When the Manifesto Misses the Point

Maroof Shah’s proposed blueprint for change lands on old stereotypes, vague solutions, and a refusal to face the real forces holding women back.

- Danish Shafi

By the time you finish Muhammad Maroof Shah's Muslim Women: A Manifesto for Change, you're left with more questions than answers.

The book sets out to tackle a crucial subject—the place, rights, and futures of Muslim women—but ends up tangled in contradictions, tired stereotypes, and ideas that circle without landing anywhere meaningful.

Shah believes that feminist thinkers have failed Muslim women, especially in India. He argues that they have not clearly named the forces that oppress women, nor built strong spaces of resistance.

His core idea is that Muslim women must step forward, not just to free themselves but to lead others too.

But the book never explains why this special burden should fall on Muslim women or why their path should be different from women in other communities.

Instead of mapping the real systems that hold women back—patriarchy, religious misreadings, economic inequality—Shah spends much of the book blaming women. He calls them disorganized, unaware of their rights, and careless with money. He says women spend too much on clothes, houses, and weddings. He labels even educated women as “pathological consumers” who waste resources.

This line of thinking is not just narrow, it’s flawed.