Mariah binti Ahmad

Mariah binti Ahmad (died 2 February 1955) was an Indonesian homemaker who was the first wife of ulama Zakaria bin Muhammad Amin.

Mariah was the daughter and 15th child of ulama Tuan Guru Haji Ahmad (1885–1949), and his first wife, Rohimah binti Sani (d. 1977), from Perak. Her father was the first person to establish an Islamic-based educational institution in Bengkalis. She had five paternal half-brother from her father's second marriage to Khadijah binti Sulaiman, including A. Hamid Ahmad (1944–2021), a politician who served as Regional Secretary of Bengkalis Regency from 1995 until 2003, and ulama Abdul Karim Ahmad (1937–2021), who served as Chair of the Riau Islands Indonesian Ulema Council. Mariah was raised in Perak and often visited by her father from Ramadan until Eid El-Fitr, but in 1930, she moved to Bengkalis with her family and continued her education and da'wah activity there.

Mariah married ulama Zakaria bin Muhammad Amin who was one of her father's students, in 1933. They later moved to Bagan Datuk, Perak, to continue Zakaria's Islamic education and had three sons: Nashruddin, a civil servant and former employee at Bengkalis Regency Religious Affairs Department Office; Azra'i.e., a lecturer at As-Syafiiyah Islamic University; and Syakrani Zakaria, a harbormaster. They had four daughters: Aminah, a school principal formerly at SMP Negeri 2 Bengkalis; Zaharah, a politician who served at People's Representative Council in Bengkalis from the development works fraction; Ulfah, a gynecologist at Manado General Hospital; and Hanim Zakaria, a junior school teacher in Pekanbaru. Her grandson from Zaharah, Wisra Okarianto, became an Islamic judge who served as council and panel of judges for the 45th Musabaqah Tilawatil Quran on Bengkalis Regency level.

During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies in 1942, Mariah moved back to Perak with her father and returned to Bengkalis after the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence in 1945. They continued their regular activities until his death in 1949. She continued to support her husband during Indonesian National Revolution. She caught a fatal illness after Operation Kraai. She died in Bengkalis, on 2 February 1955.

Zakaria was shattered after her death and described it as the saddest heartbreak due to Mariah's loyalty. She always accompanied him in very difficult situations. In order to provide care for their young children, Zakaria married Siti Zainab binti Kimpal, an actress, and had seven more children with her. Mariah was buried at Gang Kasim Ebok Cemetery in Kelapapati, Bengkalis. Her mother, Rohimah, died 22 years later on 17 June 1977. As of 2020, four of her children had passed away.

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