@CorruptUser I'm pretty sure cousin marriage is common anywhere that (historically) did not have a high population. Up until a few decades ago Saudi could only support a limited number of people. Think of villages where your water source comes from a single well, drawn by a camel slowly walking back and forth all day. Most food can't be grown there due to the climate and you can only survive on so many dates and goats.
If population is limited, of course even if you try not to, you'll end up marrying a distant cousin just because options are limited.
Tradition also varies by family. In my (Saudi) husband's family people might marry 4th or 5th cousins but I don't know anyone who married a first cousin. They also all only have one wife. There are perhaps 2-3 cousins who are in a family with multiple wives but that's because they married into a completely unrelated family where that was more common.
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@CorruptUser I'm pretty sure cousin marriage is common anywhere that (historically) did not have a high population. Up until a few decades ago Saudi could only support a limited number of people. Think of villages where your water source comes from a single well, drawn by a camel slowly walking back and forth all day. Most food can't be grown there due to the climate and you can only survive on so many dates and goats.
If population is limited, of course even if you try not to, you'll end up marrying a distant cousin just because options are limited.
Tradition also varies by family. In my (Saudi) husband's family people might marry 4th or 5th cousins but I don't know anyone who married a first cousin. They also all only have one wife. There are perhaps 2-3 cousins who are in a family with multiple wives but that's because they married into a completely unrelated family where that was more common.