We Lost Our Baby — What Islam Taught Us About Grief and Loss

⚠️ Trigger Warning: This episode discusses pregnancy loss, miscarriage, hospital complications, and grief in detail. Please take care of yourself while listening, and feel free to skip this one if it isn't the right time for you.In late 2021, we found out we were expecting our third child. Our girls were overjoyed, especially Zaynab, who had been waiting to become a big sister. Then, at a routine scan - everything changed. In this episode, we walk through our full miscarriage story — from the ultrasound where something felt wrong, to the devastating call from our midwife, to weeks of hospital complications, to the hardest conversation we've ever had with our daughters.We also talk about what Islam teaches about the loss of a child, both before and after birth — including the belief that unborn children go straight to Paradise, the scholarly discussion around when the soul enters the body, and the deeply human, deeply spiritual way the Prophet ﷺ grieved his own children. We talk honestly about how the Canadian healthcare system treated us during and after the loss, and how, almost exactly a year later, our son Yusuf was born.If you've experienced pregnancy loss, we hope this episode reminds you that you are not alone.In this episode:- Our full miscarriage story, from the scan to hospital discharge-How the healthcare system handled — and mishandled — our care-What Islam teaches about the souls of unborn children-The scholarly discussion on when the soul enters the body (40 days vs. four months)-Why burial is possible for early pregnancy loss, and why more families don't know this-How our son Yusuf's birth, one year later, changed everythingCONNECT WITH NOORISHED:🎙️ All platforms: https://anchor.fm/salehfamilyspeaks📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Salehfamily📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noorishedpodcast🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyTHE SALEH FAMILY:🔗 Everything in one place: https://salehfamily.komi.io📸 Sana: https://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficial📸 Will & Sana: https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficial🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@salehfamily▶️ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SSBsubscribeOUR PRODUCTS:🧕 Hijabs — https://www.lalahijabs.com | Code: NOORISHED (15% off)🌍 Malaysia Relocation Guide — https://www.noorished.comWORK WITH US:📩 Collabs: [email protected]📩 Business: [email protected]#MiscarriageAwareness #PregnancyLoss #MuslimFamily

Will grew up off-grid in the interior of British Columbia — no electricity, no running water, hunting for food — not because his family couldn't afford otherwise, but because his parents made a conscious choice to leave city life behind. Sana grew up in the same house her whole childhood, with a bank account opened by her dad and an early lesson in saving. Two completely different relationships with money, shaped by two completely different childhoods.In this episode, we go deep on where our money mindsets came from, why neither of us ever got real financial education, and how becoming Muslim reshaped the way we think about wealth entirely — including the story of Umar ibn al-Khattab and the mother boiling water to quiet her hungry children, and why we've committed to sponsoring an orphan for every one of our kids since the day they were born.In this episode:-Will's childhood living off-grid in rural BC-Sana's early lessons in saving and financial independence-Why neither of us ever got real financial education growing up-The Islamic concept of money as a trust (amanah) and a test-The story of Umar ibn al-Khattab and the widow with the empty pot-Why we sponsor an orphan for each of our children-Teaching our own kids the value of money and givingSPONSOR AN ORPHAN IN GAZA HERE: https://www.launchgood.com/v4/scheduled-giving/charities/sponsor_orphans_w_the_saleh_family_1/checkout🇲🇾 WANT TO MOVE TO MALAYSIA?Our complete guide to how we left Canada and relocated our family to Malaysia:https://stan.store/salehfamily/p/relocate-to-malaysia-with-ease 🌙 OUR MORNING MENU — FOR MUSLIM KIDSOur fun, reusable morning routine designed to bring learning, independence, and Islam into your child's day:https://stan.store/salehfamily/p/my-morning-menu-a-muslim-kids-morning-routine🔗 EVERYTHING SALEH FAMILYhttps://salehfamilyofficial.com🧕 SHOP LALA HIJABShttps://lalahijabs.comUse code YOUTUBE🎙️ OUR NOORISHED PODCASTWatch on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWjPpIoJI1dfpzqqBxst1TP5Jx_dkZnB8Listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1FAXaICNqiUbjsskEFdySO?si=5ukqVKA1Qqa4zErMp8c2CwFOLLOW US:TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficialhttps://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficialBUSINESS [email protected]@Noorished.comFAN [email protected]#IslamicFinance #MuslimParenting #Sadaqah

--Will spent years and thousands of dollars building a set of specialized aircraft maintenance tools — the kind of gear you can't just pick up at Home Depot. He got licensed as an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, graduated top of his class, and built a career flying around the continent on contract work. Then COVID hit, the airline industry gutted its most experienced (and most expensive) contractors overnight, and everything changed.In this episode, we talk about the fear underneath our current career: what happens if social media — the thing that now supports our entire family — disappears overnight? We talk through Will's path into aviation, the COVID layoff that upended everything, why he eventually sold the tools that represented nearly a decade of his old identity, and how we think about relevance, AI, and reinventing yourself when the ground shifts under you.In this episode:-Will's path to becoming a licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer-The COVID layoff that changed everything overnight-Why experienced contractors were the first to go — and what that says about corner-cutting in the industry-The fear of becoming irrelevant as content creators-Why we believe AI can't replace real, lived experience-Why Will finally sold his tools — and what that decision representedCONNECT WITH NOORISHED:🎙️ All platforms: https://anchor.fm/salehfamilyspeaks📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Salehfamily📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noorishedpodcast🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyTHE SALEH FAMILY:🔗 Everything in one place: https://salehfamily.komi.io📸 Sana: https://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficial📸 Will & Sana: https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficial🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@salehfamily▶️ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SSBsubscribeOUR PRODUCTS:🧕 Hijabs — https://www.lalahijabs.com | Code: NOORISHED (15% off)🌍 Malaysia Relocation Guide — https://www.noorished.comWORK WITH US:📩 Collabs: [email protected]📩 Business: [email protected]#ContentCreatorLife #CareerChange #TrustInAllah

One of us grew up sheltered, close-knit, and steeped in culture and faith. The other grew up in a rough town with generational trauma, addiction, and a father who loved hard but rarely said the words. In this episode, we talk through what our parents got right, what we're consciously doing differently, and how two very different childhoods somehow led us to parent our own kids the exact same way.We get into homeschooling, attachment parenting, why we've never done "cry it out," the reason our kids talk about their feelings instead of melting down, and why we think the modern nine-to-five system was never designed with the parent-child bond in mind. We also talk honestly about faith, meaning, and how becoming Muslim reshaped everything about how we show up for our children.In this episode:-What each of us took — and left behind — from our own upbringings-Why words of affirmation weren't a given in past generations, and how we're changing that-Our approach to attachment parenting and gentle parenting, and why we don't do "cry it out"-Why we chose to homeschool our kids-The link between religion, morality, and purpose — and how that shapes parenting-Why we believe modern work culture pulls families apartCONNECT WITH NOORISHED:
🎙️ All platforms: https://anchor.fm/salehfamilyspeaks
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Salehfamily
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noorishedpodcast
🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyTHE SALEH FAMILY:
🔗 Everything in one place: https://salehfamily.komi.io
📸 Sana: https://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficial
📸 Will & Sana: https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficial
🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@salehfamily
▶️ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SSBsubscribeOUR PRODUCTS:
🧕 Hijabs — https://www.lalahijabs.com | Code: NOORISHED (15% off)
🌍 Malaysia Relocation Guide — https://www.noorished.comWORK WITH US:
📩 Collabs: [email protected]
📩 Business: [email protected]#MuslimParenting #AttachmentParenting #GentleParenting

We got married in a mosque, in separate rooms, without even being able to see each other during our own Nikah — and neither of us has a single photo from that moment.In this episode, we go back through the full story of our wedding: the five-year wait, the confusion over Nikah vs. engagement vs. Rukhsati, the decision to host a fully segregated wedding (a first in our community), and the cultural pressure that shaped nearly every choice we made — from the mahr, to the guest list, to burning our own CDs so there'd be no music playing. We talk honestly about what we'd do differently, what we got right despite not knowing better, and why understanding the difference between culture and religion matters so much when you're building a marriage.In this episode:-What an actual Islamic marriage contract (Nikah) requires — and what culture adds on top of it-The mahr: why extravagance isn't the point=Why we had a fully segregated wedding, and what it actually cost us emotionally-The scholarly nuance on mixed gatherings and music that we didn't know at the time-What we'd change if we redid our wedding todayCONNECT WITH NOORISHED:🎙️ All platforms: https://anchor.fm/salehfamilyspeaks📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Salehfamily📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noorishedpodcast🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyTHE SALEH FAMILY:🔗 Everything in one place: https://salehfamily.komi.io📸 Sana: https://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficial📸 Will & Sana: https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficial🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@salehfamily▶️ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SSBsubscribeOUR PRODUCTS:🧕 Hijabs — https://www.lalahijabs.com | Code: NOORISHED (15% off)🌍 Malaysia Relocation Guide — https://www.noorished.comWORK WITH US:📩 Collabs: [email protected]📩 Business: [email protected]#MuslimMarriage #IslamicWedding #RevertStory

Culture and religion get tangled together more than most of us realize — and this episode goes there. In this episode, we talk about the evil eye, belief, fear, and where things can start to go too far.As Muslims, we believe the evil eye is real. But sometimes the way people talk about it, fear it, and build their lives around it can start to feel like the evil eye has more power than it actually does. At what point does protection become paranoia? And at what point does fear of creation start weakening our trust in the Creator?We discuss the balance between taking spiritual protection seriously, making dua and saying MashAllah, and remembering that nothing can harm or benefit us except by the permission of Allah.This is not a denial of the evil eye. It is a conversation about tawheed, trust in Allah, and not letting fear control our lives.In this episode:-What nazar (evil eye) actually means vs. how culture has distorted it-Why the "laser eye vision" version of evil eye contradicts core Islamic theology-The story of Yusuf (AS) and what it tells us about envy vs. harm-Gender roles: what's Quran and Sunnah vs. what's cultural inheritance-Mental health, jinn possession, and how scholars actually approach it today-Will's revert journey and coming to Islam as a "blank slate"CONNECT WITH NOORISHED:🎙️ All platforms: https://anchor.fm/salehfamilyspeaks📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Salehfamily📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noorishedpodcast🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyTHE SALEH FAMILY:🔗 Everything in one place: https://salehfamily.komi.io📸 Sana: https://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficial📸 Will & Sana: https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficial🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@salehfamily▶️ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SSBsubscribeOUR PRODUCTS:🧕 Hijabs — https://www.lalahijabs.com | Code: NOORISHED (15% off)🌍 Malaysia Relocation Guide — https://www.noorished.comWORK WITH US:📩 Collabs: [email protected]📩 Business: [email protected]

Three million followers. A billion YouTube views. And almost none of it went the way they planned.In this episode, Will and Sana pull back the curtain on the real life of a content creator family — not the highlight reel, not the aesthetic, not the manufactured drama. The actual thing. How a lip-sync video of a cat turned into a full-time career. Why they hid an entire pregnancy until weeks after their son was born. What happened when they refused to stay silent on Palestine — and what it cost them. And why, after all of it, they still think they made the right call every single time.They get into the greasy side of the Muslim creator space, the brands that paid them not to say their name, the agency that parted ways in 10 days, and the Muslim creators with platforms double their size who never said a word. They also talk about what they keep off camera — and why — and what it means to be the Muslim family that Muslim kids actually see themselves in.In this episode:-How a TikTok lip-sync in COVID lockdown accidentally became a career-The video that hit a million views overnight — and what happened by morning-Why they'll never call themselves influencers (and what that word actually means in Islam)-The gray wall era, the talent agency era, and where it all wentOctober 7th: going silent, speaking loudly, and losing the agency because of it-The brand deal that paid them to never say the company's name-Muslim creators who stayed silent — and why Will liked that comment-What they never show: the Umrah selfie they didn't take, the Egypt moment they didn't film, the pregnancy nobody knew about-Why they show their kids on camera — and the real conversation around child safety-Being the Muslim family other Muslim kids actually see themselves in-Why the conversations have gone from "why do you wear hijab?" to something much deeperCONNECT WITH NOORISHED:🎙️ All platforms: https://anchor.fm/salehfamilyspeaks📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Salehfamily📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noorishedpodcast🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyTHE SALEH FAMILY:🔗 Everything in one place: https://salehfamily.komi.io📸 Sana: https://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficial📸 Will & Sana: https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficial🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@salehfamily▶️ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SSBsubscribeOUR PRODUCTS:🧕 Hijabs — https://www.lalahijabs.com | Code: NOORISHED (15% off)🌍 Malaysia Relocation Guide — https://www.noorished.comWORK WITH US:📩 Collabs: [email protected]📩 Business: [email protected]

One parent with a culture that goes back centuries. One parent whose culture is basically just stolen pizza and a pinky-up tea cup. And three kids somewhere in the middle — multilingual, mixed, and growing up Muslim in Southeast Asia.In this episode, Will and Sana dig into one of the most real conversations mixed-culture Muslim families are having — what do you actually pass down, what do you leave behind, and when faith and culture collide, which one wins? They talk third culture kids, DNA tests, cultural appropriation versus appreciation, the Prophet's dua that connects Pakistani Muslims to Taif, why culture might literally be a thing of the past, and what it looks like to raise kids whose identity starts with Islam and builds from there.In this episode:-What "third culture kids" actually means — and why Will and Sana's kids are living it in real time-Why one of them is 100% Indopak (DNA tested) and one is just... Canadian-The dua of the Prophet (SAW) at Taif — and the surprising reason Pakistani Muslims are the answer to it-Cultural appropriation vs. cultural appreciation — and why the thobe isn't going anywhere-What the research actually says about third culture kids (the findings are remarkable)-Why their kids choose the wheelchair Barbie, the alopecia Barbie, and the one missing a limb-The dupatta debate — and why Islamic identity quietly replaces cultural habit-Who their kids are allowed to marry (hint: no first cousins, and no cultural restrictions)-Why they believe culture itself might eventually disappear — and why that might be okay-How Salah replaces yoga, meditation, and every Western wellness trend in one prayerCONNECT WITH NOORISHED:🎙️ All platforms: https://anchor.fm/salehfamilyspeaks📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Salehfamily📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noorishedpodcast🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyTHE SALEH FAMILY:🔗 Everything in one place: https://salehfamily.komi.io📸 Sana: https://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficial📸 Will & Sana: https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficial🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@salehfamily▶️ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SSBsubscribeOUR PRODUCTS:🧕 Hijabs — https://www.lalahijabs.com | Code: NOORISHED (15% off)🌍 Malaysia Relocation Guide — https://www.noorished.comWORK WITH US:📩 Collabs: [email protected]📩 Business: [email protected]

Nobody talks about marriage like this.In this episode, Will and Sana go deep on what Islamic marriage actually looks like — not the cultural version, not the Western version, and definitely not the version the Islamophobes keep pushing. The real thing. From the Prophet (SAW) drinking from the same spot on a cup as his wife, to why your spouse being called your garment might be the most perfect word ever chosen, to the verse everyone gets wrong — this episode covers it all.They break down why Islam says marriage completes half your faith (and what that actually means for people who keep putting it off), how the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) treated his wives in a way that shames most of what we call "normal" today, and what a healthy Islamic marriage actually looks like when you strip away culture and ego.They also get personal — Will opens up about watching his father refuse to be cared for by anyone but his mother in his final days, and why that moment says everything about what marriage is supposed to be.In this episode:-Why marriage completes half your deen — and what that means for single people building careers-Your spouse as your libas (garment) — what that word really means and why it hits different-The Prophet (SAW) and Khadijah: "Cover me" — and what that moment symbolizes for every marriage-The verse everyone misquotes — a breakdown of daraba, what scholars actually debate, and why the Prophet (SAW) never raised a hand to anyone-The 50/50 myth — and why Islamic marriage isn't about splitting bills, it's about shared purpose-Why keeping secrets from your spouse is a marriage killer-Putting your spouse before your kids — and why that's actually better for your kids-Shura: why consultation is non-negotiable in an Islamic household-What going for Umrah together does for your marriage-Advice for young men and women who keep delaying marriage-The Imam Ahmad story — and why silence might be the greatest marriage advice ever givenCONNECT WITH NOORISHED:🎙️ All platforms: https://anchor.fm/salehfamilyspeaks📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Salehfamily📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noorishedpodcast🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyTHE SALEH FAMILY:🔗 Everything in one place: https://salehfamily.komi.io📸 Sana: https://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficial📸 Will & Sana: https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficial🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@salehfamily▶️ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SSBsubscribeOUR PRODUCTS:🧕 Hijabs — https://www.lalahijabs.com | Code: NOORISHED (15% off)🌍 Malaysia Relocation Guide — https://www.noorished.comWORK WITH US:📩 Collabs: [email protected]📩 Business: [email protected]

We didn't leave Canada because we stopped loving it. We left because we had to choose our kids.In this episode, Will and Sana get real about the decision that shocked their families, divided their audience, and changed their lives completely — packing up everything they'd ever built and moving to Malaysia. No sugarcoating, no highlight reel. Just the honest reasons, the hard parts, and what life actually looks like on the other side.They get into the mosque shootings that put fear in their chests every time they stepped into prayer. The moment October 7th made it undeniable. What it feels like to ask your daughter "are you sure?" before she puts on hijab in a parking lot. The broken healthcare system, the cost of living crisis, eight months of winter, and the Islamic environment they were desperately missing — and finally found.This one's for every Muslim family in the West quietly asking the same question.In this episode:-Why Islamophobia in Canada hits different when you have daughters in hijab-The Quebec mosque shooting, the London family, Christchurch — the fear that compounded-How October 7th became the final push-Canada's "polite racism" — and what went viral when they said it out loud-Cost of living, healthcare wait times, and winter as a quality of life issue-What it actually feels like to hear the Adhan five times a day, every day-Halal food everywhere, prayer spaces in play places, and dressing however you want-The visa hurdles, the unexpected roadblocks, and whether they regret it-Advice for Muslim families considering their own hijrahCONNECT WITH NOORISHED:🎙️ All platforms: https://anchor.fm/salehfamilyspeaks📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Salehfamily📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noorishedpodcast🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@salehfamilyTHE SALEH FAMILY:🔗 Everything in one place: https://salehfamily.komi.io📸 Sana: https://www.instagram.com/sanasalehofficial📸 Will & Sana: https://www.instagram.com/salehfamilyofficial🎵 TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@salehfamily▶️ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/SSBsubscribeOUR PRODUCTS:🧕 Hijabs — https://www.lalahijabs.com | Code: NOORISHED (15% off)🌍 Malaysia Relocation Guide — https://www.noorished.comWORK WITH US:📩 Collabs: [email protected]📩 Business: [email protected]