We never know how Allah is going to use us or our children.  Parenting involves more than just loving and raising a child.  As Muslims, parenting has to be fisabil Allah–in service to Allah–if we are going to be able  to come up with the correct responses to the events that may take place in the lives of our children.  We never know when Allah will call on us to be the parent of a child whose life will become an example to others.  We never know when Allah will call or in what way Allah will call one of us to be an example to our children. Yet the combination of undergoing great difficulty and learning to be of service to others as a result of that difficulty may, if Allah chooses, bring us closer to Him in this life and in the hereafter.

Read the full article, written by Umm Umar of Muslim Writings.