1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910404117703321

Autore

Verskin Sara

Titolo

Barren Women : Religion and Medicine in the Medieval Middle East / / Sara Verskin

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berlin/Boston, : De Gruyter, 2020

Berlin ; ; Boston : , : De Gruyter, , [2020]

©2020

ISBN

3-11-059367-X

3-11-059658-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XIV, 310 p.)

Collana

Islam – Thought, Culture, and Society ; ; 2

Disciplina

297.265

Soggetti

Familienrecht

Frauen

Islam

Islamic family law

Unfruchtbarkeit

Women in Islam

history of medicine

infertility

History

Arab countries

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Studying Infertility in the Medieval Islamic World: Why and How -- Introduction to Part I -- 1 Infertility and the Purposes of Marriage in Legal Theory -- 2 Law and Biology: Menstruation, Amenorrhea, and Legal Recognition of Reproductive Status -- 3 Islamic Law and the Prospects of Women Presumed to be Infertile -- Conclusion to Part I: The Intersection of Islamic Law and Women’s Biology -- Introduction to Part II -- 4 Gynecological Theory in Arabo-Galenic Medicine -- 5 Physicians, Midwives, and Female Patients -- Conclusion to Part II: Medicine and Sexism -- Introduction to Part III -- 6 Religiously Classifying the



Medical Marketplace of Ideas -- 7 Heterodoxy and Healthcare Among Women -- Conclusion to Part III: A Tafsīr about the First Woman’s Fertility and Theological Vulnerability -- Epilogue: Infertility and the Study of Women’s History -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Barren Women is the first scholarly book to explore the ramifications of being infertile in the medieval Arab-Islamic world. Through an examination of legal texts, medical treatises, and works of religious preaching, Sara Verskin illuminates how attitudes toward mixed-gender interactions; legal theories pertaining to marriage, divorce, and inheritance; and scientific theories of reproduction contoured the intellectual and social landscape infertile women had to navigate. In so doing, she highlights underappreciated vulnerabilities and opportunities for women’s autonomy within the system of Islamic family law, and explores the diverse marketplace of medical ideas in the medieval world and the perceived connection between women’s health practices and religious heterodoxy. Featuring copious translations of primary sources and minimal theoretical jargon, Barren Women provides a multidimensional perspective on the experience of infertility, while also enhancing our understanding of institutions and modes of thought which played significant roles in shaping women’s lives more broadly.