It’s odd, because Islam preaches ‘bodily purity’ but repeated cousin marriage rapidly causes the accumulation of significant genetic defects - so you’d think religion would steer culture towards better beliefs and practices concerning that.
Yeah, my post was ambiguous - I was wondering why people who followed Islam retained a cultural practice which seems at odds with the religious principles of physical and ritual purity.
> so you’d think religion would steer culture towards better beliefs and practices concerning that.
If we were to take into account what would influence a family to practice marriage between cousins in excess (which is largely a preoccupation with material wealth and status), then it does.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage_in_the_Middl...