Women Entrepreneurs and Business Empowerment in Muslim Countries

This book analyzes women entrepreneurs in Muslim countries who are using Islamic values to develop and run small businesses. As a core case study, the authors are using Indonesia as it is the largest Muslim country in the world by population. The project examines supportive policies and economic programs in detail and considers their effects on the businesses of several women entrepreneurs. Additionally, the authors argue that this work-life balance is critical for the definition of a successful female Muslim entrepreneur. The monograph considers whether this new phenomenon indicates a change in the conception of ideal Muslim womanhood or whether it is a limited phenomenon with few impacts beyond Indonesia. The book will appeal to academic and practitioner audience interested in Islam, gender studies, Middle Eastern and South Asian politics, development, anthropology, and social policy.

‘The book weaves together the impact of context-specific variables, state policies, and economic status of women in shaping their ability to emerge as Muslim mothers as entrepreneurs, mompreneurs. Significantly, located in wider context of the emergence of the phenomenon around the Muslim world, it draws attention to how the narratives of the activism and agency of Prophet Mohammad’s wives, Khadija and Aisha, enable them to navigate their economic choices and activities, and the pioneering role played in the process of Indonesian women.’

-       Professor Samina Yasmeen AM, CitWA, FAIIA, Professor & Director (CMSS), Social Sciences/Centre for Muslim States and Societies (CMSS), The University of Western Australia

‘Minako Sakai and Amelia Fauzia present an incisive analysis of an understudied yet consequential aspect of the modern Muslim experience: women’s business enterprise. They cogently demonstrate that the success of momtrepreneurs in Indonesia, thanks to governmental and social support, male acquiescence, and a flexible normative milieu, is suggestive for the future of female agency not only in Indonesia but also beyond. This meticulously researched and argued work thus vividly points to the possibilities of shaping inclusive Muslim modernities.’

-       Professor James Piscatori, Co-author of Islam Beyond Borders: The Umma in World Politics, Durham University, UK

‘Islamization has been undergone widely, supported mainly by middle class Muslims, men and women. In this book, Minako Sakai and Amelia Fauzia show the emergence of Muslim mompreneurs, facilitated by both NGOs and the government, whom through their business and social activities, they moderated the phenomenon of ‘conservative turn’ that may hinder women’s involvement in the economy. Muslim mompreneurs negotiated with patriarchal culture using interpretation of Islamic teachings and role model tradition. This book is an important work that shows the conformity of Islam and modernization, and distinctive feature of Southeast Asian (also Indonesian) Islamic cultural sphere. I highly recommend this book for academics, NGOs and governments.’

- Professor Azyumardi Azra, CBE (Prominent Indonesian public intellectual, Professor of Islamic History at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta)

Minako Sakai is an anthropologist, and is Associate Professor and Deputy Head of School (Research) at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, Canberra.

Amelia Fauzia is a social historian, and is Professor and the Director for Social Trust Fund at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta. She is a Senior Visiting Fellow with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales, Canberra.