THE GENDERED GEOGRAPHY OF SHARIA CAPITAL: SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S FINANCIAL INCLUSION ACROSS KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA'S URBAN-RURAL DIVIDE

Abstract

The current paper examines the geographical scope of women financial inclusion in the context of the Pakistani Islamic finance landscape in the urban-rural gap in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( KP ). We discuss a mixed-method study incorporating Geographic Information Systems (GIS), multivariate regression analysis, and qualitative interview (n=45) to analyze the secondary data of the Karandaaz Financial Inclusion Survey (2022), Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) 2021-22 and primary fieldwork at six KP districts (Peshawar, Mardan, Swat, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu). We find that there are severe spatial inequalities, women are 17 percent more likely to be financially included in urban Peshawar than rural Bannu (5.2 percent). Sharia-compliant products are even more asymmetricly represented (12 percent vs. 2.4 percent). The significant predictors noted by spatial regression are distance to financial access points (β=-0.38, p<0.01), digital literacy ( 0.42, p<0.001), and patriarchal mobility constraints ( 0.31, p<0.01). We present a Gendered Sharia Capital Framework, which combines Maqasid al-Shariah (preservation of wealth and progeny) with the feminist geography theory, demonstrating the way so-called gender-neutral Islamic financial products reproduce spatial inequities by developing masculinized network of branches and digital architecture. The research has added to the body of knowledge on Islamic finance by illustrating that gender sensitive spatial planning is needed to realize SBP gender sensitive full Islamization requirement of 2027. The recommended policies are to have women-led Islamic banking correspondents in rural tehsils, mobile fatwa services through USSD to those who do not have smartphones, and to introduce Wasatiyah principles to achieve the balance between market growth and social justice.

Keywords: Gendered Sharia capital, women's financial inclusion, spatial analysis, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamic finance, urban-rural divide, Maqasid al-Shariah