Avunculate Marriage and Judaism

 

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Allah Most High says:

حُرِّمَتۡ عَلَیۡکُمۡ اُمَّہٰتُکُمۡ وَبَنٰتُکُمۡ وَاَخَوٰتُکُمۡ وَعَمّٰتُکُمۡ وَخٰلٰتُکُمۡ وَبَنٰتُ الۡاَخِ وَبَنٰتُ الۡاُخۡتِ

Forbidden to you (for marriage) are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, your fraternal nieces and your sororal nieces

(Surah 4, Ayah 23)

The Shari’ah of Islam has very explicitly forbidden avunculate marriage defined as marriage between an uncle and his niece and between an aunt and her nephew. There is no doubt that avunculate marriage is a form of incest. Nevertheless, such a form of incestuous marriage is permitted by law in many Western, non—Muslim countries and also some States in the United States of America. In the latter case especially these marriages have been permitted by law to accomodate the powerful and influential Jewish community. Judaism not only permits avunculate marriage it apparently prefers it too.

Now according to the Bible some great figures apparently engaged in incestuous marriages. These are not confirmed in the Quran or Sunnah and so it is not necessary for a Muslim to accept it. For instance, it is mentioned that the patriarch Abraham married his half—sister Sarah, the daughter of his father (Genesis 20:12), and from this marriage Isaac was born, through whom the Israelites trace their ancestry. The Levite Amram married his aunt Jochebed and through this union the Prophets Moses and Aaron were born (Exodus 6:20). Now while the Mosaic Law came to forbid the marriage between an aunt and her nephew, Judaism continues to permit the marriage between an uncle and his niece. It should be kept in mind that in an avunculate marriage a quarter (25%) of genetic material is shared, whereas in a marriage between first cousins half a quarter (12.5%) of genetic material is shared.

One of the greatest Rabbinic authorities in Judaism, Maimonides, known by his acronym Rambam, allowed for avunculate marriage: “However, Maimonides (in his commentary to the Mishnah Nedarim 8:5 and in his Laws of Sexual Prohibitions, end of ch. 2) understands that the Talmud does not mention one’s sororal niece to the exclusion of his fraternal niece. He thus rules that is considered a Mitzvah for a man to marry either his sororal or fraternal niece.”

Source: Avunculate Marriage in the Bible, The Seforim Blog