Tragedy of a woman
    who has become Muslim, but she has two children and their father is Hindu
Question

                I have read question 2803 in which you
      advised our sister to announce her marraige as it is sunnah and I have also read the other
      questions with regards to parents rejecting their son's/daughter's choice of marraige
      because of various reasons. What advice do you give to a person in the following
      situation: She is divorced frmo her ex husband and has embraced Islam for she has
      reliaed the truth and she was guided to the right path, Al Hamdulilah, her conversion is
      kept secret from her family for obvious reasons and her two children whom she has custody
      of are still Hindu because her ex husband would rather kill her than see his children
      embrace Islam. He is strong enemy of Islam and has sworn our deen and ALLAH on a few
      occassions. She is now in love with a religious and well mannered Muslim man who has asked
      her to marry him. The problem is that his parents object to their marraige because the
      mother feels that the lady in question is a convert and that converts don't make good
      muslims. In fact her exact words were "Thery will never be one of us" If they do
      decide to make Nikaah can they for these reasons keep their marraige a secret. The man who
      has asked for her hand in marraige says that he will accept her children provided they
      embrace Islam because two religions cannot be practiced in one house especially when the
      other one is idol worshipp and I can't agree with him more. How do these two people who
      love each other make a life of their own. 
      His parents are a problem on the one hand and the ex husband not wanting the children to
      embrace Islam is another problem.
      My friend does not want to give up custody of her children because her ex husband is
      abusive. Please advise our sister as soon as possible as she is suffering from depression
      and sleepless nights. 
      May ALLAH bless our Prophet Muhammad.
      Jazak Allah
Praise be to Allah.First of all, we would like to congratulate our sister for embracing
        Islam, which is the joy for which wealth and souls would be sacrificed, for all the
        blessing of Islam makes all grief and distress fade into insignificance.
The sister says that she loves a Muslim man. We say: it is not
        appropriate for a Muslim woman to fall into the trap of nonsensical emotions and forbidden
        relationships into which others fall. The love which people hear about and read about is
        one of the dazzling tricks of the Shaytaan, and it usually happens with regard to things
        that Allaah has forbidden. If a man finds that he likes a girl, the only option he has is
        to ask her guardian (walee) for permission to marry her.
The mans mothers comment that new Muslims cannot be good
        Muslims is false. Were the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) anything but new
        Muslims, given that prior to their Islam they had been believers in Shirk? Does any
        Muslim have any doubts about their commitment to religion and their character? Moreover,
        we see that many new Muslims are many times better than many (born) Muslims! Just because
        a Muslim is new does not mean that he will never be good, and just because a Muslim is
        born in Islam does not mean that he is good. What counts is Taqwa (piety, awareness of
        Allaah) and righteous deeds, as well as the length of time one has been in Islam and has
        been worshipping Allaah.
There is no reason why knowledge of the man's marriage should not be
        withheld from his parents, especially since this is in the interests of the sister and
        there are so few people who can help her to overcome her difficulties. It is the woman who
        needs a walee according to shareeah, not the man. However, we would prefer that he
        wins his familys approval by convincing them, because this is in their best
        interests, benefits which may be lost if they find out that their son concealed his
        marriage from them.
The fact that the husband says he wants to call the children to Islam is
        good. We ask Allaah to help him to achieve this. The fact that the Hindu father is evil is
        sufficient reason for him not to make an open display of his calling the children to
        Islam, if that could lead to this kaafir taking the children away by going to the kaafir
        courts. You have to act with wisdom in this case.
The woman who is asking this question should not arrange her own
        marriage even if she has been previously married, because shareeah does not permit
        this. If she does not have a walee as required by shareeah, then her walee may be
        the qaadi (judge) or whoever is in charge of the Muslim affairs in her country, such as
        the head of the Islamic centre or his deputy.
They  especially the sister  have to seek the help of Allaah
        in dealing with these problems which are giving her sleepless nights. Everyone should know
        that whoever puts his trust in Allaah, Allaah will show him a way out. She has to make
        duaa sincerely, and he has to try as hard as he can to advise his family and
        change their views about new Muslims by showing them real examples of people who are the
        opposite of what they think. With regard to the tragedy caused by the former husband, we
        advise her again not to make an open display of her calling the children to Islam, lest
        that should cause the father to do something that will have bad consequences. If they feel
        suspicious about his intentions, there is no harm in calling the police to do whatever is
        necessary with regard to him.
If getting married means that the sister will lose her right to custody
        of her children, we advise her not to get married now, for fear that these two souls may
        end up in Hell in the Hereafter  unless she fears that she herself may commit some
        immoral action, in which case she should marry the Muslim man whom she has told us about,
        with witnesses and a walee as we have stated above. Publicizing the marriage is sunnah,
        although it does not have to be announced officially and in writing. But this sister has
        to live in a protective Muslim environment and those people will have to know about her
        marriage lest she bring upon herself gossip about her honour. If it will be better for her
        to leave the place where her ex-husband lives and move to another place where she can be
        free, have custody of her children and be able to marry a believing Muslim man who will
        protect her and her children, then she should do that.
She has to make duaa and turn to Allaah to relieve her
        distress and grief. We pray that Allaah will give her the strength to do that which He
        loves and which pleases Him.
And Allaah knows best.