The Muslim Woman's Manifesto: 10 Steps to Achieving Phenomenal Success, in Both Worlds Paperback – February 15, 2020

As there are few guides and self-help books written for the specific demographic of Muslim women, Kashmir Maryam consolidates Islamic teachings with self-improvement tips to examine and solve personal challenges. Muslim men can equally benefit from reading this self-help book. Kashmir Maryam strategically incorporates Qu’ranic ayaat (verses) and statements of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a response to the common difficulties that we undergo to highlight where Muslim women’s focus should be. She beautifully mentions deep, personal anecdotes and shares them with the members of the audience so that they can learn and apply them to the issues or dilemmas with which they are confronted. In the book, she provides helpful advice on the need for women to prioritize themselves and to make their prayer a foundation through which they can build a stronger life. Throughout the book, the examples that Maryam gives are original, resourceful, and innovative. I sincerely appreciated her unique perspective on certain topics such as finding our passion and eliminating toxic people from our lives. Maryam clearly made great efforts to express her own voice and articulate her own authentic ideas.A common issue that many of us encounter is not utilizing our time properly, so she emphasizes the importance of time in Islamic terms and contributes excellent tips on how we can manage it. Once again, the message of this book is very much needed for Muslim women and Muslim men alike. In today’s time, we often struggle with the the concept of women’s roles in society; Maryam does a superb job of speaking about the topic in a balanced way. In chapter 7, Maryam sheds light on why a successful marriage is important and pinpoints the genuine characteristics of marriage, which is contrary to the message that we are accustomed to seeing in popular culture and social media. In addition, she underscores the Islamic concept of womanhood through examples of several pious women of the past.Overall, she gives a fresh, wholesome perspective on conventional problems that we face in our daily lives and offers creative and practical solutions to solving them. In this truly one of a kind book, Kashmir Maryam sequentially crafts the issues in her words, states her thoughts based on her experience, and meticulously weaves in the Islamic principles that we can effectively follow and implement to change ourselves. Because Maryam successfully keeps the Qu’ran and the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) example as the backbone of her book, she has, thus, designed a manual that can be employed in the life of the Muslim in a more fruitful way. In times when the genre of self-help is very much needed, Maryam has imparted a great gem to the Muslim community by integrating Islamic criteria to further support our productivity in both religious and worldly affairs. The suggestions found in the book can help us move forward in our current life in the world and establish a strong cornerstone for the life that is to come.I thoroughly enjoyed the exercises that Maryam includes at the end of each chapter as well as the quotes of famous figures throughout the chapters. The quotes add good structure to the chapters, which are already constructed in a natural, graceful, and straightforward way. Moreover, the chapters, subsections, and paragraphs are arranged in a very logical order, as Kashmir Maryam’s ideas are designed and presented in a cohesive manner. She writes the book in an eloquent fashion and in a compassionate, personable tone. She truly has the Muslim community’s best interests at heart. Her book, InshAllah (God-willing), can be used a tool to create a transformation within us and in our outward actions. The Muslim Woman’s Manifesto: 10 Steps to Achieving Phenomenal Success, in Both Worlds is a must read for any Muslim wanting to initiate a change and become the person he/she desires to become.

I bought this book back in 2020 at the height of the pandemic but never actually sat down to read it until midnight on New Year's of 2023. I decided that this year would be the year I went back to my original love: books. I promised myself I wouldn’t buy any new books until I had read all the books that were gathering dust on my bookshelf (which let me be honest, I have broken that promise twice already😅). That’s when I grabbed this book.This book goes into depth about the importance of success in both this life and the hereafter. In order to achieve success in both worlds, we as Muslim women need to look inward and focus on the important things that will help us reach our success goals. She goes into detail for ten short and easy-to-understand chapters, explaining the difference between success in this dunya and the afterlife. At the end of each chapter, she includes exercises to practice the concepts and habits she presents, allowing the reader to have not only a reflective experience with the book but also an interactive one. She concludes the book with some original poetry as an added bonus.The Muslim Woman’s Manifesto shares a message for all Muslim women at various stages of life and that is: “You can be successful, no matter your definition of success. You just have to put in the work and become mindful of your choices.” It helps the reader look inward and practice the art of reflection, an important skill we as humans should all master.I highly recommend this book to everyone: women and men. I think it’s especially important for men to read this as well so that they too can use the tools for themselves AND help and empower the women in their lives such as wives, sisters, daughters, etc.

I just brought this new edition and I can't tell you how much I literally love it! There is a big focus on mental wellness which really made me dig deep into some past wounds. The author also talks in depth about specific issues we as Muslim women experience like shame and cultural taboos etc. The chapter on marriage and family life in specific spoke to me. I seriously can't recommend this enough!

This book is a must read! I am very picky with the type of self-help books I choose to read and there are so many reasons why this one was amazing. For one, many of the self-help books are not catered to Muslim women but this one is and helps navigate both our current life and the afterlife.I love how she talks about “middle-ground” because as a working mom who also runs her own business, things can get hectic. Today’s society forces you to be one or the other but Kashmir gives you a guide on how to find balance through it all. Another important topic she touches on is how to use our time wisely. I find myself misusing my time a lot and on page 68 she uses the Fajr prayer as an example on how managing our time can be truly beneficial.Lastly, I love the action exercises because it allowed me to not only read the book and put it away. Instead, it made me dive deeper into each chapter with a goal. This book is really well written and easy to follow!