Barren Women: Religion and Medicine in the Medieval Middle East
Sara Verskin, "Barren Women: Religion and Medicine in the Medieval Middle East "
English | ISBN: 3110595672 | 2020 | 324 pages | EPUB | 2 MB
English | ISBN: 3110595672 | 2020 | 324 pages | EPUB | 2 MB
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.
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