Children
Islamic Empire: Religious Text, Women Sura
This Sura (or chapter) of the Qur’an, known as al-Nisa’, or “Women,” details a variety of legal rights and restrictions for Muslims in the realm of marriage, inheritance, and other male-female relationships.
Confessions of Dorothy and Abigail Faulkner, Jr.
Dorothy and Abigail Faulkner: aged 10 and 8
Baby Sitter and the Man Upstairs
Many children, young people, and adults (especially Americans) are likely to be familiar with this story about the babysitter menaced by the maniac that has gripped the popular imagination for the last half century.
"I Must Of Course Have Something Of My Own Before Many More Years Have Passed Over My Head": Sally Rice Leaves the Farm
From the rocky soil of Vermont's hill towns, many young men and women in the 19th century went looking for new opportunities. Often they made a series of moves between farm, factory, and city.
Kissing Rudy Valentino: A High-School Student Describes Movie Going in the 1920s
Fears about the impact of movies on youth led to the Payne Fund research project, which brought together 19 social scientists and resulted in 11 published reports.
Al-Muwatta on the Legal Testimony of Children
The legal practice described in the source relates the opinion of jurists on the use of children's statements in the courts.
Aqiqa, Islamic Birth Ritual
The hadith, or narrated report, reflects the Islamic custom of sacrificing a sheep upon the birth of a child, sharing the meat with extended family members, and donating some of it as charity (sadaqa).
Hadith on Parents’ Grieving upon the Death of Children
The quotations below relate normative examples of parents' behavior upon the death of a child. In the first hadith, or narrative from the life of Muhammad, Prophet of Islam, Aisha, wife of Muhammad, asks about the salvation of those who have suffered the death of one or more children.
Ottoman Decree, 1856
The Ottoman Empire undertook extensive reforms between 1839 and 1876, a period known as the Tanzimat (reorganization). Europeanized Ottoman bureaucrats and a series of decrees from the sultan shaped these reforms that sought administrative, military, legal, and educational improvements.
Girls' Education is the Basis of Civilization and Moral Refinement, 1907
At the turn of the 20th century, Tehran published magazines intended to reshape social practices, to "civilize" and "modernize" the nation.