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The Wealth of Women: Understanding Islamic Financial Laws
- GenresIslam
515 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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December 30, 2025Laws of countries and tribal rules of religion can often determine the financial independence of women. In spite of worldwide women rights movements abuse abounds. Evidence of the impact of Islamic financial laws is set forth in this book with 21 interviews of American Islamic women. The feedback varies, but the impact is consistently loaded with emotional inequities that any readers, man or women no matter what religion or ethnic background would not feel compassion for the outcomes often inflicted upon the women. The author deserves credit for her initiative in unmasking this scenario.
September 21, 2025
informative book. the stories were familiar.
January 12, 2026
Given that #IslamAndWomenReads is literally my schtick, I was very excited to come across a book that is dedicated to examining women's financial rights in Islam. And, in the beginning, it seemed really promising!
The author begins by bringing up specific examples of women's financial rights under Islamic law, scholarly controversies and interpretations around those rights, a study of 21 American Muslim women and their experiences re: financial rights, compliance of women's Shar'i financial rights in Muslim households, and finally, recommendations and conclusions on the topic.
As someone with a basic familiarity on the topic, I was excited to see the author bring up topics like the obligation of mahr and legal consequences of those who do not pay mahr to their wives; monetary compensation for domestic labour, nursing, and childcare; post-talaq mataa' (monetary compensation upon talaq), and more.
Unfortunately, it quickly became evident to me that this book cannot be taken seriously as a fiqhi compendium.
There were several clear errors (such as claiming that Ibn Taymiyyah did not hold domestic labour to be waajib, when he in fact did so - unlike the madhaahib); lack of academic rigor (citing an individual's opinion via a TV show, without even mentioning the episode, date of airing, or including direct quotes; reliance upon secondary sources rather than primary sources for fiqhi opinions); using contemporary language and concepts in a manner that is anachronistic to classical fiqhi discussions; lack of nuance with regards to certain ideas/ concepts (traditionally vs contemporary); overly simplistic language, and more.
While the topics she brings up are very important, and they all do have a basis in traditional fiqh, she unfortunately does not do the subject justice. For every valid point brought up, she does so in a manner that is not academically thorough nor even well written/ laid out, and I would not feel comfortable referencing the author as a subject matter expert in the least.
I wish she'd had consultation with, or even co-written the book with, a scholar who specializes in these topics (or multiple scholars from different madhaahib so they could accurately represent the opinions of their schools).
And, as with so many Kube publications, THIS BOOK NEEDS EDITING. An entire chart made no sense because an important section got blocked out so we have no idea what the chart is supposed to be talking about; multiple grammatical errors; and more.
Very disappointed that this book simply is not one that I can rely on without needing to fact check multiple times and do deeper dives into each sub-topic from other sources in order to have a more holistic understanding of the overall Shar'i framework being discussed (particularly on marriage-related matters).
Unless you're like me and NEED to collect every possible book in existence on the subject of your hyperfixation... save your money and don't bother with this book.
The author begins by bringing up specific examples of women's financial rights under Islamic law, scholarly controversies and interpretations around those rights, a study of 21 American Muslim women and their experiences re: financial rights, compliance of women's Shar'i financial rights in Muslim households, and finally, recommendations and conclusions on the topic.
As someone with a basic familiarity on the topic, I was excited to see the author bring up topics like the obligation of mahr and legal consequences of those who do not pay mahr to their wives; monetary compensation for domestic labour, nursing, and childcare; post-talaq mataa' (monetary compensation upon talaq), and more.
Unfortunately, it quickly became evident to me that this book cannot be taken seriously as a fiqhi compendium.
There were several clear errors (such as claiming that Ibn Taymiyyah did not hold domestic labour to be waajib, when he in fact did so - unlike the madhaahib); lack of academic rigor (citing an individual's opinion via a TV show, without even mentioning the episode, date of airing, or including direct quotes; reliance upon secondary sources rather than primary sources for fiqhi opinions); using contemporary language and concepts in a manner that is anachronistic to classical fiqhi discussions; lack of nuance with regards to certain ideas/ concepts (traditionally vs contemporary); overly simplistic language, and more.
While the topics she brings up are very important, and they all do have a basis in traditional fiqh, she unfortunately does not do the subject justice. For every valid point brought up, she does so in a manner that is not academically thorough nor even well written/ laid out, and I would not feel comfortable referencing the author as a subject matter expert in the least.
I wish she'd had consultation with, or even co-written the book with, a scholar who specializes in these topics (or multiple scholars from different madhaahib so they could accurately represent the opinions of their schools).
And, as with so many Kube publications, THIS BOOK NEEDS EDITING. An entire chart made no sense because an important section got blocked out so we have no idea what the chart is supposed to be talking about; multiple grammatical errors; and more.
Very disappointed that this book simply is not one that I can rely on without needing to fact check multiple times and do deeper dives into each sub-topic from other sources in order to have a more holistic understanding of the overall Shar'i framework being discussed (particularly on marriage-related matters).
Unless you're like me and NEED to collect every possible book in existence on the subject of your hyperfixation... save your money and don't bother with this book.
September 24, 2025
An important resource on the financial rights and responsibilities of women in Islamic law! Very well written and strongly recommended for anyone who wants to learn about these important issues.
July 19, 2025
The book can be quite detailed at times and may feel a little slow, but that seems to be its purpose— to delve deeply into academic topics.
The main idea is that Muslim women should not only be aware of their financial rights but also possess the education and skills necessary to support themselves. Education encompasses not just secular knowledge but also a basic understanding of Islamic teachings. In fact, reading the Tafsir of the Qur'an and learning the basics can greatly enlighten a Muslim woman about her financial rights in Islam.
The main idea is that Muslim women should not only be aware of their financial rights but also possess the education and skills necessary to support themselves. Education encompasses not just secular knowledge but also a basic understanding of Islamic teachings. In fact, reading the Tafsir of the Qur'an and learning the basics can greatly enlighten a Muslim woman about her financial rights in Islam.
December 31, 2025
such an important resource for men and women alike
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews