In matters of faith, God does not separate women from men.  A sign of the essential equality of men and women is that God created Adam and then from Adam God created a woman to be his mate.  We all--male and female--believe in God, worship and praise God, and prostrate before God in adoration.  Every Muslim willfully submits to God.  Every Muslim believes that Muhammad was God's final messenger.  We all believe in God's angels, His revelations, and the prophets that preceded Muhammad.  We all anticipate our meeting with God on the Day of Judgment and spend our lives preparing for that meeting.  We all seek forgiveness of our sins through prayer, fasting, good deeds, and charities.  We all trust in God and in the Holy Qur'an, God's final revelation.

In matters of family, God has ordained different roles for men and women, with different rights and different responsibilities.  In everything that God has created, He has established order and proportion and the family is certainly no exception.  God has ordained marriage for men and women in order to make it easier for us to keep His commandments, in order to purge our souls of evil inclinations, and so that we might be a comfort to and a cover for each other during our spiritual journey in this world.  In so creating man and woman as mates, God has put love and mercy between their hearts.  No one--male or female--should use what God has ordained as an excuse to harm another person in any small way.

God has given men more strength than He has given women and so men are more bountiful.  For this reason God has ordained that men should be the maintainers and protectors of their wives.  In marriage the husband makes a most solemn pledge that he will act according to what God has allowed.  He gives to his wife a gift according to his means.  He inclines toward her with his desire, as God allows, and treats her always with love and tenderness.

Because, as God has ordained, men provide for their wives from what belongs to them, righteous women are devoutly obedient to their husbands.  In her husband's absence, she protects what belongs to him.  While her husband establishes the direction the family will take, the wife helps to implement the strategies that will enable the family to achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams.  She manages the household so that the family benefits most from her husband's bounties.

The mother is the first teacher for the children.  During the earliest years of their lives, she lays the foundation for future educational experiences; later she helps with school lessons.  She teaches them right from wrong and prepares them for understanding the importance of law and order.  She begins to prepare them to have their own families and to be members of the community.  She encourages them to grow and to explore the world around them.  She shapes the way the children will view the world--possible forever.

God did not create the heavens and the earth for His amusement.  All that God has created has meaning and purpose.  During our sojourn here, God has given us the opportunity to purify our souls so that we might dwell in paradise everlasting.  In this life we are each given a burden to bear and no one--neither our mates nor our parents or our children--can bear our burden for us.  It is through life's burdens that we are each tested for the steadfastness of our faith.  The earth is our proving ground.  We are all encouraged to explore what God has created, all the while observing what God has enjoined and forbidden.  Were it not so, God will have created this great earth for naught.

Every person--male or female--has a right and a need to explore God's creation and to create a relationship with God without the intercession of any other person.  Education gives us the tools we need to explore God's creation, to experience the order and proportion God established in what He created, and to glorify God's name.  Women have the same need and right to be educated as do men.

A husband should not fear an educated wife because she is his soul mate, confidant, and advisor.  Her education gives her the tools to make her role as mother, wife and homemaker more rewarding for her and more beneficial for her family.  An educated woman is more confident and more at peace; she imparts her peace and contentment to her family.  She is a better companion because she understands the world her husband negotiates.  She creates a home environment where her family will flourish mentally and spiritually.

And God is indeed aware of all that any of us does.