Copyright © 2024, Raidah Shah Idil. All rights reserved.
I hope that those of you who are celebrating have had a wonderful, safe and blessed time with your loved ones. I pray that one day soon, every oppressed family will be able to celebrate in safety and happiness.
Exposing the Passover – With the Red Heifer and Day of Ashura – Episode 1
Podcast: Gaza’s Strength, Our Weakness | Shaykha Zaynab Ansari
Dr Mariam Sheibani has published a much-needed paper on this very harmful practice of secret marriages.
Dr Mariam Sheibani
More than providing a comprehensive diagnosis of the fiqh problematics with secret marriage, it also highlights the larger challenges underlying the fixation of legal minimums in our communities at the expense of the broader morality of the Sunna, religious teachings, and social proprieties.
The article is open access. You can read and download it for free here: Deceptive Debauchery: Secret Marriage and the Challenge of Legalism in Muslim-Minority Communities
Please share this widely!
I’m thrilled to share the article Muslim ‘milk mums’ are not common. But for Raidah, it’s created a special bond with her nephew written by Siobhan Marin. Thank you, Siobhan, for such a lovely and thoughtful piece!
I’m thrilled to share my interview with ABC’s Soul Search podcast. I had such a lovely chat with Mariam Chehab, titled Skin-on-skin — birth, spirituality and parenthood. Mariam reached out to me after reading my SBS Voices article, I am a ‘milk mother’ to my nephew. I miss my milk son, his brother, and all of my nephews and nieces who are all abroad. I wish I had some magical portal through across the continents, and arrange playdates with all of them and my children!
Even though SBS Voices is no more, I’m so grateful for the stories I got to share through them over the past few years. I even had the joy of meeting Candice Chung in person in KL recently! *fangirl squealing*
Here’s to new writerly beginnings, elsewhere.
Please click here to donate to Shaykha Zaynab Ansari’s father’s LaunchGood fund. Shaykha Zaynab Ansari was such a lifeline of support for me in my turbulent twenties, and I pray that Allah helps her father and her entire family through this heartbreaking time.
My podcast interview is live! It was such a treat reading my article out loud and getting interviewed by Sarah Malik and Caitlin Chang. Here’s to more untigering.
My latest SBS article is up! This one is very close to my heart.
Seeing the women of my family at crossroads. Thanks Mak and Aisyah for all the memories ❤
I cannot believe it’s 2022, but here we are. I hope and pray that this year will be an easier one for us, wherever you are in the world.
Malaysia has seen some devastating floods in recent weeks. Please donate if you can, and/or spread the word.
I still don’t know when I’ll be able to see my loved ones overseas. Hold your loved ones tight ❤ Especially your children.
My podcast plans are delayed for the moment, but stay tuned!
I’m thrilled to share my latest op ed on SBS Voices: Malay phrases I won’t be using on my children.
Speaking of being a mother and a writer, this article resonated with me SO MUCH: The Heartbreaking Ingenuity of the Mother-Writer. I could read this article a billion times and love it more each time. Only fellow mother-writers could relate to the creative, exhausting, hair/hijab-pulling methods we use to get our words down!!
As many of you would know, I am an avid SFF (science fiction and fantasy) fan. My latest obsession is the Green Bone saga by the brilliant Fonda Lee. Jade Legacy is coming out in November, and Fonda Lee has started up a one-year-only Patreon which gives patrons exclusive access TO COOL THINGS. Her series is incredible! Asian-inspired, which I absolutely love. No shortage of strong, complex female characters alongside believable male leads.
I absolutely love Fonda Lee’s Jade City and Jade Legacy. One thing she wrote about so brilliantly, which I have never read elsewhere, is the diaspora experience. I’m a returnee to my Malaysian motherland and to have her write about what it’s like to be a foreigner, how it changes you so irrevocably…that was really validating, to see reflected back to me. I was born in Singpaore, moved to Sydney when I was 12, lived in Jordan from 25-27, married at 28 then moved to Malaysia at 30 and I’ve been here for almost 8 years. All of this shapes me, my parenting, my writing – the lens through which I view the world and interact with it.
If you’re an untigering Asian parent like me, check out this INCREDIBLE recording. Iris Chen is an unschooling Chinese American mother who inspired my article as well as my daily commitment to untigering.
I loved listening to her conversation with Joline from Chapter Zero Singapore, Syazana from Sassy Mama Singapore, and Justina from Raised with Wonder in Malaysia. My people! It’s so validating hearing them share their stories which are so familiar to mine. I love the beautiful parts of Malay culture and want to embed that into how I raise my kids, but I reject the toxic parts. It’s an ongoing process for me, my husband and my children. One day at at time. We have the gift of living with my elderly mother-in-law, so that’s another layer of nurturing for my children.
If you love her content, you have the option of supporting Iris on Kofi.
Raidah Shah Idil, MG Author 