How To Free A Jinn by Raidah Shah Idli (Guest Post)

Hello, readers! Today, I’m super thrilled to be able to bring you a guest post from debut author Raidah Shah Idli, whose middle grade novel How To Free A Jinn was only recently published this past November.

Like myself, Pn Raidah is a member of the Malay diaspora. In her guest post, she talks about her background and upbringing, and how those informed her writing. Her debut novel centers on young Insyirah, whose calm, orderly world in Australia is thrown into chaos when news reaches her family that her grandmother has suffered a bad fall. While Nenek could easily hire someone to look after her, she wants Insyirah and her mother to move back to Malaysia and stay with her instead.

Their new home would be a struggle for anxious Insyirah to adapt to even before she learns her family’s secret: the women of her line can control powerful jungle spirits called jinn. One day, Insyirah will inherit a jinn of her own… if she can survive the evil spirit that haunts her new school and seems determined to drive her out of the country. She’ll have to dig deep into her own resilience and courage if she’s going to successfully navigate all the challenges of both the seen and unseen worlds around her.

I can’t wait to dive into this book, especially after reading Pn Raidah’s illuminating essay below:

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I was born in Singapore and grew up fascinated with tales of the supernatural. I remember being at my grandparents’ home in Paya Lebar and accidentally catching a glimpse of an age-inappropriate horror movie when I was young, and how viscerally frightening that was…but also very, very intriguing. The True Singapore Ghost Stories book series was a massive hit when I was in primary school, but too gruesome for me to really enjoy. We always had some elder sharing an incredible supernatural tale from the jungle, and to this day, I’m not entirely sure how embellished those stories were. Instead of hardcore horror, I loved Studio Ghibli movies a lot more. I enjoyed that cosy fantasy vibe, loved the idea of exploring an unseen realm and imagined what that would look like. Over the years, I realised I wanted to write a book incorporating those elements – but also uniquely diaspora Malay and unapologetically Muslim.

I wanted to write a character who, like me, draws strength from her faith and family – even though often times, a lot of the conflict stems from within our families and ancestries! I wanted a book that was a love letter to messy, beautiful and resilient Muslim families like mine. I was tired of the tropes of a brown girl who needed to be liberated by her white saviours, so I wrote a book where she liberated herself – with the loving support of her faith in Allah and her safe people. This is the book I wish I had when I was 12, and I’m so grateful that this dream has come true.

I wrote this book for Muslim kids, especially anxious ones from complex families. I want them to feel seen in this book. I also wrote this book as a doorway for kids who are not Muslim, so that they can step into our world and learn about how much we have in common. We live in a time of so much dehumanisation and devaluing of Muslim lives. My resistance is writing a book about our joy and strength.

When it comes to the fantasy elements of my book, I was definitely informed by a lifetime of devouring many, many other fantasy novels! However, most of the fantasy I read was very Eurocentric. One of my favourite series in high school was the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix. I had read some fantasy novels that were based in Asian settings (and with Asian characters!) were written by white authors. I craved a fantasy novel that reflected a faith, culture and setting that were more like mine, written by someone like me. It’s been so wonderful seeing South-East Asian authors write incredible fantasy stories like Hanna Alkaf, Zen Cho, Jesse Sutanto, Vanessa Len, Keshe Chow and Salinee Goldenberg. Reading Malaysian-inspired and Thai-inspired fantasy has inspired me to write my own.

South-East Asia is not the same as South Asia, and definitely not the same as East Asia. Jinn stories were always so exciting to me, especially when there were stories of people walking into the unseen realm, and then coming out again (if they did!) irrevocably changed. There was always some Malaysian or Singaporean aunty who either walked into the unseen realm or knew someone who did! It’s incredible how common that is in Malaysia. I interviewed a few of these aunties while drafting my book. One aunty fondly reminisced about how in her youth, she was proposed to by a very handsome jinn – she very apologetically and politely declined his marriage offer. That absolutely made its way into my book.

I set my story in Malaysia because this is a country so immersed in jungles, legends and spirituality. I was a diaspora child and young adult who experienced the microaggressions of racism and Islamophobia growing up in Singapore and then Sydney. It took a toll on me. But back in Malaysia, for the first time, I feel safe enough to be unapologetically Malay and Muslim. I’m finally not living as a besieged minority. This has been wonderful for my creative process. Despite the regular tiredness that comes with raising three young children, I know that when I step outside my home, I’m not going to be glared at or attacked for being in hijab. I can just be. My kids are safe. I am safe. I am safe enough to dream up a fantasy novel for a younger me, instead of shrinking myself to be acceptable enough for the white gaze. We have regular life ups and downs, but that terrible shadow of Islamophobia doesn’t reach us here. I cannot overstate how wonderfully healing that has been for me.

I’ve realised now that there is no one way to be Malay, and nothing can change my ancestry, and the generations my ancestors have lived in this beautiful, tropical and peaceful part of the world. What I explore in my writing is the in- between experience. What happens when I’ve lived abroad, but I come back home? Just like Insyirah, I live in that liminal space of being between countries – not quite the same as the seen and unseen realm, but (safely) close enough! I was born in Singapore, grew up in Australia, studied and worked in Jordan, and now live in Malaysia. Every place I have lived in continues to live on in me, and I draw from my memories and experiences when I write. When I’m in writing mode, my heart and mind inhabit so many different spaces, all at once.

My heart is breaking over the ongoing genocide in Palestine and in Sudan. It’s been over two years of targeted decimation, and it’s so clear how dehumanised these communities are. They’re human beings who deserve safety and freedom, just like us. The harmful stereotypes perpetuated about Muslims have real-world consequences. My book is my resistance against that.

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How To Free A Jinn by Raidah Shah Idli was published November 4 2025 by Salaam Reads and is available from all good booksellers, including