About

Shafiqah Othman is a Malay Muslim born in Singapore on 15 September 1994. She attended Anderson Secondary School in Singapore for 2 years before moving to Malaysia in 2008, and eventually completing her secondary school education in Sekolah Menengah Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam.

After obtaining her SPM certificate in 2011, Shafiqah spent two years of her life in a haze. She was not qualified to a college yet, as she was still awaiting her citizenship for Malaysia. Somewhere between these two years, Shafiqah was confronted by an atheist who told her on social media that Islam is a misogynistic and oppressive religion towards women.

It was only then that Shafiqah realised that she could not defend her religion as she had no knowledge of her beliefs, except for the basic things that she had been taught in schools. Thus, she started on her journey of self-discovery and spirituality.

This led to her first post on Islam: “Does Islam degrade women?” which was meant as a response to the atheist that had questioned her. Unfortunately, she had lost his contact when she had finished writing it.

Shafiqah’s father, Othman Hamzah, is an 80s singer known for his song “Gadis Melayu” and “Musliha”. Although still singing occasionally, he is now mainly a family man that is self-employed. He serves as one of her biggest role models, in terms of both character and spirituality.

It was her father’s patience, moderation and kindness that spurred her further into wanting to learn more about Islam. He smiles through any adversity, and one of Shafiqah’s goals in life is to be able to adopt her father’s emotional strength.

She is a member of Sisters In Islam. She is also a columnist under Malay Mail and a part of Komuniti Muslim Universal (KMU).

She was the first person to be given the honour of taking over the official UNICEF Malaysia Twitter account as a youth volunteer for their #SayaSayangSaya initiative (a follow-up to the Malaysian chapter of the global UNICEF campaign #ReplyForAll) together with Digi, WOMEN:girls, and R.AGE, and join them on their nationwide tour promoting the campaign.

In her free time, Shafiqah enjoys reading books on philosophy, theology, science, and religion, and penning her thoughts down independently on Twitter and on her Medium.