Originally Posted by
JudyKayTee
Please - don't answer a question with a question. A flippant answer helps no one.
I'd also like to know.
Can a Muslim marry his/her cousin?
Cousin marriage is explicitly allowed in Islam as seen in chapter 4 verse 23 of the Qur'an:
Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;-
Qur'an 4:23
So everyone besides these relatives named can be married. Such marriages in Muslim majority countries are often preferred and even encouraged in some regions. This is in stark contrast with countries such as China and some Western nations where cousin-marriage is against the law and regarded as incest.
Even though there is some debate on this issue, scientists tend to agree it is genetically unhealthy. There are other problems with cousin marriages. According to the Hanafi school of legists, a man may give his daughter in marriage to his brother's son without her consent. This obviously goes against free will which results in unhappy marriages.
Muhammad himself married cousins, as he did with Zaynab bint Jahsh, who was not only the daughter of Umaimah bint Abd al-Muttalib, one of his father's sisters,[1] but was also divorced from a marriage with Muhammad's adopted son, Zayd ibn Haritha. It was this last issue that caused the most controversy, with traditional Arab norms at the time being opposed, though not the Qur'an (Sura Al-Ahzab 33:37)[2]. According to Ibn Sa'd, after Zaynab's marriage to his adopted son, Muhammad went to pay Zayd a visit, but instead found a hastily clad Zaynab. Though he did not enter the house, the sight of her pleased him. Tabari embroiders the story; according to him Zaynab was only wearing a single slip, and the wind pushed away a curtain when Muhammad entered, revealing her "uncovered." In any case, thereafter Zayd no longer found her attractive and thought of proposing divorce, but Muhammad told him to keep her. Eventually, however, Zayd did divorce her. Muhammad also allowed the marriage of his daughter, Fatimah, to his cousin, Ali ibn Abi Talib, who would later go on to become the fourth Rightly-guided Caliph of Islam. The second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, also married his cousin, Atikah bint Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl.[3][4]