Consanguineous Marriages among Arabs - Essay Example

Academia Research Bala Muhammad Makosa May 6, 2007 Consanguineous marriages Among Arabs DEFINATION AND BACKGROUND: According to a Research found "Consanguineous marriage is the Union of Individuals having common Ancestors. It is categorized as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree. The first being the closet kinship. It is believed the consanguineous marriage would preserve: Family dynamic and structure and provide; cultural. Social and Economic benefit". (Consanguinity and Apnea of Prematurity). Before going very deep into this research, there is the need to know why we ought to know about this marriage that mostly exists among the Arab people What important is this research expected to add in our academia knowledge and what it the significant to our society Thus beginning should focus on the significant of this research to our largest society since the marriage as it definition stated above is mainly adapt by blood relations. To this end, readers are expected to gain a lots from the digging that would made of the merit and demerit of the said marriage, so that they would either practicing it if any, or else reduce, based on the lessons they grab from the writing. It should be noted however that consanguineous marriage is not only practicing by Arab in this world, it is a general phenomenon among humanity. Since it is a marriage that exists among biological relations, for example, first cousins, uncle's son marries auntie's daughter and others. It is a union between male and female among al, races irrespective of where they came from. For example, "around the globe consanguineous marriages have been practiced by many societies from time immemorial. It is widely practiced in Asia, North Africa, Switzerland, Middle East, some parts of China, Japan and fishermen communities in Europe and America. One in two rural marriages in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are consanguineous". (Problem with consanguineous marriage) Since the said marriage is a general phenomenon among all races, as long as they contracted marriage based on blood relations. Thus this research would explore all channels towards knowing much about the marriage, and what are the positive and negative implications that would befall on any society that remain only on contracting consanguineous marriage. By doing so, societies would be able to taker a stand on what they should do if it happens they are very much deep in it. While academically, this research would add lots to knowledge seekers especially in the field under discussion, to know much about consanguineous marriage, how it is practicing and it positive and negative impact to the societies. To this end, after the research, they would use what they might have learn toward inculcating to their societies, especially who are practicing the type of that marriage in shading more light to them, so they can adjust where necessary. Since the research on the above mention marriage is primarily focusing on its practices among Arabs, there is the need to make an assessment on the rate of it practices in the Arab countries to further clarify the issue. CAUSES OF CONSANGENEOUS MARRIEGE AND ITS EFFECT At this point there is the need to research on what are the causes of consanguineous marriage Why some societies continue to remain firm on practicing this marriage despite the fact even if it has positive, it also has it negative effect One of the researches conducted has shows that one of the causes of practicing consanguineous is said to enhance cordial relationship among families, it is said to also increase the nature of political relationship, being religious or cultural. In Middle East for example, it is found that one of the vigor reasons of engaging in consanguineous marriage is for enhancing political development among Arabs people. The ties of relations in marriage affairs in that part of the world is very significant in continue being under one umbrella. A writer name Kurtz, write about why Arab people of the Middle East prefer consanguineous marriage than any type of marriage. He has to say: "In the modern Middle East, networks of kin are still the foundation of wealth, security, and personal happiness. That, in a sense, is the problem. As we've seen in Afghanistan, loyalty to kin and tribe cuts against the authority of the state. And the corrupt dictatorships that rule much of the Muslim Middle East often function themselves more like self-interested kin groups than as rulers who take the interests of the nation as a whole as their own. That, in turn, gives the populace little reason to turn from the proven support of kin and tribe, and trust instead in the state". (Consanguinity prevents Middle Eastern political development) As a result of contracting this kind of marriage among Arabs, research gathered that people are very submissive to their families more than to a ruler. "As we've seen in Afghanistan, loyalty to kin and tribe cuts against the authority of the state. And the corrupt dictatorships that rule much of the Muslim Middle East often function themselves more like self-interested kin groups than as rulers who take the interests of the nation as a whole as their own. That, in turn, gives the populace little reason to turn from the proven support of kin and tribe, and trust instead in the state". (Consanguinity prevents Middle Eastern political development) EFFECT OF CONSANGENEOUS MARRIEGE TO HEALTH: However, it is noted that in Kuwait it is practice to 50%, in Egypt, 29 to 50%, in Saudi Arabia 52%, in United Arab Emirate and Jordan 50 and 51%, in Lebanon 15%, while in Yemen 40%. This is only nutshell and random sampling of the rate if consanguineous marriage in few of Arab countries mentioned above. Meanwhile, it is observed that the Socio-Demographic Characteristic of Consanguineous marriage is commonly happening in rural more than urban areas in such places where it is practicing, which in many instances happening with involvement of very minimal ages while getting marriage, lack if higher education from the women, while the husbands suffers less occupational status. To this end, the research would focus on how the above marriage that is known to be practicing among the Arabs is facing an increase incidence of congenital malformation That is among the health negative Impact of the said marriage. Meanwhile, research has found that "The detrimental health effects associated with consanguinity are caused by the expression of rare, recessive genes inherited from a common ancestor(s). In populations where inbred unions are common, increased levels of morbidity and mortality caused by the action of detrimental recessive genes can be predicted. Generally, inbreeding is associated with loss of biological fitness. It is however appropriate to note that, even in the absence of preferential consanguinity, alleles which are rare in large populations can rapidly increase to high frequency in a breeding pool of restricted size, because of factors such as founder effect and random genetic drift". (A background Summary on Consanguineous marriage). But initially, let have the definition and the meaning of Congenital Malformation, which would add more understanding of the subject matter aiming to research on. According to a Medical Dictionary, Congenital Malformation is "a physical defect present in a baby at birth, irrespective of whether the defect is caused by a genetic factor or by prenatal events that are not genetic. In a malformation, the development of a structure is arrested, delayed, or misdirected early in embryonic life and the effect is permanent. Congenital malformations can involve many different organs including the brain, heart, lungs, liver, bones, and intestinal tract. These defects can occur for many reasons including inherited (genetic) conditions". (Definition of Congenital Malformation) Among of the health Impact of the above mentions marriage according to further research states; "Parental Consanguinity has been associated with increase risk of Pediatric disorder, still birth and prenatal mortality , congenital birth defect, malformation, and mental retardation" (Consanguinity and Apnea of Prematurity). As it is widely practicing among Arab, consanguineous, marriage is having negative effect on health, leading to considerable anxiety and frustration among various Arabs communities, with putting effort to wipe away the existing problem. It is highly risky, for example; "A high rate of consanguineous marriages exists within the Israeli Arab community, with approximately half occurring between first cousins. This contributes towards a high incidence of congenital malformations and autosomal recessive diseases, many of which are detectable at prenatal diagnosis". (Prenatal diagnosis for detecting congenital malformations: acceptance among Israeli Arab women). Additionally, it is also found in Israel that "Arab mothers admitted to four hospitals in west Jerusalem were interviewed after delivery. Demographic and obstetric data were recorded. Neonatal data were extracted from the medical records of the nursery. When malformations were suspected, a 4- to 10-month follow up was achieved for confirming the diagnosis. Of 561 infants, 253 (45%) were born to consanguineous couples. The incidence of major congenital malformations in the offspring was 8.7, 7.1 and 2.6% in cases of first cousins, all consanguineous and non-consanguineous couples, respectively. No association was found between parental consanguinity and prematurity (p=0.357) or low birth weight (p=0.589). Parental consanguinity was also associated with an increased incidence of death in previous siblings (p Read More