Why ‘Muslim Couple and Money’?

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Let me put my message straight: I write this book (“Muslim Couple and Money”) because I care for you. Yes, I seriously care for you, newlywed Muslim couple; I care for every new groom and bride.

I do not want you to experience my own experience of the lack of money management during the initial years of my marriage. Like many other people, I had a whatever-goes attitude. Yes, I had an earning but no proper management; no idea at all about savings, and much less about investment; neither was there any system of monitoring the outflow of income (expenses).

Many studies show that a great deal of marital conflicts and splits are money-related; either the lack of it or the improper use of it. The finding of these studies is corroborated by personal experience as well as experiences of couples very close to you and me.

Your job is to avoid this kind of situation and be financially successful and happy as a couple, and my job is to provide you an arsenal of tools to succeed in doing so.

The first tip, or tool, as you may call it, is proper understanding of the ideal relationship between a Muslim and money. Is it a relationship of unconditional attraction, or of total negation? Who is supposed to be the master and who is supposed to be the servant? Is money a means, or an end?

The second tip is correct knowledge about the relationship between marriage and money. Is ‘bahala saging basta loving’ (frugal yet loving life) motto always true all the time? Can money surely guarantee a happy family? 

The third tip is the proven and tested money formula (income – saving = expenses). Is this formula as intricate as our dreaded formulas in algebra and calculus? Is it a sort of quick-rich scheme? Is this formula difficult, or even almost impossible, to follow?

The fourth tip is about income, which is the first element in the money formula. What are various ways to increase the streams of lawful income?

The fifth tip is about saving, which is the second element in the money formula. Can everyone really save regardless of his or her earning status? Or, is saving applicable only to the rich?

The sixth tip is about investment, which is a corollary of saving. What are the available shari‘ah-compliant tools of investment? Which tool is the best for a midterm goal, and for a long-term goal? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these tools of investment?

The seventh tip is about expenses, which are the third and last element in the money formula. What are practical tips to curve one’s expenses?

The eighth and last tip is debt management. How to handle debts? Is it advisable to save and then invest, while having debts?

In closing, I wish you happy reading, and thus financial success, in the new stage of your life journey!

(Source: Mansoor Limba, MUSLIM COUPLE AND MONEY: 8 PRACTICAL FINANCIAL TIPS FOR NEWLYWED MUSLIM COUPLE, pp. 1-4.)

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