Why do people in subcontinent marry cousins?

[FreekiN]

well it is a crime in islam to marry with kids until they are 18 than only you can marry with your moms brothers daughter no harm in it but she must be 18 not a kid it is a hilarious crime some how in cities in pakistan this is getting lower and lower with education but in villages this is still happening but now at a lower rate but in india i really dont know about it in rajhistanh ratio is bit much higher but in pakistan it is getting lower and lower but stilll it is happening in pakistan

Actually they can marry at any age in Islam. Sex is only allowed after the girl's first menstruation cycle.

Just letting you know that you are wrong.

 

[Wounded Healer]

wound healer...
may be u r confused..........
a recessive allele cannot be dominant......it can only effect on the visible trait....phenotype(dominant trait)......
like u r saying.....

suppose a defective,recessive gene is present in the \\\"X\\\" chromosome of the female, and the \\\"X\\\" chromosome of the male also has the same defective, recessive gene, then this defective recessive gene becomes a defective,dominant gene in the new zygote(new baby).

this is homozygous recessive......not dominant......


i\'m saying that....dominant trait means the visible trait,phenotype....

regards

I didn't want to go into such detail as then i would have had to explain "homozygous recessive, homozygous dominant and heterozygous dominant" genes along with the basics of genetics as well.

The truth of the matter is that a Homozygous recessive gene will show its traits in that particular individual, hence i simply used the word "dominant" so as not to further confuse the readers.

Thanx for pointing it out though.

regards,

 

[jbond197]

Gotra - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Interesting! But according to your talk and what wiki told me, you and your mom's brother will have different gotra right? So you can still marry your mom's brother's son/daughter?

I don't know of this North-South India Business though.

Generally among Hindus, you can not marry any of your cousin be it from Father's side or from mother's side. It's forbidden and illegal. You can not marry Mom's Brother's Daughter/Son coz that's first cousin and people will kill you if it happens in North India atleast.

there are exception to this rule, as marriages to mom's side does happen in some communities and tribes down South India.

 

[makikirkiri]

@Underage marriage is a TOTALLY different thing. I am talking of intra-family marriage.
Well it again depends on what is deemed as family. In southern part of india , the daughter is no longer part of the family after she gets married. So, it's not an intra family marriage to marry your aunt's child.
This is very much unlike the practice in northern india where the daughter remains member of the family even after marriage.
However, in southern india , you can't marry a person with the same surname even if gothram is different.That's because all the people with the same surname are considered family.This again is slightly different from the norm in northern india where difference of gothram is the only criteria.

 

[Speaker]

this is homozygous recessive......not dominant......

I think he meant the same thing. In the absence of the dominant allele, the recessive one continuously expresses itself, which he probably meant appears to be the "dominant" one. But I think the actual explanation is not limited to this.

And regarding the first question, I know it is more prevalent in the south than it is in the north of India. Historically, people in the south have not been imprinted with the brother-sister relationship among cousins (unless your dads are brothers). There are no festivals like Rakhi. The only one that is there in some parts is for your "actual" brother, not cousin "brother" (pardon the usage of these incorrect phrases!). The names with which some people call their in-laws is also the same as what you would call you uncle or aunt, regardless of whether you are married to your cousin or not.

I would suggest people limit themselves to scientific judgement by referring to it as inbreeding. Incest has a moral connotation which will not be well received by many people. Indeed, in some southern villages, a girl marries her mom's brother (since the age gap between them may be pretty small in a big family). For some people, this may be unfamiliar and shocking as well, but it is done for keeping the "wealth" within the family, especially where significant dowries are involved. And unlike suggested by someone, it is not done for convenience. There are cases where perfectly suitable and "sought-after" people do it for reasons like royalty, racial purity etc.

 

[makikirkiri]

Generally among Hindus, you can not marry any of your cousin be it from Father's side or from mother's side. It's forbidden and illegal. You can not marry Mom's Brother's Daughter/Son coz that's first cousin and people will kill you if it happens in North India atleast.

there are exception to this rule, as marriages to mom's side does happen in some communities and tribes down South India.

These are all locally formed social norms and don't have any relation to hinduism .It is not illegal or forbidden either by hinduism or by law.people might be killing for marrying moms bro's child or dad's sis's child , but that is just because they are deemed improper in that region.
Among hindus in the south , marrying dad's sis's child or mom's bro's child is favoured over any other "rishta".It is not an exception nor are the people following this norm tribals. Just that in south a different system came into existance.

 

[Omar1984]

Which proves that this is an ancient practice which has been proven to be a cause of genetic disorders if the pattern continues for a long period.

Its not an ancient practice my friend. In Islam, its allowed to marry your cousin thats why in every Muslim majority country on earth (even non-muslim majority countries) cousins still get married to this day and their kids turn out very normal, some even become doctors, lawyers, earn PhD's, etc.. You can not usually differentiate a person whose parents are cousins from a person whose parents are not blood related.


By the way, recessive traits are not all bad. My grandfather and my great grandparents had blue and green eyes. I would love to get those traits.

And no, my parents are not cousins, but I have relatives who married their cousins like most Pakistani families always have someone in their family who married their cousin.

 

[jbond197]

These are all locally formed social norms and don't have any relation to hinduism .It is not illegal or forbidden either by hinduism or by law.people might be killing for marrying moms bro's child or dad's sis's child , but that is just because they are deemed improper in that region.
Among hindus in the south , marrying dad's sis's child or mom's bro's child is favoured over any other "rishta".It is not an exception nor are the people following this norm tribals. Just that in south a different system came into existance.

Well, cousin marriages are illegal as per 1955 Hindu Marriage Act which applies to people of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh religion. Such marriages are considered valid only if there is such a custom in the community.

Below is some information about Cousin Marriages from Hinduism point of view

Hindus are divided into two separate and opposing schools of thought regarding cousin marriage.

The Dravidian Hindus of South India find marriage between cross-first cousins (the related parents of each cousin being a brother and sister) to be a preferred marital union. (Bittles book).

In contrast, the Aryan Hindus of North India strongly oppose consanguineal marriages within seven generations on the male side, and five generations on the female side of the family. (Kapadia 1958)

 

[sparklingway]

Its not an ancient practice my friend. In Islam, its allowed to marry your cousin thats why in every Muslim majority country on earth (even non-muslim majority countries) cousins still get married to this day and their kids turn out very normal, some even become doctors, lawyers, earn PhD's, etc.. You can not usually differentiate a person whose parents are cousins from a person whose parents are not blood related.

And no, my parents are not cousins, but I have relatives who married their cousins like most Pakistani families always have someone in their family who married their cousin.

You forgot that genetic disorders are normally 3 to 4 times more likely to occur in people with a history of inter-married ancestors. It's not like you marry a cousin, and out pops a deformed monkey but constant marriages within the gene pool will most definitely result in a higher chance of genetic disorders and this is a medical fact. PhDs have nothing to do with this, most will be fine but the chance of children being affected by such problems is considerably higher. This should be a deterrent to marrying within the family, for I believe most people won't like that their kids suffer any problems.

And like you, I have the whole family (at least one, two generations above me) filled with married cousins but this should not force us not to discourage this practice.

 

[Omar1984]

You forgot that genetic disorders are normally 3 to 4 times more likely to occur in people with a history of inter-married ancestors. It's not like you marry a cousin, and out pops a deformed monkey but constant marriages within the gene pool will most definitely result in a higher chance of genetic disorders and this is a medical fact. PhDs have nothing to do with this, most will be fine but the chance of children being affected by such problems is considerably higher. This should be a deterrent to marrying within the family, for I believe most people won't like that their kids suffer any problems.

And like you, I have the whole family (at least one, two generations above me) filled with married cousins but this should not force us not to discourage this practice.

Pakistanis usually dont have genetic disorders and cousin marriages have been going on in the region of Pakistan for a long long time even when there were no hospitals in our cities, towns, and villages.



Ashkenazi Jews usually have lots of Genetic disorders. I dont know if the Jewish religion allows cousin marriages or not.

 

[makikirkiri]

Well, cousin marriages are illegal as per 1955 Hindu Marriage Act which applies to people of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh religion. Such marriages are considered valid only if there is such a custom in the community.

Below is some information about Cousin Marriages from Hinduism point of view

Hindus are divided into two separate and opposing schools of thought regarding cousin marriage.

The Dravidian Hindus of South India find marriage between cross-first cousins (the related parents of each cousin being a brother and sister) to be a preferred marital union. (Bittles book).

In contrast, the Aryan Hindus of North India strongly oppose consanguineal marriages within seven generations on the male side, and five generations on the female side of the family. (Kapadia 1958)

So it seems the law doesn't allow northern ppl to marry cross cousins because it is not the norm in practice while it does allow the southern ppl to marry cross cousins because it is the norm over there. That's a revelation to me.
regarding the norm given by hinduism, it would be better to quote a hindu religious text rather than books which just record the social norms in practice.
To point out another difference between southern and nothern systems, all paternal lineal relations upto any number of generations is illegal in south while in north acc to your post it only seems to be upto 7 generations.

 

[Airboss]

I said subcontinent, not India not Pakistan. So please answer my question. I think that its a prevalent practice in India to marry their mom's brother's kids. I think in Pakistan too such marriages are permitted, coz one of my friends got married that way last year. I did not ask him about this coz he'll probably be offended.

In US, this thing is called in-breeding and the kids generally have a lower level of IQ. So why do people do that? :O Cultural thing or religion thing?

So let me get this Straight you are 'per se' referring to 'Sub Continent', as far as 'Matrimony amongst' cousins.....True....We Agree!!!!

Well I am gonna 'single out' the notion in India & Pakistan (BS). Cuz
it is practiced all over the the 'Islamic Countries'. Also has been been in practiced for 'Centuries' not only in our 'Sub-Continental history biut else where where Islam is practiced.

Unfortunately, the 'So Called' 'Ramification' Of such Practices have been rather not so favorable.....Lately....(I must say!!!!)

As far as IQ is concerned....( and since you're so concerned with it) don't folks in USA, or as for this matter, in the rest of the world (esp. Europe & N. America, cuz they are the developed one's) already have a lower IQ....Hence we are making a dwelling in them.....

Get my drift bud!!!!



P.S.

Dude, where you are able to 'decipher' between customs, creed, regelious practices & etc. etc. let me/us know.....But, do remember, Religion & the beliefs & practices that go alone with them are a totally 'personal opinion'. Hence being 'Practiced' for a long time.....

Until then....

Allah Hafiz!!!!!

 

[ajpirzada]

I am not imposing my views, I am discussing. Plus, if intermingling of gender is so bad, then what Khadijah and Prophet Muhammad[PBUH] did is also wrong. Correct?

You are in Illinois? Are you working or studying? If you are working in a decent company, you would have known that male-female interaction can be kepy REALLY formal and polite in these parts =)

dont bring in prophet (peace be upon him) into this discussion without looking at the nature of the two relations u are talking about.
they werent dating lik you want to portray it in order to validate your argument. they had a business relationship and it was on the basis of that Hazrat Khadeja (peace and mercy be upon her) proposed prophet (peace be upon him). now if someone intends to take his girl friend out on a date and do some kissing and hugging then im sorry to say you cant use this as a reasoning.

 

[jbond197]

So it seems the law doesn't allow northern ppl to marry cross cousins because it is not the norm in practice while it does allow the southern ppl to marry cross cousins because it is the norm over there. That's a revelation to me.
regarding the norm given by hinduism, it would be better to quote a hindu religious text rather than books which just record the social norms in practice

Man its not hard to google 1955 Hindu Marriage Act. do a search and find the truth yourself, I didn't made it up myself.

Regarding norms given by Hinduism, My intention was not to hurt anybody but what i provided is a prevalent norm in North India. Prohibitions to such marriages in North India goes back as far as 200 BC as per some of the reading I did.

 

[sparklingway]

Pakistanis usually dont have genetic disorders and cousin marriages have been going on in the region of Pakistan for a long long time even when there were no hospitals in our cities, towns, and villages.

You seriously meant this? If people don't have access to hospitals, do not have thorough medical checkups and blame everything on spirits/jinn/black magic, then this does not mean that they do not suffer from genetic disorders. I'm suggesting you take a crash course in health problems and public health in Pakistan.

Did you read what I posted earlier? British Pakistanis have a 3 times higher chance of suffering from genetic disorders than the national average. What does this say? And the prevalence of intermarriages in British Pakistanis is far less than how common it is across the country. Imagine the numbers in Pakistan.

Inbreeding (the medical term but regarded as unfit for use in the human case) increases the frequency of major killers in Pakistan like Thalessemia by a very very large number.

I recommend that you seriously read about the dismal state of public health in Pakistan. If ones family has had (or has) a tradition of inter marriages, this does not amount to rejecting a sad medical fact and a reality that cannot be ignored.