Nabeel Qureshi's Wife Shares How God Has 'Beautifully Sustained' Daughter Ayah 5 Months After Father's Death (Video)
Michelle Qureshi, wife of the late Muslim-turned-Christian apologist Nabeel Qureshi, shared how God has "beautifully sustained" their young daughter in the five months since her father's death.
Nearly half a year after her 34-year-old husband died following a year-long battle with stomach cancer, Michelle took to his video blog to share an update regarding their daughter Ayah, who is named after a Christian martyr.
"For those of you who have been faithfully praying for Ayah (and for those asking for her to be in a video), here is how God has been sustaining this little bundle of intelligence, activity, and joy for the past five months," Michelle captioned a six-minute compilation of video clips and photos of the little girl.
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In the video, Ayah is shown swimming, riding a scooter, "playing" the piano, singing her ABC's, and reading children's books.
In one video clip, Michelle asks the little girl, "Where's Baba?" (referring to her late father).
Ayah responds, "Baba come back?"
When Michelle asks again, "Where is he?" Ayah says, "He's at Jesus."
The video concludes with 2nd Corinthians 4:16-18: "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an external weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."
Nabeel Qureshi, the author of Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus and No God But One, posted over 40 video blogs after he was diagnosed with cancer in August 2016 up until the weekend before he died.
Michelle, who has vowed to continue her late husband's ministry, previously shared that while Ayah is very young, she remembers her father as a "source of comfort."
"One reason why I know this is because if I, when I have to take her to time out, she starts crying out, 'Baba!' like she is looking for her 'good cop parent,' and through that, I know that she's thinking in her mind, she says, 'How can I get out of this uncomfortable situation? What if I run to Baba, because I know he'll pick me up and give me a kiss.' She definitely remembers him for his comfort," she said.
"One really sweet thing that happened recently was Ayah came across a poster print out that was similar to the poster print out of a picture of Nabeel that was on the stage during the memorial," Michelle continued. "And when she saw that poster of him, she waved at it and said, 'Hi Baba!' and then she proceeded to reach out, and of course it's a poster, so she ... picked it up and walked around with it. And then she set him down somewhere and said, 'Baba sit.' It was just a really sweet moment."
Thankfully, Ayah isn't showing any signs of trauma or grief, and Michelle said that is one of the "beautiful things" about her age.
"She doesn't have these, like I said, traumatic memories and doesn't feel a deep loss," she said. "However, there still was this sweet relationship, she was aware enough of Baba for there to be this sweet relationship for her to even interact with a picture of him."
"I can't say thank you enough for loving on my daughter, especially during this time," she concluded.
A week before his death, Nabeel Qureshi posted a final heartfelt Facebook message, asking his followers to keep his wife and daughter in their prayers.
"I do hope that there will be people who will pray for them should the worst happen to me," he said. "Please do consider them going forward in your prayers on a daily basis."