Muslim Women in the Economy: Development, Faith and Globalisation

255 Pages·2020·6.302 MB·English

by  Shamim Samani, Dora Marinova

Muslim Women in the Economy

This book explores the changing role of Muslim women in the economy in
the twenty-first century. Sociological developments such as secular education,
female-focused policies, national and global commitments to gender equality
as well as contemporary technological advances have all served to shift and
redefine the domestic and public roles of Muslim women, leading in many
places to increases in workplace participation and entrepreneurship. The
volume investigates the contexts of these shifts and the experiences of women
balancing faith and other commitments to actively engage in the economy in
vastly different countries.
The book looks at how family codes and the understandings of Muslim
male and female roles sit alongside social and economic advances and the
increases in women partaking in the economy. Within a globalised world, it
also highlights the importance of the implementation of the current sustain­
able development priorities in the context of Muslim societies, including
Sustainable Development Goal 5 that focuses on the vital role of women and
their full participation in all areas of sustainable development.
With cases ranging from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indo­
nesia, Nigeria, Kenya through to Spain, Bulgaria and Australia, Muslim
Women in the Economy will be of considerable interest to those studying,
researching and interested in gender, development and religious studies.
Shamim Samani is a research fellow at the University of Western Australia
and a lecturer at Curtin University, Australia.
Dora Marinova is a professor of Sustainability at the Curtin University Sustain­
ability Policy (CUSP) Institute, Australia.
Routledge Research in Religion and Development
Series Editors:
Matthew Clarke, Deakin University, Australia
Emma Tomalin, University of Leeds, UK
Nathan Loewen, University of Alabama, USA
Editorial board:
Carole Rakodi, University of Birmingham, UK
Gurharpal Singh, School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London, UK
Jörg Haustein, School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London, UK
Christopher Duncanson-Hales, Saint Paul University, Canada
The Routledge Research in Religion and Development series focuses on the
diverse ways in which religious values, teachings and practices interact with
international development.
While religious traditions and faith-based movements have long served as
forces for social innovation, it has only been within the last ten years that
researchers have begun to seriously explore the religious dimensions of inter­
national development. However, recognising and analysing the role of religion
in the development domain is vital for a nuanced understanding of this field.
This interdisciplinary series examines the intersection between these two
areas, focusing on a range of contexts and religious traditions.
Nigerian Pentecostalism and Development
Richard Burgess
A Theology of International Development
Thia Cooper
Muslim Women in the Economy
Development, Faith and Globalisation
Edited by Shamim Samani and Dora Marinova
International Development and Local Faith Actors
Ideological and Cultural Encounters
Edited by Kathryn Kraft and Olivia J. Wilkinson
Muslim Women in the Economy
Development, Faith and Globalisation
Edited by
Shamim Samani and Dora Marinova
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 selection and editorial matter, Shamim Samani and Dora Marinova;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Shamim Samani and Dora Marinova to be identified as the
authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Samani, Shamim, editor. | Marinova, Dora, editor.

Title: Muslim women in the economy : development, faith and globalisation /

edited by Shamim Samani and Dora Marinova.

Description: New York : Routledge, 2020. | Series: Routledge research in

religion and development | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019054053 (print) | LCCN 2019054054 (ebook) |

ISBN 9780367207397 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429263194 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Muslim women--Social conditions--21st century. |

Women in development. | Sex role. | Sex discrimination against women. |

Muslim businesspeople.

Classification: LCC HQ1170 .M8474 2020 (print) | LCC HQ1170 (ebook) |

DDC 305.48/697--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019054053

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019054054

ISBN: 978-0-367-20739-7 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-26319-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Taylor & Francis Books
Contents

List of illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
List of contributors x
Introduction: Changing prospects for Muslim women in the
global economy 1
SHAMIM SAMANI AND DORA MARINOVA
PART 1
Gender policies and economic participation 13
1 Progressing in a man’s world: Women’s workforce participation
in Bangladesh 15
SHAGUFTA M. TRISHNA, AMZAD HOSSAIN AND DORA MARINOVA
2 Gender parity through the Saudi Vision 2030: Female
representation in English as a Foreign Language textbooks 32
ABEER ALSHAHRANI, SHAMIM SAMANI AND DORA MARINOVA
3 Cultural assimilation policies in Bulgaria and the plight of
Muslim women 48
SILVIA LOZEVA, DORA MARINOVA, SHAMIM SAMANI, KALOYAN TSVETKOV
AND GEORGI BARDAROV
4 “Leaving no one behind”: Analysing contexts of education and
economic challenges for Muslim women in Northern Nigeria 69
JESUDUNSIN OSINAIKE AND SHAMIM SAMANI
5 What hides behind the scarf: Iranian women’s participation in
the economy 85
ZAHRA AMROLLAHI BIYOUKI AND DORA MARINOVA
vi Contents
PART 2
Negotiating the workplace 101
6 Narratives of empowerment: Female domestic workers in
Karachi 103
ZEHRA GOAWALA
7 Mediating between the secular and the religious: Strategies of
prominent Spanish women of Moroccan Muslim origins 118
DINA BOUSSELHAM AND JUAN IGNACIO CASTIEN MAESTRO
8 Multilayered workplace discrimination faced by Muslim women
in a Western context 131
DERYA INER AND AMINA BAGHDADI
9 Being a Muslim working woman: Experiences of Australian
women of Pakistan origin 146
SAMINA YASMEEN
10 A quest for balance: Analysing layers of consciousness beneath
a Muslim woman’s career decisions 163
AMINAH MAH
PART 3
Opportunities in the global economy 177
11 Islamic finance and women-focused banking in Kenya 179
SHAMIM SAMANI
12 The influence of religion on the empowerment and economic
mobility of smallholder women dairy farmers in Nigeria 195
NATHALIE GOGUE EBO, IFEOMA UMUNNA AND JESUDUNSIN OSINAIKE
13 Education, digital enterprise and Islam in the Indonesian modern
embedded economy 214
MINAKO SAKAI AND BHIRAWA ANORAGA
14 Conclusion: Muslim women in the economy: Looking towards
the future 229
SHAMIM SAMANI AND DORA MARINOVA
Index 234
Illustrations

Figures
3.1 Distribution of Muslim population in Bulgaria, 2011 52
3.2 Shi’ite sign in the Bulgarian village of Metodievo 53
3.3 Ethnic Turkish women in Konevo in front of the local
mosque with presents from the municipality of Varbitsa 53
3.4 Pomak women on a train in Southern Bulgaria 55
3.5a and Roma women employed in street sweeping, Sofia,
3.5b Bulgaria 56
5.1 Female labour force participation rate, Iran, 1990–2018
[%] 87
5.2 Female energy engineering students at Amirkabir
University, Tehran, June 2019 89
Tables
2.1 City locations and EFL textbooks analysed – number of
participants 40
2.2 Adequate representation in EFL textbooks – number of
participants 41
2.3 Equal representation in EFL textbooks – number of
participants 41
2.4 Reason for the degree of representation – number of
participants 42
2.5 Preferred roles represented in EFL textbooks – number of
participants 42
2.6 Impact of representation on future career pathway –
number of participants 43
2.7 Preparation for the anticipated roles in Vision 2030 –
number of participants 44
8.1 Demographic details of the study participants 135
9.1 Women’s access to education and labour force
participation in selected Muslim countries 147
viii List of illustrations
9.2 Labour force participation by gender in Western Australia

(2016): Pakistani men and women 152

9.3 Demographic data of respondents, Western Australia,

2019 153

11.1 Differences between conventional and Islamic banking 182

12.1 Study respondents demographics disaggregated by gender 201
Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the many people who have made this pub­
lication possible. Foremost we would like to thank the 19 contributors besides
us for the time and effort they have put into the chapters. We are very grateful
for their co-operation and collegiality in responding to our requests for
revising the chapters several times after receiving feedback from external
reviewers and ourselves. We are greatly indebted to the reviewers specialising
in their areas who made the time to respond to our requests and most
importantly for giving constructive feedback that helped to shape the chap­
ters. In addition, we would like to thank the editorial team at Routledge and
Atiq Zaman for their assistance. We also thank our families and friends who
gave their support and encouragement to bring this publication together.
Thank you Ekbal, Javaid, Zara, Mira, Ana, Nikolay, Daniel and Alex for
your love and patience while we were working on this book.