Minister warns of ‘inbred’ Muslims

[Caano Geel]

how liberally can u throw around the label muslim...?

 

Minister warns of ‘inbred’ Muslims

Dipesh Gadher, Christopher Morgan and Jonathan Oliver

February 10, 2008

 

A government minister has warned that inbreeding among immigrants is causing a surge in birth defects - comments likely to spark a new row over the place of Muslims in British society.

 

Phil Woolas, an environment minister, said the culture of arranged marriages between first cousins was the “elephant in the room”. Woolas, a former race relations minister, said: “If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there’ll be a genetic problem.”

 

The minister, whose views were supported by medical experts this weekend, said: “The issue we need to debate is first cousin marriages, whereby a lot of arranged marriages are with first cousins, and that produces lots of genetic problems in terms of disability [in children].”

 

Woolas emphasised the practice did not extend to all Muslim communities but was confined mainly to families originating from rural Pakistan. However, up to half of all marriages within these communities are estimated to involve first cousins.

 

Medical research suggests that while British Pakistanis are responsible for 3% of all births, they account for one in three British children born with genetic illnesses.

 

The minister’s comments come as Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, rejected calls to resign over claims that Islamic law should be introduced in Britain. “I’m not contemplating resignation,” he told friends.

 

Williams insists his remarks were misinterpreted and that he was not advocating a parallel sharia jurisdiction for Muslims, but Lord Carey, his predecessor, warned acceptance of Muslim laws in Britain would be "disastrous".

 

The archbishop is believed to have received hate mail since he made his controversial comments but has rejected offers of round-the-clock police protection.

 

Williams is set to clash with the government again this week by voicing opposition to plans to extend detention without charge for terrorist suspects to 42 days.

 

Woolas, who represents the ethnically mixed seat of Oldham East and Saddleworth, has previously warned that Muslim women who wear headscarves could provoke “fear and resentment”. Yesterday, he was similarly outspoken.

 

“If you talk to any primary care worker they will tell you that levels of disability among the . . . Pakistani population are higher than the general population. And everybody knows it’s caused by first cousin marriage.

 

“That’s a cultural thing rather than a religious thing. It is not illegal in this country.

 

“The problem is that many of the parents themselves and many of the public spokespeople are themselves products of first cousin marriages. It’s very difficult for people to say ‘you can’t do that’ because it’s a very sensitive, human thing.”

 

He added that the issue is not talked about. “The health authorities look into it. Most health workers and primary care trusts in areas like mine are very aware of it. But it’s a very sensitive issue. That’s why it’s not even a debate and people outside of these areas don’t really know it exists.”

 

Woolas was supported by Ann Cryer, Labour MP for Keighley, who called for the NHS to do more to warn parents of the dangers of inbreeding.

 

“This is to do with a medieval culture where you keep wealth within the family,” she said.

 

“If you go into a paediatric ward in Bradford or Keighley you will find more than half of the kids there are from the Asian community. Since Asians only represent 20%-30% of the population, you can see that they are over represented.

 

“I have encountered cases of blindness and deafness. There was one poor girl who had to have an oxygen tank on her back and breathe from a hole in the front of her neck.

 

“The parents were warned they should not have any more children. But when the husband returned again from Pakistan, within months they had another child with exactly the same condition.”

[peasant]

Looks like we have another holocaust coming and this time it is

gonna be the muslims who will be incinerated. A lot of xenophobia

is brewing in mainland europe but i am not sure what country will

be the perpetrator this time, either Holland or England. Now you

have influx of refugees pouring from muslim countries and this sort

of hate propaganda is getting fed to the public at the same time.

So the rise of another hitler wont be far..

[N.O.R.F]

An environment minister comments on cousins marrying? :confused:

 

I dont see any of our nomads with defects. Actually, I take that back

[Ameen]

SubhanAllah.

 

Even in matters of dresscode or preference, those who oppose Islam find something to debate. Yet, they encourage same sex marriages and oppose the marriage of a man and a woman who may be cousins? Hipocracy at its peak.

 

Which reminds me of an ayaat,

 

Allah says, "And We wished to do a favour to those who were weak (and oppressed) in the land, and to make them rulers and to make them the inheritors. And to establish them in the land, and We let Fir'aun (Pharaoh) and Haman and their hosts receive from them that which they feared" (Surah Al-Qasas verse 5-6)

 

SubhanAllah, we are seeing the action of the words of Allah taking place before our very eyes. The government fears hijab? No. They fear the spead of Islam in their land and as Allah said about Pharaoh and his chiefs fearing the downfall of their kingdom, similarly, the governments of the Western land fear the spead of truth and and as Allah mentioned aforetime about the Children of Israel becoming the inheritors of the holy land, this Ummah shall succeed. Now the question is whether we will play a roll in the success of this Ummah and for most of us, the answer is hard to come about.

 

May Allah guide us and strengthen our hearts with faith (Aameen).

[Ameen]

You wont find defects because Allah, who created mankind and knows all things, permitted the marriage of two cousins.

 

For most of us, the thought alone of marrying a cousin is foreign but just think about it this way, Allah and His messenger approved it and if was harmful than Allah would've made it haraam.

 

But I dont understand why their even discussing the marriage of two cousins, when they should be addressing the issue of same sex marriages and other unhuman principals that exist in their societies.

[N.O.R.F]

^^Come on now. They promote 'freedom to choose' when it comes to same sex and oppose cousins of different sexes marrying!

 

They have plenty of healthy examples right here on SOL

[Geel_jire]

A few weeks ago, there was this new virus that only affected homosexuals.

 

the article is funny in that it goes out if it's way, to clarify that this is not a Gay disease. yet the conclusion and the Data in the article are completely contradictory.

 

now can you imagine a western politician saying homosexuals cause diseases by their behavior he/she wouldn't last 5 minutes.

[Cara.]

Is there an election coming up?

 

“If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there’ll be a genetic problem.”

This is not true actually. The likelihood of first cousins having children with birth defects is only very slightly higher than average. But in communities in which there's a long history of cousin marriages, like Pakistan and Yemen, people are actually closely related, so recessive diseases show up more.

 

But this would call for genetic counseling and professionalism, not inflammatory rhetoric. I bet a lot more babies with fetal alcohol syndrome are born compared to babies with rare congenital defects.

[Intuition]

Cara I couldn't have put it better my self. It seems every agenda governments want to discuss lacks professionalism and sensitivity. Although I agree it is an issue that needs to be addressed in certain communities (even our own to a degree) they need to learn how to address them.

I personally am anti inbreeding and even in Islam although it is not haram it is not really encouraged.

[Malika]

Surely before they blame Islam for certain practise they should learn to distinguish between what is Islam and what is Pakistani culture and traditions..Am getting tired by of these sort of assumptions if its practised by the Pakistani's doesnt necessary reflect true Islamic practises nor does it represent all Muslim communities.