This book is the result of the first comprehensive research, carried out within the framework of Islamic Studies, on childhood in medieval Muslim society. It deals with the images of children, with adults' attitudes towards them, and with concepts of childhood as reflected in legal, theological, philosophical, ethical and medical writings as well as works of belles lettres. The studies included in this volume are based on the historical-philological methodology enriched by a comparative approach towards the subject.

Autorentext

AYNER GIL'ADI

Inhalt

Preface - Acknowledgements - Introduction: History of Childhood in Islam - PART 1 THE NEW-BORN INFANT - Tunfat al-Mawdud: an Islamic Childrearing Manual from the Fourteenth Century - On Tahnik: an Early Islamic Childhood Rite - PART 2 CHILD EDUCATION - Al-Ghazali on Child Education - Corporal Punishment in Medieval Islamic Educational Thought - PART 3 CHILD MORTALITY AND ADULT REACTIONS - Infants, Children and Death in Medieval Muslim Society - Sabr (Steadfastness) of Bereaved Parents: a Motif in Medieval Islamic Consolation Treatises and its Origins - Infanticide in Medieval Muslim Society - Concluding Remarks - Notes and References - Bibliography - Index