But other stats show that 20% of infant deaths in Birmingham was from cousin marriages, 20% of infant deaths in Redbridge was from cousin marriages and 53% of infant deaths of South Asian origin in Bradford was from cousin marriages. These are damning stats not to be ignored. Furthermore the 5–6% stat relates to birth defects only. They don’t account for health issues that may develop later. Moreover, the stats does not take into account families where cousin marriages have taken place throughout the generations, in which case the stats would be higher in these families. The mortality data should stop one in their tracks. Why put children through through hell knowing that health and mortality risks could be minimised?
e) Another counter response you alluded to is that the risk of birth defects because of cousin marriage is the same as a woman who has a baby at age 34. As discussed above, the risk of birth defects or mortality is actually greater. As far as I know, the majority of women have babies below age 34. If the majority of women had babies over age 34 and affected the health of the babies/children, then I am sure this would be looked into.
f) Your reference to some work I did with Prevent does not strengthen your argument to keep cousin marriages legal.
g) Your reference to me writing to Prince MBS to accelerate the peace process and Abrahamic Accords with Israel does not strengthen your argument to keep cousin marriage legal.
h) Correct, I am not a scholar nor an Imam. Does that mean I cannot state opinions based on evidence? Are you a scholar or sheikha? But we both agree on one point that Imams should be invited to discuss these things. And that is what is said during the podcast, the Imams have been relatively silent about the health risk of cousin marriages, grooming gangs, honour killings, FGM and abortion during their khutbas. They should definitely step up and speak up.
i) Would you marry your cousin? If not, why not?
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Author Biography
Hasan Ali Imam was born in Bangladesh in 1972 and brought up in the UK. He has engaged in respectful debate and dialogue with those which disagree with him, which culminated in his candidacy for the British Parliament in 2005. He continues to be involved with the UK Conservative Party. He is a regular caller to LBC Radio (UK). Hasan has also been involved with the UK Government’s PREVENT counter terrorism strategy as a trainer to public servants on how to prevent young people from venturing into extremism. He also draws on his own experience of attempted recruitment by extremist groups in the 1990s. He has also worked with ex-Members of Parliament, Nirj Deva and Anne Main. Hasan has authored three books.
1. United States of Anger — Why Linda Sarsour’s Rage and Far Left Violence Cannot Move Mountains.’ This book is a response to Linda Sarsour (an American Palestinian Socialist activist), and her far left compatriots who supported the violence and rampage that took hold in the US after the tragic killing of George Floyd. Link to the book trailer: https://youtu.be/dj8cGkp7CvU?si=nmV6Pw9EPsnLazdW
2. ‘BAME — Breaking Through Barriers.’ This book deals with the race space in the UK. It responds to critics who state that ethnic minorities have not progressed due to institutional racism. He tackles the issue head on and invites critics to dialogue and debate. This book was praised by the British Government. Link to the book trailer: https://youtu.be/alE0Vm6C7G4?si=Hb4_seCyIwOFXESm
3. ‘Aisha and Fatima — Ladies of Heaven. A Sunni Response to Shiaism.’ This is specific to the main Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia. The book captures dialogues that Hasan (a Sunni) had with Shia Muslims over the last 20 years. Link to the book trailer: https://youtu.be/pgiZ0_yS6ME?si=xI3JxWZtV9bt9dzc
Hasan has also written an article on ‘Medium.com’ to challenge the anti-vaccine narrative from his own Conservative side, including Dr. Simone Gold in the US, and has invited dialogue and debate with anti-vaxxers. He has engaged with feminists and the pro-choice advocates in relation to abortion. He has also engaged in dialogue with a Rabbi on the importance of Jews, Christians and Muslims to unite under the Abrahamic brotherhood.
