Empowering women entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia through Ar-Rahn financing: A dual analysis approach

The main goal of this paper is to explore how the Ar-Rahn contract can be utilized by banks in Saudi Arabia to finance women's business ventures, thereby fostering women's empowerment. This study employs a dual approach: desktop and primary data analysis. Initially, a desktop approach is used to analyze the Ar-Rahn product by reviewing existing literature and examining its implementation in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, we use primary data analysis to enhance the robustness of our findings. The results suggest that Ar-Rahn is a promising tool for empowering women and encouraging entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. This analysis provides valuable insights for banks and financial institutions in Saudi Arabia to develop Shariah-compliant financing products tailored for women entrepreneurs, which could also benefit marginalized communities.