Rahah binti Mohamed Noah (Jawi: راحة بنت محمد نواح; 11 June 1933 – 18 December 2020) was the widow of the 2nd Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein (1922–1976) and the mother of former Prime Minister Najib Razak. She was the daughter of Mohamed Noah Omar, 1st Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat (1897–1991).

Biography

Rahah was born on 11 June 1933 in Muar, Johor. She was the youngest of Mohamed Noah Omar's ten children. While attending secondary school in Johor Bahru, Rahah was introduced to Abdul Razak Hussein, by then already an active member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), by Taib Andak, a friend of Abdul Razak while studying in London. They married on 4 September 1952.

Abdul Razak became the second Prime Minister of Malaysia in 1970. As the prime minister's spouse, she served as President of the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia and patron of the Muslim Women's Action Organisation (Pertiwi). In 1976, Razak died in office, leaving Rahah widowed at the relatively young age of 43.

She was the chancellor of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, the university founded in honour of her husband. Since Abdul Razak was the prime minister who established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, all PRC ambassadors made a courtesy call on Rahah upon arriving in Malaysia.

In an interview conducted in 2011, Rahah said she spent most of her time attending religious classes with friends.

Death

Tun Rahah died on 18 December 2020, at 4.45 p.m., following a short illness, at Prince Court Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur. She was 87 years old. She was laid to rest at the Makam Pahlawan (Heroes' Mausoleum) in Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur. Her remains were buried beside the grave of her sister Tun Suhailah Mohamed Noah, widow of third Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn, who died on 4 October 2014.

Family

Abdul Razak and Rahah had five children:

YB Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak (born 1953), the sixth and former Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Ahmad Johari (born 1954)
Mohd Nizam (born 1958)
Mohd Nazim (born 1962) businessman, husband to former tv presenter and AIDIJUMA entrepreneur Norjuma Habib Mohammed
Mohd Nazir (born 1966), the former chief executive of CIMB, one of the largest financial services companies in South-East Asia. Current Chairman of Ikhlas Capital.

Rahah's sister, Suhailah, was married to Abdul Razak's successor as prime minister, Tun Hussein Onn.