Suami Rumah Tangga: The Perceptions and Lived Experiences of Muslim Househusband

• author: Syed Imad Alatas

• publisher: Gerakbudaya

• published in: 2026

• language: English

Suami Rumah Tangga: The Perceptions and Lived Experiences of Muslim Househusbands in Malaysia is based on 21 interviews with both Muslim men working full-time and Muslim househusbands. It sheds light on men in a Muslim-majority society where they are expected to be the financial provider of their family. While traditional gender roles typically do not take into account men’s capacity to care beyond their financial maintenance of the household, this book argues that men care in many ways that, to them, do not go against their Islamic faith. The intimate realms of fatherhood and household chores show that men do not always subscribe to rigid notions of masculinity. Being a househusband may not be ideal from a societal and religious point of view, but the househusbands in this study do not feel their masculinity being compromised. Beyond being an understudied topic in Malaysia, this book hopes to encourage more discussion about the flexibility of gender roles within Muslim contexts.

About the author:

Syed Imad Alatas is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in sociology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His research interests include gender and masculinities. He has published in journals such as The Journal of Men’s Studies, Kajian Malaysia, and Asia Pacific Social Science Review. He is the author of What It Means to Be a Muslimah: The Religious Orientation of Female Muslim Activists in Malaysia (Gerakbudaya, 2022).