The Quran amazes a sailor

"(The unbelievers' state) is like a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with
waves,one over the other, and above it is a cloud of darkness upon
darkness, one above another; if a man stretches out his hand, he can
hardly see it; For anyone to whom Allahgives no light, there is no
light." Al Quran, Surah An-Noor ( 24:40)
Gary Miller in his book,"The Amazing Quran" stated the following
story:A Muslim gave a copy of the Holy Quran to a man who was a
merchant marine. This man knew nothing about the history of Islam.
When he finishedreading the Holy Quran, heasked his Muslim
friend:"This man Muhammad RasulAllah (SAW), was he asailor? When he
was told that Muhammad RasulAllah (SAW) lived in adesert and probably
did not even see an ocean during his whole life, he embraced Islam on
the spot. He acknowledged that this description of theHoly Quran could
only be described by one who hadactually seen sea storms many times,
whereas Muhammad RasulAllah (SAW) never witnessed this phenomenon.

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Upon Her Return

There was a young man inDamascus who planned toleave his country to
study. His mother was very caring and supportive of him. She raised
him alone through toil and hardship. And, at last, she felt that after
all the hard work--she was proud of her son as any mother would.
"Ah! The joys of motherhood!" she said to herself. The pleasure of
staring at this little man, who once held onto her dress begging to be
carried and to be tightly clenched by her arms. She recalled the days
when he was small and helpless, and yet there he was--embarking on a
journey to be the man he was raised to be.
The young man's flight was scheduled to leave early in the morning,
thus his mother prepared food and all that was needed for this long
trip. Her acts of kindness and loyalty displayed his mother endearing
love for him. Hisexcitement as a young man, and her hopefulness as a
proud mother, is something we can all relate to.
That morning, she heard over the news that there was a storm headed
their way. Out of fear that her son might die on this journey, she
decided not to wake him. Instead she left early for the market hoping
to surprise him with his favorite food laterthat morning.
Upon her return, she calledout his name in anticipation and
excitement--for she had a few more days with him before he would
continue on with this journey. But to no avail, there was no response
from him. Allah had taken his soul away and he died in his sleep that
morning. Story obtained from Al Qaseem Newspaper.
Allah Ta'ala says: Say (to them): 'Verily, the death from which you
flee will surely meet you, then you will be sent back to (Allah),the
All-Knower of the unseen and the seen, and He will tell you what you
used to do.' Al Quran [62:8]

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Being a true believer

Salih ibne Mismar (ra) narrates: Rasulullah (SAW) asked Harith ibne
Malik (RA): How are you, O Haright ibne Malik? He replied: By the
grace of Allah, I am a Mu'min (in a state of Imam). Rasulullah (SAW)
asked: A true Mu'min? He replied: A true Mu'min. Raslulullah (SAW)
said: For every truth, thereis a reality. So what is the reality of
the truth of that (which you claim)? He replied, I have turned myself
away from the world, and passed my nights awake (in worship) and
passed my days in thirst (fasting). It is as if I am seeing the Arsh
(Throne) of my Rabb (Sustainer) when it shall be brought, and it is as
though I am seeing the people of Paradise visitingone another therein,
and itis as if I am hearing the howling of the people of the Fire! At
that Rasulullah(SAW) said: (Harith is such)A Mu'min whose heart has
been enlightened. Source: Musannaf Abdur Razzaq.
May Allah give us the ability to bring such faith into ourselves also.

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Should my brother marry the girl he made pregnant?

I need an advice, my brother impregnated a non-Muslim girl. At first
we were open to the idea of marriage between them, but the problem is,
we cannot take the girl's attitude. She causes a lot of drama in my
brother's life and even to us.
She makes scandalous posts on networking sites, she lacks decency in
the situation. And usually she causes trouble to people who are linked
to my brother's life like his own friends and co-workers and when you
confront her she has no remorse to what she did.
There have also been times when she utters unbearable word about my
family and my religion.She is known to have a bad reputation; she's
the cause of most fights.
So we decided to cancel the wedding, since it will only cause more
problemsand we are pretty sure they will not live a harmonious life
together.
Now here's where the problem arises: since the child is considered
illegitimate, and accordingto the law the mother has the only right to
the custody of a child, we are afraid that the baby will turn out a
non Muslim believer, since obviously, she's the one whose goingto rear
the child. We reallywanted the baby to be a Muslim.
Now her family will not allow us to have share custody of the baby
unlessmy brother will marry her,what should we do?
Do we need to let them marry for the baby's sake even though we know
first hand that she will create more trouble and problems?
Please help me.
~Misha

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