Infants, Parents and Wet Nurses: Medieval Islamic Views on Breastfeeding and Their Social Implications.

• Author: Cooper, Glen M.
• Position: Reviews of Books - Book Review

Infants, Parents and Wet Nurses: Medieval Islamic Views on Breastfeeding and Their Social Implications. By AVNER GILADI. Islamic History and Civilization: Studies and Texts. Leiden: BRILL, 1999. Pp. x + 191. $76.50.

Breastfeeding, a practice that at first may seem so mundane as to be hardly worth comment, proves quite the opposite in this study. In fact, breastfeeding was so important a practice as to have provoked extensive discussion in the medical and legal literature of Islam. In presenting this material, Giladi provides a fascinating window on a neglected historical field that should be useful to those interested in Qur' anic exegesis, Islamic law, history of medicine, Islamic social history and history of the family.

Historical research about breastfeeding is hindered by the fact that there are almost no records of breastfeeding or wet nursing. This is not surprising, since those aspects of life that are most central and most familiar usually do not leave written evidence. Giladi adopts an intriguing approach: by examining legal documents and treatises, he recovers from them as much as possible about the practice of breastfeeding, which turns out to be much. By examining legal sources, much light is shed on issues such as women's status in the family, the nature of their relationships with their children, the nature of relations with wet nurses, as well as "power structures" within the family. For example, although men controlled breastfeeding--it is the man who chooses and hires the wet nurse--women also played to their advantage.

The study is presented in four parts: first, the "ethics of breastfeeding" in Islam is considered on the basis of the Qur' an and Sunna; second, evidence is adduced from the medical tradition; third, the views of the jurists are considered; and fourth, theories of breastfeeding are considered in practice.

Breastfeeding is mentioned six times in the Qur'an, each of which reflects, consistent with the spirit of the Qur'an, concern for the helpless nursling. The Qur'anic commentators contributed much to the ethics of the subject, clearly stipulating under what conditions an infant could be entrusted to a wet nurse. In spite of the fact that the child is attributed to the father, who is responsible for its care, including nursing and the notion of "sire's milk" (the idea that the husband is the owner of the milk since his semen causes it to flow), some commentators adopted a more reasonable view, namely, that...