Cousin marriage in the Middle East

Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities. There is very little numerical evidence of rates of cousin marriage in the past. In many cases there is not only a preference but a right to marry the father's brother's daughter, wherein if the girl's family wishes to marry her to anyone else they must first get the permission of the father's brother's son. This custom may be upheld even despite a great age difference between cousins.

Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities. There is very little numerical evidence of rates of cousin marriage in the past. In many cases there is not only a preference but a right to marry the father's brother 's daughter, wherein if the girl's family wishes to marry her to anyone else they must first get the permission of the father's brother's son. This custom may be upheld even despite a great age difference between cousins.

The bint 'amm marriage , or marriage with one's father's brother's daughter ( bint al-'amm ) is especially common, especially in tribal and traditional communities. Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities. There is very little numerical evidence of rates of cousin marriage in the past.

Global prevalence of consanguinity up to second cousins or closer Activities Bonding Courtship Dating Engagement Bachelor's Day Mating Meet market Romance Singles event Wedding Endings Breakup Ghosting Legal / marital separation Annulment Divorce Widowhood Emotions and feelings Affinity Attachment Intimacy Jealousy Love Friend zone Passionate and companionate Platonic Romance Romantic friendship Unconditional Passion Sexuality Non-romantic friendship Alliance Cross-sex Female Male Practices Bride price dower dowry service Homogamy Hypergamy Infidelity Sexual activity Transgression Repression Abuse Child Dating Domestic Elderly Narcissistic parent Controlling behavior Stalking v t e Cousin marriage , a form of consanguinity (marriages among couples who are related as second cousins or closer). As of 2003, an average of 45% of married couples were related in the Arab world. While consanguinity is not unique to the Arab or Islamic world, Arab countries have had "some of the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world". The bint 'amm marriage , or marriage with one's father's brother's daughter ( bint al-'amm ) is especially common, especially in tribal and traditional Muslim communities, where men and women seldom meet potential spouses outside the extended family. Anthropologists have debated the significance of the practice; some view it as the defining feature of the Middle Eastern kinship system while others note that overall rates of cousin marriage have varied sharply between different Middle Eastern communities. In pre-modern times rates of cousin marriage were seldom recorded. In recent times, geneticists have warned that the tradition of cousin marriage over centuries has led to recessive genetic disorders.