Dispatches: When Cousins Marry

[Du$ty]

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/disp ... od#3116215

[Shirib]

well i can't see it, but I call bs

Cousin marriages are halaal and there is nothing wrong with them

[eyes-only]

Shirib, it was about the dangers of marrying your first cousin....I'm assuming anyone who studied biology knows it is not a good idea to marry your first cousin but this programme went further in actually showing you examples of what can happen if you do. I don't think you should ignore it.....I'd say definitely stay away from your first cousin.

Dispatches reveals the tragic consequences of first cousin marriage in Britain. Every year such marriages cause hundreds of children to be born with terrible disabilities; one third of whom are so ill that they die before they are five years old.

The practice is most common in Britain's Pakistani community, in which more than 50% of people marry their first cousin, and in Bradford 75% of ethnic Pakistanis follow the tradition.

It is also common in some Middle Eastern and East African communities here, and in the UK's Bangladeshi community, nearly a quarter of people marry their first cousins.

It also happens in the white British community: Dispatches features a couple, first-cousins-once-removed, whose daughter died of a genetic disease.

The medical risks include infant mortality, birth defects, learning difficulties, blindness, hearing impairment and metabolic disorders. As adults, the offspring of these relationships also risk sporadic abortions or infertility.

Reporter Tazeen Ahmad meets affected families, including one with three children with serious degenerative genetic diseases. Tazeen's own grandparents were first cousins: five of their children died before the age of ten, and three of her uncles were deaf.

Dispatches questions why no major national publicity campaign warns of these health risks. At-risk couples in some areas are offered genetic counselling, with some being offered selection of embryos or terminations, but as only 40% of recessive disorders can be medically tested for, this is of limited use.

Even talking about the practice is controversial. And, although many British studies have established the risks, people still deny the dangers and extol the benefits of marrying within the family. But others within the community say the risks should be publicised.

[Shirib]

Eyes only,

I don't believe a thing they say.

[eyes-only]

I suppose there is only one way to convince the sceptic in you and that is for you to test it out yourself.

I'm not at all sceptical about this because it is something I've always heard of...you are supposed to marry someone opposite to you to strengthen your genes. Allah gave you the knowledge so you shouldn't ignore it.

[Shirib]

I suppose there is only one way to convince the sceptic in you and that is for you to test it out yourself.

I'm not at all sceptical about this because it is something I've always heard of...you are supposed to marry someone opposite to you to strengthen your genes. Allah gave you the knowledge so you shouldn't ignore it.

Tested and proven wrong!!!

Allah made marrying ur siblings haraam for that same exact reason, but allowed marrying your cousins...why?

[Mzbeautifull]

I really feel sorry for the Pakistanis in the U.K
being forced into it .. Alhamdulliah I am a Somali

[DisplacedDiraac]

Every offspring *of cousins who married* that I've come across have been healthy Alhamdullah.. And since Allah made it Halaal.. than I dont see anything wrong with it.

Just cos westerners and non-muslims find it nasty doesn't mean it is..

[Ayeeyo Xilwa]

Gaalo khurafaat.

[qoraxeey]

i could never sleep with my cousin . let alone have kids with him

eeewww shruugs

[The_Emperior5]

i could never sleep with my cousin . let alone have kids with him

eeewww shruugs

Why not its xalaal if allah says its good its good

[NobleSavage]

You lot shouldn't dismiss it just because you don't understand the biology involved or disagree with it.

Its about recessive genes and when first cousins marry who both have recessive genes for many birth defects, the risks for these defects double or triple depending on the defect. Besides, just because Allah made it lawful doesn't mean its not always harmful. Beef consumption was made lawful for us, yet the Prophet (saw) warned against excessive consumption of it, stating many health concerns, which have since been confirmed by modern medicine. Marrying your cousin is permitted, it isn't mandated, there's a difference and personally, I couldn't bring myself to go near a female kin of mine, I find it reeks of desparation.

[union]

The products of first cousin marriages should be castrated and shunned. Unfortunately a lot of Somalis seem to be the result of such unions and therefore suffer from mild retardation.

[qoraxeey]

Emp
first of all the word "cousin" is the biggest turn off

lol

teeda kaale in my family my male cousins are my brothers oo kaallee

why would i go to my cousin ... when there are so much more men out there

[eyes-only]

^^ totally agree with you there....

Every offspring *of cousins who married* that I've come across have been healthy Alhamdullah.. And since Allah made it Halaal.. than I dont see anything wrong with it.

Just cos westerners and non-muslims find it nasty doesn't mean it is..

Were they first cousins?