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Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Hajah
Rahah Mohamed Noah
SSM SIMP SPDK PNBS
Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Hajah Rahah Mohamed Noah SSM SIMP SPDK PNBS
راحة محمد نوح‎
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Malaysia
	In role; 22 September 1970 – 14 January 1976
Monarchs	Abdul Halim; Yahya Petra
Prime Minister	Abdul Razak Hussein
Preceded by	Sharifah Rodziah Syed Alwi Barakbah
Succeeded by	Suhailah Noah
Spouse of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
	In role; 31 August 1957 – 22 September 1970
Monarchs	Abdul Rahman; Hishamuddin; Syed Putra; Ismail Nasiruddin; Abdul Halim
Prime Minister	Tunku Abdul Rahman
Deputy	Abdul Razak Hussein
Succeeded by	Norashikin Mohd Seth
Personal details
Born	11 June 1933; Muar, Johor, Unfederated Malay States, British Malaya (now Malaysia)
Died	18 December 2020 (aged 87); Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Resting place	Makam Pahlawan, Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur
Spouse	Abdul Razak Hussein (m. 1952; died 1976)
Children	5 (including Najib Razak and Nazir Razak)
Parents	Mohamed Noah Omar (father); Maimun Abdul Manaf (mother);
Relatives	Nazifuddin Najib (grandson); Suhailah Noah (sister); Abdul Rahman Ya'kub (affinal); Nizar Najib (grandson)

Rahah binti Mohamed Noah (Jawi: راحة بنت محمد نوح‎; 11 June 1933 – 18 December 2020) was the wife of the second Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein (1922–1976) and the mother of sixth Prime Minister Najib Razak. She was the daughter of Mohamed Noah Omar (1898–1991), who was the first Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat and also third President of the Dewan Negara.

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, who was an active member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). This organization was founded by Taib Andaka, a friend of Abdul Razak, while studying in London. They married on 4 September 1952.^[1]

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).^[1] In 1976, Razak died in office, leaving Rahah widowed at a relatively young age of 43.

She was the chancellor of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, the university founded in honour of her husband.^[1] 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.^[2]

In an interview conducted in 2011, Rahah said she spent most of her time attending religious classes with friends.^[3]

Death

Tun Rahah died on 18 December 2020 at the Prince Court Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur following a short illness, at the age of 87.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad described Tun Rahah as among the last from the independence generation who contributed invaluable services and sacrifices for the country.^[8] Mahathir was among the national leaders and acquaintances present to pay their last respects to Tun Rahah.^[9]^[10]

She was laid to rest at the Makam Pahlawan (Heroes' Mausoleum) near Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur beside the grave of her sister Tun Suhailah Mohamed Noah, widow of third Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn, who died on 4 October 2014.^[11]^[12]^[13]

Family

Abdul Razak and Rahah had five children:^[1]

Najib Razak (born 1953), the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia. In 2020, Najib was convicted of corruption in relation to the 1MDB scandal during his premiership.^[14]
Ahmad Johari (born 1955)
Mohd Nizam (born 1957), the son-in-law to former Chief Minister from 1970 to 1981 as well as Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak from 1981 to 1986, Tun Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, being married to one of his daughters, Khadijah.
Mohd Nazim (born 1963), businessman cum husband to former tv presenter and AIDIJUMA entrepreneur, Norjuma Habib Mohammed.^[15]
Mohd Nazir (born 1965), the former chief executive of CIMB, one of the largest financial services companies in South-East Asia.

Rahah's sister, Suhailah, was married to Abdul Razak's successor as prime minister, Tun Hussein Onn.^[16]

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

Malaysia :
- Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia (SSM) – Tun (1976)^[17]
Sarawak :
- Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of Sarawak (PNBS) – Dato Sri (2002)
Pahang :
- Grand Knight of the Order of the Crown of Pahang (SIMP) – formerly Dato', now Dato' Indera (1973)^[18]
Sabah :
- Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (1974)^[19]

Places named after her

Several places were named after her, including:

Taman Tun Rahah, Bukit Katil, Malacca
Dewan Besar Tun Rahah, Kuala Lumpur
Masjid Ar-Rahah, Kampung Kerinchi, Kuala Lumpur
SMKA Tun Hajah Rahah, Sabak Bernam, Selangor

In popular culture

Rahah has been portrayed in a documentary, theater and films. She was portrayed by Fauziah Latiff in the theater Tun Razak Musical (2010) and a film played by Faezah Elai in Tanda Putera (2013).