The two spiritual guides in her life

IBU Zain had the good fortune of having tworemarkable men as her spiritual guides –her father and her husband. 

Her paternal grandfather, Mohamed Nor,was an official in the court of the Sultan ofSiak in Sumatra. Disappointed with the sultan’s refusal to stand up to the Dutch, he left with his 11-year-old son Sulaiman in a boat. 

Halfway across the Straits of Malacca, hethrew some uncut gems into the sea, vowingthat only when the gems resurfaced would he return. 

Thus the seeds of nationalism, firstagainst the Dutch, transferred itself againstthe British. Ibu Zain inherited that fire. 

When she was only five, her fatherSulaiman, who was given the title Munshibecause he taught at the Teachers TrainingCollege in Malacca, sent her to the localMethodist Girls’ School, defying the prevailing kampung view that going to an English school meant to “masuk Christian” (adopt Christianity). 

He believed that “if we want to defeat theBritish, we must know their language, theirculture, how to speak with them. Only thenwill they respect us,” said Shakib. 

“When my mother returned from school,she and my grandfather would compare theteachings of the Quran and the Bible. Hewould explain the difference; he was theguru ugama (religious teacher). 

“So she was not influenced because whenshe got home there was already an antidote,”explained Shakib. 

Her other beloved guide was her husbandAmin, born of Arab-Javanese parentage, whogrew up in Mecca. He learned English fromthe tourists whose bags he carried. 

Orphaned at 15, he and two friends workedtheir passage on a ship bound for Singapore. 

He attended the Victoria Bridge schooland later the Raffles College for his SeniorCambridge. He joined the Johor civil servicewhere he rose to become assistant statetreasurer at the age of 45. 

The couple met when Ibu Zain went tostudy Arabic before leaving for the haj inMecca. He was her tutor and she learnt tocall him akhi (brother), recounted Adibah. 

“When they married, the name stuck.”Fadzilah remembers him being “the onlyperson mother would not cross”. 

“My father was a sweet person. He wasvery intelligent and supportive (of mymother). They never quarrelled,” sherecalled. 

While Amin was “perhaps not as highprofileas his wife, he had other strengths.He was a respected Arabic scholar. Had helived longer, he might have risen even higherin his career,” said Shakib. 

“My father began a trilingual Malay-Arabic-English dictionary with Dato Onnwhich stopped at ‘J’. We don’t know wherethe draft has gone to,” said Adibah. 

“The Japanese transferred him to Muarand worked him to death. He died just 11days before the war ended,” recountedFadzilah, who was then seven. That steeledIbu Zain to struggle on her own.