Close Relationships: Incest and Inbreeding in Classical Arabic Literature

by Geert Jan Van Gelder

This is a groundbreaking and comprehensive study of the diverse facts and opinions concerning incest and close-kin marriage found in literary and non-literary pre-modern Arabic texts. Incest is a motif found in lampoons, anecdotes, stories, legends, dream interpretation, and polemics with other religions, in particular the Zoroastrians, who in pre-Islamic times allegedly recommended next-of-kin marriage. Many of the relevant passages are presented as English translations in this richly documented book that will be of interest to philologists and students of Arabic literature or Islamic culture.

278 pages, Hardcover

First published June 11, 2005

About the author

Geert Jan van Gelder was Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford from 1998 to 2012. He is the author of several books on classical Arabic literature, including Beyond the Line: Classical Arabic Literary Critics on the Coherence and Unity of the Poem and Of Dishes and Discourse: Classical Arabic Literary Representations of Food.

Reviews

[Muawiyah Yousuf · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sources the author has employed in the writing of this book are extensive. Poetry, legal texts that are famous in all five madhhabs, including the Zahirites and Shiites, adab, riḥla literature, tafāsīr, tārīkh, and much more. One would expect that such a work, which involves scouring through a vast literary corpus, would simply state what the sources say. Guess not.

The author's judgments frequently intrude into the discussion. He has a knack for phrasing his sentences in a sarcastic and cynical way. You can see that inner orientalist at work now and then, something that he openly embraces, as seen in the epilogue:

"I am by no means certain that this book could have been written by a Muslim and published in a Muslim country without problems, which is an additional reason why it is written by someone who is neither an Arab nor a Muslim and who still calls himself, almost defiantly, a Western orientalist."

Given this proud declaration, the usual orientalist language and biases are present. For example, when discussing the matter of the Prophet marrying his paternal cousin Zainab, Geer says:

"Zayd himself had some scruples about divorcing his wife under pressure after the Prophet had become enamoured of her. Fortunately and conveniently, a few Qur'anic verses were revealed in connection with the affair."

"Divorcing his wife under pressure," "the Prophet became enamoured of her," "fortunately and conveniently"—does all this look in the least like neutral language? It would seem that the author has already made up his mind on the matter.

And, once again, as expected, there is that usual touch of skepticism when aḥādīth are involved:

"In this they (the jurists) found or fabricated support in a hadith attributed to the Prophet: 'What is forbidden on the basis of milk relationship is the same as what is forbidden on the basis of blood relationship.'"

This hadith is found, with different wording, in most of the primary books of hadith, with a sound chain and widespread transmission as well. But hey, Schacht is in the endnotes, so what can one expect?

Apart from all these critical flaws, the book nonetheless makes for an interesting read, filled with ridiculous jokes, puns, confusing riddles, sick burns, fantastical myths, and obscene anecdotes.

It is highly polemical as well, since such themes are often employed when critiquing the Zoroastrians for their practice of incestuous marriage, or in poetry directed at one's opponents during the Umayyad and Abbasid eras, or within Arab-versus-Persian debates concerning who is more superior.

The literary evidence extends even to discussions of animal breeding. From tracing the lineage of a horse to discussing whether a camel was inbred, related themes frequently emerge. The same applies to humans, where the sources discuss the advantages and disadvantages of consanguineous marriage and marriage outside the family to strangers. The incest motifs and metaphors found in the sources, whether explicit or subtle, are examined as well.

The fiqhī angle is touched upon in the third chapter, which discusses the pre-Islamic customs of marrying two sisters simultaneously and marrying the wife of one's deceased father, i.e., one's stepmother. Here, the author relies heavily on al-Rāzī's exegesis and the various madhhab positions regarding the Qur'anic verses on al-muḥarramāt, the list of women whom a man is forbidden to marry.

Ẓihār is also discussed within this chapter. Questions such as how jurists viewed marriages involving women within the forbidden degrees, a fifth wife, or simultaneous marriage to two sisters are all examined.

The final chapter recounts legends and tales that are, in many cases, lurid, depraved, and bloody.

The author does get into the semantics and roots of certain Arabic words, which was rather helpful and informative.

A key detail that the author highlights on different occasions throughout the book is that—apart from the constant need to bring Freudian thought into the conversation—language should not be confused with reality. This point is stressed time and again. A modern-day insult such as "MF" does not automatically make it a lived reality.