Duba wurin da ke ƙasa sannan ka amsa tambayar daga baya a cikin harshe ɗaya kamar yadda wurin yake:  An haifi Mahathir a gidan iyayensa a cikin wani yanki mara kyau na Alor Setar, babban birnin jihar Kedah, British Malaya, a ranar 10 ga Yuli, 1925. Mahaifinsa, Mohamad, ɗan asalin Malay ne da ɗan asalin Indiya; mahaifiyarsa, Wan Tempawan, Malay ce. Kakannin Mahathir wadanda ba Mala'iku ba, wanda ya fi yin shiru a lokacin aikinsa na siyasa, alama ce da Firayim Ministocin Malaysia guda shida suka raba. Amma wani bangare na haihuwar Mahathir ya bambanta shi da sauran biyar: ba a haife shi a cikin aristocracy ko sanannen addini ko siyasa ba. Mohamad shugaban makaranta ne wanda yanayin zamantakewar tattalin arzikinsa ya sa 'ya'yansa mata ba su iya shiga makarantar sakandare ba, yayin da Wan Tempawan ke da alaƙa mai nisa da mambobi na masarautar Kedah. Dukansu sun yi aure a baya; An haifi Mahathir tare da 'yan uwan juna shida da' yan uwan juna biyu.Mahathir ɗalibin makaranta ne mai aiki sosai. Horo da mahaifinsa ya ba shi ya motsa shi ya yi karatu, kuma bai nuna sha'awar wasanni ba. Ya sami matsayi a cikin makarantar sakandare na Ingilishi mai zaɓaɓɓu, bayan ya zama mai ƙwarewa a cikin Ingilishi fiye da takwarorinsa na makarantar firamare. Tare da makarantu da aka rufe a lokacin da Jafananci suka mamaye Malaya a Yaƙin Duniya na II, ya shiga cikin ƙananan kasuwanci, da farko sayar da kofi sannan daga baya pisang goreng (fritters banana) da sauran kayan ciye-ciye. Bayan yaƙin, ya sauke karatu daga makarantar sakandare da maki mafi kyau kuma ya shiga karatun magani a King Edward VII College of Medicine a Singapore. A kwaleji ya sadu da matarsa ta gaba, Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, wata ɗalibar likitanci. Bayan Mahathir ya kammala karatu, ya yi aiki a matsayin likita a cikin aikin gwamnati kafin ya auri Siti Hasmah a 1956 kuma ya koma Alor Setar a shekara mai zuwa don kafa aikinsa. Shi ne likitan Malay na farko a garin, kuma wanda ya yi nasara. Ya gina babban gida, ya saka hannun jari a kasuwancin da yawa, kuma ya ɗauki wani ɗan China a matsayin direbansa a cikin Pontiac Catalina (mafi yawan direbobin a lokacin Malays ne). Shi da Siti Hasmah sun haifi 'ya'yansu na farko, Marina, a shekara ta 1957, kafin ta haifi uku...  Tambaya: Wanene ya yi aure a 1956?
Siti Hasmah