The term 'plague' may be used to denote the disease which is commonly known by this name and of which there was an outbreak in India in September, 1994. It may also refer to any epidemic with serious consequences. The disease known as the 'plague' can spread very rapidly and it may lead to death very quickly, unless proper measures are taken to confine it to the affected area and proper medical help is given straight away to those who contract it. The Children of Israel were subjected at various times to different forms of punishment from God, but I very much doubt the accuracy of the report you have sent me.

On the other hand there is reference in the Qur'an to various forms of affliction that Pharaoh and his people were made to suffer, and these were in a sense forms of 'plague.' Verses 132-6 of Surah 7, entitled "The Heights" may be given in translation as follows:

"They said to Moses: 'Whatever miracle you may work to confound us, we will not believe in you.' So We plagued them with floods and locusts, with lice and frogs, and with blood. All these were clear miracles, yet they scorned them, for they were a wicked people. And when each plague smote them, they said: 'Moses, pray to your Lord for us; invoke the promise He has made you. If you lift the plague from us, we will believe in you and let the Israelites go with you.' But when We had lifted the plague from them and the appointed time had come, they broke their promise. So We took vengeance on them and drowned them in the sea, for they had denied Our signs and gave no heed to them."

On the basis of these verses you could say that Pharaoh and his people suffered plagues as punishment from God, but there is no reference to the well-known disease, the plague, being one of the forms of punishment they suffered.

Having said that I would like to add that God may decide to punish any people for their transgression by any method He chooses. He may use any of His creatures as a tool to inflict that punishment. In that sense all His creation are His armies which He could use to accomplish any purpose of His. He says in the Qur'an: "To God belongs the legions of the heavens and the earth. God is mighty and wise." (48: 7) Certainly epidemics may be part of the weaponry He may use to accomplish His purpose.

There is a great deal of misunderstanding and confusion in this question that I find it difficult to deal with all the issues it raises in the limited space available to one question. There are also clear inaccuracies, such as the process to be applied following an accusation of adultery between husband and wife. I will try to tackle all issues raised very briefly.

When we speak of equality, we are really speaking of rights and duties. Of course there are differences between men and women, but these are due to their respective roles in human life, and how they have been equipped for these roles. Both men and women are required to believe in God and all the main beliefs of the Islamic faith in the same way. They have the same duties of worship to observe, and the same authority to enter into any transactions. What God has forbidden applies to both men and women in the same degree. Their reward is the same for their good deeds, and their punishment for their sins is the same. If this is not equality, what is?

Having said that, I realize that my reader is not alone in claiming for men a position of superiority which is not theirs. Often verse 34 of Surah 4 is quoted, and misunderstood, or given an inaccurate meaning, to prove that. It is always quoted in support of the claim that men have authority over women. Indeed many translations of the Qur’an render it in this sense. The best translation of it I have seen is that of Muhammad Asad who renders it as: "Men shall take full care of women." He explains this in a footnote in which he says: "The expression qawwam is an intensive form of qaim (i.e. "one who is responsible for" or "takes care of" a thing or a person). Thus qama ala l-mar’h signifies "he undertook the maintenance of the woman" or "he maintained her". The grammatical form qawwam is more comprehensive than qaim and combines the concept of physical maintenance and protection as well as of moral responsibility. And it is because of the last-named factor that I have rendered this phrase as "men shall take full care of women".

This is indeed the meaning of the verse, and there are numerous cases of linguistic usage, which can be quoted in support of it. But people often quote it to prove their view that men are superior when such superiority is totally untrue.

The other verse to which the reader refers, 2: 228, mentions clearly that men "stand a step above" women. However when this verse is read within its own context, as it should be, it cannot be interpreted as giving men any superior status. As marriage is a contract between two parties, the right to terminate such a contract, which is in the first place a contract between equals, should also be equal. However, God has given men the right to terminate it when they choose to do so, while women are required to apply to a court for such termination. It is in this case only that men have precedence or a special status, and this is perfectly understandable because in the sort of society Islam establishes, it is the man who stands to lose more in the case of divorce.

It is true that in some Muslim societies the situation is different, but that is because in these societies, other factors are involved, or traditions borrowed from different cultures have been maintained.

We cannot make a blanket statement that no one enters heaven if his parents are displeased with him. While dutifulness to parents is clearly emphasized in Islam, there are also rights due to children. In fact the rights and duties of parent and child are clearly defined in Islam, and when the parents take an unreasonable attitude, the son does not need to obey them regardless of the cost their unreasonableness places on him or his own family. There are cases when the son needs to disobey his parents and is rewarded for that. Having said that, the comparison of child and parent relationship with that of wife and husband is grossly mistaken. Some women will certainly go to heaven ahead of their husbands. This is because they are better Muslims than their husbands.

When we speak of the masculine gender used in the Qur’an, we should know that in Arabic this is a standard usage, and it applies to both sexes equally. Nevertheless, God has taken care to mention on several occasions that His provisions and reward apply to men and women in equal measure. My reader says that it is the male that is addressed in the Qur’an. He makes here a grave mistake. The address applies to men and women equally. If anyone does not agree, he is then saying that Islamic duties do not apply to women. That is absolutely wrong. Read, if you will, Verse 195 of Surah 3

"Their Lord answered their prayer, saying, ‘I do not let go to waste the labor of any worker from among you, whether male or female, for all of you (human beings) are the offspring of one another. I will, therefore, forgive all the shortcomings of those who left their homes or were expelled from them for My sake or were persecuted and of those that fought for My cause and were slain, and admit them to the Gardens underneath which canals flow. This is their reward from Allah and with Allah alone is the richest reward’."

and Verse 35 of Surah 33

"Most surely the men and the women who have surrendered themselves to Allah; who are believing, obedient, truthful, and patient; who bow down before Allah, practice charity, observe the fasts, guard their private parts and remember Allah much; Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward."

and reflect on the equality expressed in both. If there is a higher standard of equality expressed in any legal provision anywhere in the world, I would like to see that.

As for the testimony, the witnesses required are two men, or one man and two women. The reason given in the Qur’an is that:

"Should one of them make a mistake, the other could remind her." (2:282)

This is in business transactions only. It does imply that, as a rule, women are less familiar with business procedures than men and, therefore, more liable to commit mistakes in this respect. Besides, there are certain cases when only women witnesses are acceptable, and one woman witness is sufficient to prove her case.

My reader asserts that there has never been any woman prophet. In fact, all scholars do not acknowledge this. Imam ibn Hazm, a great scholar of high repute, discusses this point at length and maintains that there were women prophets, although there were no women messengers.

Imam ibn Hazm is not alone in this among scholars of repute. He defines a prophet as a person to whom God imparts knowledge of a future event before it takes place, or inspires him or her about a certain matter. He distinguishes between the different uses of the word "inspire", or awha, in the Qur’an, particularly when it is used with other creatures. He also tackles the other ways that give a person a "sense" of what may take place, such as a dream or a vision, and shows that in none of these the person concerned acquires any certain knowledge. Thus, inspiration, or revelation, which makes a person a prophet is intended by God to give the person receiving it certain knowledge, and that person is given by God an awareness of the certainty of this acquired knowledge, either by sending him an angel or by addressing him or her directly to teach them something without an intermediary. It is clearly mentioned in the Qur’an that God sent angel messengers to some women to give them something that was revealed to them by God.

Ibn Hazm gives four examples of women prophets, citing evidence from Qur’an and Hadith in support of his view. These are Sarah, Ibrahim’s wife, Maryam, the mother of Jesus, Aasiyah, Pharaoh’s wife and also Moses’s mother. In the case of the first one, it is reported in the Qur’an that angels gave her the news that she would give birth to Ishaq who will in turn beget Yaqoob. When she expressed her amazement as being able to give birth at her age, the angels told her: "Do you wonder at the accomplishment of something God wills to happen?" Similarly, the Angel Gabriel came to Maryam to tell her of the impending birth of Jesus, whom she was about to conceive when she was a virgin. In the Surah bearing her name in the Qur’an, she is mentioned alongwith many other prophets. When these accounts are over, God says:

"These were some of the prophets upon whom God bestowed his blessings." (19: 58)

In the case of Moses’s mother, she was inspired by God, as He mentions in 28:7, to suckle her baby for a while and to cast him in the Nile when she has reason to fear for his life, assuring her that he would come to no harm. She did so, and her action could only be justified on the basis of receiving certain revelation from God. Had it been taken on the basis of a dream or impulse, it would have constituted a crime. The evidence of the Prophethood of Aasiyah is derived from the Hadith, which mentions her and Maryam as the only women who had attained to perfection. Since there are other women prophets, then these two are most distinguished among them.

This is the summary of Ibn Hazm’s explanation of the position of women prophets. There is no doubt that his argument is based on very strong evidence from the Qur’an and Hadith. There are scholars who take a different view on this point. Whichever view we prefer, it does not justify any claim against our view that Islam treats men and women as absolutely equal.

My reader has confused the procedure of vows in the case of accusations and denial of adultery between husband and wife. It is when the man accuses his wife of committing adultery that the process of taking vows is applied. The man has to swear four times by God that he has seen his wife actually commit adultery. At that moment he is stopped and reminded that the next oath is too serious to be taken falsely. If he insists, he then swears a fifth time invoking God’s curse upon himself if he is making a false accusation. At that point, the woman is given the chance to deny the accusation.

She is required to swear four times by God that he is accusing her falsely. When she has done that, she is reminded of the seriousness of the next oath, and that it is much easier to incur punishment in this life than to expose oneself to the consequences of a false oath. If she insists, she has to swear a fifth time invoking God’s wrath upon herself if the accusation is correct. If anything, this procedure confirms the equality of husband and wife. If there were any superiority for either, that person’s oaths would have been given more weight, but they are not, because the two are absolutely equal.

May I inquire why should men insist on giving themselves superior position, which is not given to them by God? If they have that, their responsibility will be greater. My reader suggests that this will reduce a woman’s obedience to her husband. I do not think family life in Islam is based on orders, commands and obedience. God says in the Qur’an:

"One of His signs is that He creates for you mates out of your own kind, so that you might incline toward them, and He engenders love and tenderness between you. In this, there are messages indeed for people who think." (30: 21)

The first thing that I would like to say about this question is that when something relates to God's power or how He does whatever He wishes to do, or how He creates, then we should accept what is stated in the Qur'an or in an authentic Hadith without any reservation.

We know that God has power over all things, and he is able to accomplish His purpose easily, and without difficulty. We know, for example, that man was created from clay and then God breathed of His soul into him. God certainly could have created man from some other substance, or without using any substance whatsoever. There is no limit to God's ability.

What we also know is that whatever God decides, or whatever method of creation He adopts, it must have a definite purpose known to Him. Therefore, we do not question that purpose of the method employed.

There is certainly a report which suggests that the first woman, Eve, was created from Adam's left rib. This report, however, cannot be described as highly authentic. But even if it was, we need not have any problem in accepting it, because God must have a purpose, for choosing to create Eve in this way. God's will is not subject to medical science, or indeed to any science whatsoever.

What science does is to observe God's creation and try to define laws that apply to God's creation. Hence, it cannot impose its findings on how God works or creates.

On the other hand, we have some highly authentic Hadiths which speak that women generally have been created from a rib. These could be interpreted as referring to the creation of the first woman. They could also mean that such a method of creation reflects itself in the nature of women generally. The most complete version of these Hadiths is the one which may be translated as follows: "Take good care of woman, for they have been created from a rib. The most prominently crooked part of a rib is its top part. If you were to try to straighten it, you will inevitably break it, but if you leave it alone, it remains crooked. Therefore, take good care of women." (Related by Al-Bukhari)