One of Britain’s most eminent scientists has warned that the level of inbreeding among the nation’s Muslims is endangering the health of future generations. Prof Steve Jones, the geneticist, said that it was common in the Islamic world for men to marry their nieces and cousins. He said that Bradford has a particular problem and warned that it could affect the health of children born into these marriages.
Update: Typically, the Daily Mail reports this under the headline “Muslim outrage as professor warns first-cousin marriages increase risk of birth defects”. In fact the two Muslim spokespersons who are quoted in the article – Mohammed Saleem Khan of the Bradford Council for Mosques and Mohammed Shafiq of the Ramadhan Foundation – offer calm and reasoned criticisms of Jones’ comments. It seems that the right-wing press is incapable of reporting any comment by Muslims without referring to “outrage” and “anger”.
Update: See Samira Shackle, “Professor sparks ‘Muslim outrage’. Or does he?”, The Staggers, 31 May 2011