When cousins marry..

Within the South Asian community cousin marriages are a norm and as such figures show that 55% of British Pakistanis are married to their first cousins. It's a tradition that is being upheld even in the UK as most parents decide their children will find better partners in their own country. The bond between two families becomes even greater once a marriage takes place that binds them both.

However, there has been much debate about the repurcussions of marrying cousins. Genetics play a role in determining a person's chances of suffering from certain conditions so if two people who carry a recessive gene reproduce, their children have one in four chance of having the disorder and one in two chance of being a carrier themselves. In the Pakistani community, cases like these are rare but still higher than expected. The Born in Bradford study is hoping to provide statistical data by keeping track of 10,000 children born in Bradford to identify rare genetic conditions and further investigate consanguineous marriages. Experts advocate better genetic screening for those involved.

Here are some questions to ponder on..

How many people do you know who are married to their cousins? Let's start with the family. Are your parents cousins? Are your grandparents cousins? Were your great grandparents cousins? Is the norm changing? Are we marrying from outside the family? Will we get our children married to someone from outside the family?
What are your views?

This is our war

I was considering sharing this song on My Pakistani Ancestry for some time but never got round to it. Now, after reading a blog post by Bushra Hassan on The Citizen's Trust, it made me think about the war in Pakistan and the effects of that on ordinary lives. Go read her post "This is my war" and listen to the following song:



Artists: Haroon, Ali Haider, Ali Zafar, Shafqat, Strings, Shuja Haider and Hadiqa Kiyani

For those who need a translation of the lyrics:

Ye Hum Nahin
This is not us

Humare naam se pheli hui jhooti kahani hai
This story that is being spread in our names is a lie

Ye mohrein maut ki maathe pe ghairon ki nishani hai
These stamps of death on our forehead are the signs of others

Humain jis naam se tum jaante ho.. woh hum nahin
The name by which you know us - we are not that

Humain jis aankh se tum dehkte ho.. woh hum nahin
The eyes with which you look at us - we are not that

Ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin
This is not us - this is not us...

Jese shaam aate hi koyi rasta bhula bethe
As with the coming of night one loses one's way

Andheron se darhein itna ke hum ghar hi jala bethe
We are scared of the dark so much that we are burning our own home

Ye kya chaaron taraf urti hui rigani hai
What is this rising all around us...

Humare naam se pheli hui jhooti kahani hai
The stories that are being spread in our names are lies

Ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin
This is not us - this is not us...

Ghira bethe hain raste main sabak hum saath rehne ka
We have lost on the way the lesson of living together

Humain ek doosre se isiliye bhi lag raha hai darh
We are now even scared of each other

Woh koyi aur hain jin ke tere haath main chehre hain
They are others whose faces are on your hands

Tumhara dukh samandar hai, humare zakham gehre hain
Your sadness is a deep sea - our wounds are deep

Humare naam se pheli hui jhooti kahani hai
The stories that are being spread in our names are lies

Ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin, ye hum nahin
This is not us - this is not us...

--------------

This is the message we would like to protray to the world. That the bombings, the bloodshed, the killings are not what we are about. It's not what we condone or endorse.

Ye hum nahi
This is not us..

Birth of our founder: 1876

Today marks the birth of Mohammed Ali Jinnah or as he is widely known as in Pakistan as, Qaid e Azam (Great Leader).

Jinnah was born on 25th December 1876 and died on 11th September 1948

Keeping in mind the idea that Mohammed Ali Jinnah wanted for Pakistan, that Pakistan is for everyone irrespective of their colour, caste or creed, I would like to wish all Christians a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Inputting unknowns in family trees

What do you do when you don't know the name of an ancestor but you need to add them to your database? Well, previously I had been recording 'unknown' for both first names and surnames I didn't know. But then I decided I didn't want all these 'unknowns' crowding my family tree so I started to look around to find ways of cleaning up my database.

I'm currently using Legacy 7.0 as my genealogy software, as you all know. So, I've decided to go with the following rules (not set in stone, mind you!) :

First name unknown

If first name is unknown then add the relationship to the person you are linking them with e.g. if Azhar Yasin's wife is unknown add her to the database as "Wife Yasin"

Surname unknown

If the surname is unknown then add "--?--" e.g. "Rukhsar --?--"

Or, you can go find out the name of the missing ancestor :p

That should keep those pesky 'unknowns' out of your hair for a while but then you'll have to deal with the 'husbands', 'wives', 'brothers', 'sisters' etc. But for me, I think it's a better solution to adding unknowns to your database.

How would you standardize the unknown people in your database? Give me your feedback by leaving me a comment.

Eid ul Adha - 27th November 2009

I'd like to wish everyone a very happy Eid.

May Allah (swt) guide us on the right path and bring peace to Pakistan and its people, Ameen.

In the footsteps of Ibrahim (Peace be upon him)

With only 2 days left til Eid I wanted to share the story of Ibrahim (PBUH) to remind us why Muslims across the world celebrate Eid ul Adha.

"A father and son make their way in the early light of dawn, to fulfill an obligation that weighs heavily on their shoulders. The father, Ibrahim AS, is facing the ultimate test of his faith. In the days which lead to this morning, he has had recurring visions which instructed him to sacrifice his own son.

Yet this is the child Allah had bestowed on him like a miracle. The boy they had named Isma’el, meaning God shall hear, because he was Allah’s answer to the Ibrahim’s AS supplication, when he was still childless.

Only a handful of years has passed between then and this morning. Isma’el AS is still only a child, but the child follows his father to his imminent death with immovable faith. As they near their destination, his forbearance is tested. Doubt manifests itself in the shape of the doubt-casters whispering, but he remains steadfast, hurling stones at the Devil. When they reach the place of sacrifice the boy does not hesitate. He lies face down in submission to his father’s knife, and with a heavy heart, Ibrahim AS presses the blade against his son’s neck.

‘Oh Ibrahim’ Allah calls out at that moment. ‘You have fulfilled the vision!’ Then, as a ransom for Isma’el AS, the angel Jibra’il brings them a ram to sacrifice in his place, shouting, “Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar!” to stop Ibrahim’s AS hand. Overwhelmed with relief, on beholding the angel’s arrival, Ibrahim AS cries “Laa ilaha illallahu wallahu akbar!” And his son Isma’el AS, rises to his feet, exclaiming in thanks, “Allahu akbar wa lillahil hamd.”

This is the story of Prophet Ibrahim AS and Isma’el AS, who were prepared to make one of human history’s greatest sacrifices. Allah comforted them with news of His pleasure in the strength of their faith, and he promised to preserve the symbol of their submission in the tradition of generations to come.

So every year we celebrate Eid ul-Adha, making and sharing our sacrifices with our communities, in the spirit of a splendid history."

Taken from Muslim Aid.

My mother's mother's mother's mother

How well do you know your matrilineal lines? Unfortunately, I don't know the name of my 2nd great grandma (from my mother's side) but I know the next best thing, her daughter's name. So I have the name of my great grandma.

5) --?--
4) Great grandma
3) Grandma
2) Mum
1) Me

It's difficult to find women on many family trees created by Pakistanis as many researchers fail to include them. But should we be looking for our female ancestors in the same way as our male ancestors? Click here to watch an online seminar I came across which covers aspects to researching your matrilineal lines. It's narrated by Julie Helen Otto, a NEHGS genealogist.

What if it were the other way round? What if the question was, who is your father's father's father's father? Would you have the answer?