Islam and Women's Income

Farah Deeba Chowdhury is a Scholar in Residence at the Global Labour Research Centre, York University, Canada. She has served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh and has also held an SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Gender Studies at Queen’s University, Canada. She specializes in the areas of Islam, gender and law; gender and work; gender and politics; and gender and development. She has published widely on these topics.

This book offers an original Islamic interpretation of formal and substantive equality as requiring Bangladeshi husbands to stop appropriating wives’ earnings and to pay them maintenance and dower. Drawing on a deep understanding of national values, the author recommends Bangladesh criminalize income appropriation under existing anti-dowry legislation which does not apply to dower and could significantly improve the lives of working wives. Beverley Baines, Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University.Islam and Women`s Income (highlight title) provides a devastating critique of Bangladesh`s dowry system, which both reinforces patriarchal power and reduces married women`s control over their earned income. Indeed, Chowdhury develops a powerful argument for the importance of critically assessing the way cultural practices can interact with economic, political and legal forces to reinforce and legitimate gender inequality. This is a shocking and depressing story, but an essential read for scholars, development experts, policy makers and citizens concerned with developing a more gender equal world. Jane Parpart, Research Professor, University of Massachusetts Boston, Conflict Resolution, Human Security and Global Governance.

• Introduction; Theoretical and Conceptual Issues; Equality Debates in the West; Equality Within Islam: Formal and Substantive; Methodology; Overview of Remaining Chapters; Women and Islam in Bangladesh; The Politics of Islam in Bangladeshi Society; Women, Islam and Society in Bangladesh; Women in the Popular Books on Islam in Bangladesh; Misinterpretation of Islam and Husband-Wife Relationships in Bangladesh; Muslim Family Law in Bangladesh; Dower and Maintenance in Bangladesh; Divorce; Polygamy; Child Custody and Guardianship; Inheritance Law; CEDAW, Islamic Law and Women in Bangladesh; CEDAW and Islamic Law; CEDAW and Muslim Countries; CEDAW, Islam and Politics in Bangladesh; Same Responsibilities Between Men and Women; Dowry, Women and Law in Bangladesh; The Dowry System in South Asia; The Emergence of Dowry in Bangladesh; Men’s Expectations from Their Wives or Wives’ Family During Marriage; Dowry and Law in Bangladesh; Women, Income and Dowry in Bangladesh.; ; Women and Employment; Women’s Income and Dowry in Bangladesh; The Strategies That Husbands Employ to Control Wives’ Income; Conclusion