Consanguineous Marriage: Heavenly Contract or Genetic Error?
Consanguineous marriages in Islam are not only permitted but recommended. The marriage of a cousin to a cousin has even been considered a sacred bond, a contract made in the heavens; one of the religious reasons? The marriage of the Prophet’s daughter to the first Imam of Shias.
Today, however, genetics speaks of frightening possibilities in the fate of children born from such marriages. Possibilities that have been documented numerous times over the years. Science says that genetic mutations in these marriages can increase the chance of genetic disorders appearing in children born from these unions.
In this week’s Tabu, Dr. Taghi Kimiai Asadi, a neurologist in Washington, and Ayatollah Mohammad Mousavi Bojnordi in Tehran discuss this very subject.
Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi, what is Islam’s view on consanguineous marriage, which now takes the form of cousin marriage between paternal cousins, a practice also mentioned in Iranian culture where it is said their contract is sealed in heaven and similar notions? It seems Islam has encouraged this type of marriage more.
Mohammad Mousavi Bojnordi: In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. For example, we see that Amir al-Mu’minin and Lady Fatima, the Great Truthful One, peace be upon her, married each other. They were paternal cousins. Similarly, Lady Zainab married her paternal cousin Abdullah ibn Jafar, [son of] the brother of Amir al-Mu’minin, peace be upon him, and Zainab, who is the daughter of Amir al-Mu’minin, also marries with him. It was a very common practice for a paternal cousin to marry a paternal cousin.
I was born in Najaf and I even remember in Iraq that a paternal cousin girl could not marry anyone else. She had to marry her paternal cousin. I want to say it’s an Arab culture and among Arabs it’s like this that it seems strange to them if a paternal cousin girl marries a stranger. A paternal cousin girl should marry a paternal cousin. This was the culture and “Our daughters for our sons.” That is, paternal cousin girls belong to paternal cousins. Because an Arab considered his brother’s son as his own son.
That is, there was a culture in the Arab world that Islam also followed, where the closest person to a paternal cousin is that paternal cousin girl, because they are from the same culture and tribe and blood, and Islam says that both should be compatible with each other. That is, in terms of culture and everything else, a man and woman who want to marry should be compatible with each other. For example, we see some of our young people from Iran and Iraq and Islamic countries going to Europe and marrying, while they are not compatible. Compatible means a Muslim man, a Muslim woman. In my opinion, this matter is natural.
Allow me to return to Dr. Kimiai and discuss with him the points you raised. Dr. Taghi Kimiai Asadi, Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi spoke about tribe and blood. Isn’t this itself the problem? Because from a genetic perspective, the issue is that being from the same blood can have consequences that might not be pleasant.
Taghi Kimiai Asadi: On average, every human carries one or two very dangerous mutations in their genes that are recessive. A recessive gene is one that, in order to manifest, must be present on both chromosomes. A dominant gene is one that, even if present on only one chromosome, can cause disease.
In consanguineous marriages, we are mostly dealing with these recessive genes that can be inherited from both sides. Now, these one or two mutations I mentioned are recessive and exist in everyone, they can also occur in non-consanguineous marriages, but there are a great many very small mutations that exist in families, and if they marry each other, the chance that recessive genes manifest becomes very much higher. Because one is inherited from the father and one from the mother, and these father and mother are related, and the chance that recessive genes manifest is 25 percent. That is, 25 percent of these children may have this recessive gene and develop a serious genetic disorder. 50 percent of children become carriers of this gene, and again if they marry each other in subsequent generations, the same genetic disorders appear. 25 percent of them are lucky and this gene is eliminated in them.
We see this in history too, where European royal families married each other and developed very severe diseases like hemophilia, learning disorders, and behavioral disorders, which nowadays they absolutely do not marry each other. It even happened in my own family. My parents were paternal cousins and maternal cousins, and I had a brother who developed a very, very rare syndrome where only 300 cases have been reported, and this child could never walk; only because my parents were related to each other, this rare genetic disorder appeared in him.
Allow me to return to Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi to see what response he has to the points you made? Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi, Dr. Kimiai says that in any case, the possibility and chance of genetic disorders in this type of marriage is very high. You refer to a historical religious precedent where, for example, the first Imam of Shias and the daughter of the Prophet of Islam had a family relationship, but Dr. Kimiai’s remarks actually follow this scientific concern that genetic disorders have been proven to occur. What response do you want to give?
Mousavi Bojnordi: I was born in Najaf. There I was completely aware of these issues. Among the Arabs of Iraq, a paternal cousin girl belongs to the paternal cousin, and no one dares to come and take a girl who has a paternal cousin. He must take her. By God’s grace, I saw marriages there that happened, and I never heard of any disorder. Based on my experience and observations, I never saw it. Not even one case where there were disorders in their children. I myself, my wife is my paternal cousin. We are paternal cousins. It’s been 51 years since we got married and we have five children, three sons and two daughters; by God’s grace, now you are also a lady—each one more beautiful and healthy than the other.
May they be well.
Mousavi Bojnordi: (laughs) They are all educated. I look at myself, despite it being a paternal cousin marriage, there is no such thing. I look at Iraq, there too, despite them being very committed to paternal cousin marriage, there is no such thing.
Of course, Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi, the point you mention that “a paternal cousin girl belongs to a paternal cousin”—I’m quoting you—or that in this culture, a paternal cousin must marry a paternal cousin, this itself is questionable, because it undermines the freedom of choice of individuals, especially women. Perhaps a woman really does not want to marry her paternal cousin.
Mousavi Bojnordi: Of course, if she doesn’t want to, it’s not compulsory. Let me tell you this. The paternal cousin has priority. That is, if she has several suitors, the paternal cousin comes first. Now if a paternal cousin has one eye, is bald, or whatever, she doesn’t take him. This is not compulsory. By virtue of emotion and affection, paternal cousin girls and paternal cousins are very close to each other. They say we are of one blood and much of our culture is similar and characteristics and traits are very close to each other.
Dr. Kimiai, of course, with one or two examples, one cannot conduct scientific discussion, but Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi also points out that this happened in his own case, and in addition to religious or cultural belief, he is presenting his own personal experience. Can you explain how we can account for cases where these marriages have occurred and nothing has happened?
Kimiai Asadi: Yes, well, by good fortune they are not carriers of mutated genes. They don’t have genes that have undergone mutation that would be disease-causing. You see, there is a gene called MAO, monoamine oxidase type A, which is actually responsible for the metabolism of the Catecholamine hormone and controls human temperament and behavior. If there is a disorder in this gene, the children born will be very violent.
I don’t know if in Iraq, where there has been so much violence throughout history and they beheaded Imam Hussein since the time of the Prophet, and there has also been war and massacre, whether they actually have this disorder in the same MAO type A gene that they still show such violence? Is there such a gene in Iraqis that as a result of paternal cousin and paternal cousin marriage, which is so common, this gene is so common and they show so much violence with each other?
Of course, this should not be an insult to Iraqis and nationalism. But in general, there are more than 100 mutations that occur genetically, and if they occur in parents who marry each other, surely 25 percent of their child will be afflicted and it passes from one generation to another, and the more they marry each other, these mutations increase and in fact transform from genotype to phenotype.
If someone is familiar with neurological diseases or blood diseases like hemophilia or other diseases that are inherited genetically or these syndromes that make people antisocial, they will see that most of these result from the inheritance of recessive genes and appear more in families.
Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi, therefore the question here becomes: if the belief that paternal cousin marriage, which is sometimes even said to be a sacred marriage, was in the conduct of the Muslim Imams… but if, for example, you knew that such a consequence could result, would you still say that this marriage, because it occurred between the first Imam of Shias and the daughter of the Prophet of Islam, is a marriage that can be defended?
Mousavi Bojnordi: Well, my specialty is law, jurisprudence, and philosophy. But in my opinion, his personal experience is above scientific knowledge. I said I was born in the city of Najaf and I was a very social person connected with people whether in Karbala and Najaf and other places. I never saw a case where someone would say. Because I also said there that they are bound by the fact that a paternal cousin girl belongs to a paternal cousin. I never saw one case and never heard that their children were disabled. The observations and experiences I had throughout this time [show the opposite]. There is a saying from Amir al-Mu’minin that says “Our daughters for our sons” which is authoritative and means paternal cousin girls belong to paternal cousins. This is a culturally obligatory matter for them, and I have never heard of a case where the children of these would be disabled.
Now, we mostly discussed the Islamic world or Iranian society and the Middle East here, but Dr. Kimiai is in America too, and I think only in six states is it prohibited to marry between what they call here “first cousin,” paternal cousin and paternal cousin, and other forms of consanguineous marriage. In some of these states it is said that if they are over 65 years old and want to marry each other, there is no problem, in 6 states it is completely prohibited, and in the rest of the states there is no prohibition. If this genetic concern exists scientifically, why do we see that in a society like America, the condition does not make a major difference?
Kimiai Asadi: You see, a few issues are raised here. One is personal perceptions, which have no value in science, that is, no one can claim that their personal perceptions are generalizable to society. Another point is that all traditions are questioned. All traditional behaviors, whether religious or non-religious, are questioned, from circumcision to paternal cousin marriage.
There is still a great deal of prohibition in Christian tradition [on this matter]. But in America, when paternal cousins marry each other or are close relatives, from the time of pregnancy they are under supervision, and genetic tests are performed on the amniotic fluid of the child, and the child is regularly subjected to ultrasound, and if the child has a disorder, the child is aborted and is not allowed to be born.
Let me mention another point: from a social perspective, when daughters and sons of a family grow up together, their sexual attraction to each other generally decreases. This has been deeply studied in the Chinese. If paternal cousins in Iran and Iraq and… also grow up together closely, their sexual desire for each other decreases, and men mostly pursue other women, and perhaps one of the roots of polygamy or polygyny might be in this as well.
Mousavi Bojnordi: May I respond?
Please do so.
Mousavi Bojnordi: First, my wife herself is my paternal cousin, and I am also her paternal cousin. When she married me, she was 14 years old and I was 18. The love and affection we had at that time, if I don’t say has increased, still remains now. And then, fundamentally, do you accept that experience can have a role in scientific theories?
Kimiai Asadi: Personal experiences have no value.
Mousavi Bojnordi: No, a society. If a society experiences something. Can it have a role in scientific theories?
Kimiai Asadi: Provided that a scientist impartially examines the result of social behavior and takes accurate statistics on several thousand cases, then it has value. But personal experience has no value whatsoever.
Mousavi Bojnordi: Now it is famous in the Arab world. They say “Experience is the greatest proof.” I told you that in Iraq, 90 percent of marriages are between paternal cousins and paternal cousins.
Kimiai Asadi: Do you really know what happens in their homes? How many of their children are stillborn? Or do children get born and are left to die? Because they are severely afflicted and have severe intellectual disabilities? I am sure that in societies like Iraq, the number of intellectual disabilities with what you are saying should be much higher than the West. Your experience is completely limited and it is not possible to draw any conclusion from it at all.
Mousavi Bojnordi: Allow me to make my point.
Yes, please do so, Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi.
Mousavi Bojnordi: You see, my father was one of the great sources of emulation there. We are in a family that was connected with most people. Both they were in contact with us and we were in contact with them. That is, I have knowledge. It’s not like Dr. says that he thinks I am sitting at home and have closed the door and am just speaking for myself. I am not speaking only about myself. I was a person who was connected with society there. I don’t remember a single case in the 20 years I was in Najaf where we would see that their children were disabled.
Kimiai Asadi: So the claim he is making is like genetics of Iraqis is different from other humans. I don’t think that’s right.
Mousavi Bojnordi: (laughs) That’s a strange statement… Do genetics differ? It’s the same in all humans.
Kimiai Asadi: Allow me to give an example. In the brain there is a substance called dopamine, and dopamine receptor number two has receptors that are encoded on chromosome number eleven. If this has a mutation, parents may not be alcoholics at all, but if they are paternal cousins and paternal cousins, when their child grows up, they will definitely either become an alcoholic or addict. 25 percent of their children.
This has been proven, or if they are carriers of the phenylketonuria gene, which is the cause of one percent of intellectual disabilities, that is, actually a large number of humans, especially Jews, who marry a lot among themselves, are carriers of this disease, and their child develops phenylketonuria. The best example I can give for societies is Jewish societies. Jews, because they have not mixed with other societies, have essentially, almost certainly, every identifiable genetic disease in Jews has been first identified. Very rare diseases that are not seen in larger groups and societies.
If you read statistics on genetic disorders, you see that it is more common in Jewish families.
Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi made a point that Dr. Kimiai mentioned about the decrease in sexual desire and attraction because paternal cousins and paternal cousins grew up together from childhood and this can cause problems. If you have an explanation on this, I think it would be good for you to explain it, and then we can hear your concluding remarks on the subject.
Mousavi Bojnordi: It’s been about 50 years since our marriage, and the love and affection I had before, believe me, has not diminished at all…neither from my side nor from hers.
Kimiai Asadi: May I ask, did you and your wife grow up together or separately?
Mousavi Bojnordi: No, my wife was in Iran. I came in the summers. She was in Khorasan. I went there and saw her and liked her and we married quickly and it’s been 50 years and even now like the day I liked her, there is affection. I want to say it is not universal. It may be in some cases, but it is not universal. If you want to prove a scientific theory, it must be universal, not that it is in some cases and I generalize and say everyone is like this. Do you agree with this, Dr.?
Kimiai Asadi: What you are saying does not apply to you, but this topic has been deeply studied in the Chinese, that growing up together has made them look at each other like brother and sister. This is a genetic code that has been set, and if someone grows up with someone else, by nature this genetic code exists that reduces sexual desire. You and your paternal cousin were completely strangers from this perspective.
Mousavi Bojnordi: Yes, I had not seen her.
Kimiai Asadi: Yes, and you did not have genetic disorders and you were lucky, but I recommend you not let your children marry their paternal cousins, paternal cousins, or maternal cousins, aunts, and anyone else.
Mousavi Bojnordi: Even in psychology, experience is a strong proof, and we should not just go by formulas we create. Paternal cousin to paternal cousin, paternal nephew to paternal aunt, these marriages are very common, whether in Iran or in Najaf, and I never saw a case where their children were disabled or had intellectual disabilities or had physical defects.
But well, I also know Mr. Dr. as a scholarly person who is an expert in this science, and I don’t want to interfere, but from an experiential point of view and based on the religious texts we have that emphasize that as much as you can, do not marry a stranger, because you know their culture well and are familiar with it and can live well together. Now, should I go and take a stranger? I was a member of the Supreme Judicial Council for 12 years. I rarely saw divorce occur between relatives. Usually, those who married strangers, because their cultures were two different worlds, had differences and led to divorce.
Dr. Kimiai, well, this is the view of Mr. Mousavi Bojnordi. In fact, they are defending and saying there are even fewer conflicts and they recommend it. In your conclusion, what recommendation would you have and what points would you like to raise?
Kimiai Asadi: My recommendation is that the closer consanguineous marriages are, the higher the chance of genetic disorders appearing. Genetic disorders are not only that a child becomes paralyzed or blind. Or that they completely develop intellectual disability. But it can also be a factor in violent behaviors and cause increased tendency to addiction and alcoholism.
These are all genetics, and they all have recessive genes that increase with consanguineous marriages. Especially mental illnesses like bipolar and schizophrenia also have genetic factors for some types of them, and consanguineous marriage increases the chances of these. For this reason, I strongly recommend that as much as you can, marry far from your family. This causes genetic diversity and not only reduces the risk of diseases but the fact that the chance of your children being smarter is also higher. Because many of these mutations are mild and cause a decrease in intelligence in children. If you marry from families far away, the chance that you will have these mutations is less and the chance that your child will turn out smarter is higher.
Source: Radio Farda
