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Running head: MALALA YOUSAFZAI

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MALALA YOUSAFZAI

MALALA YOUSAFZAI

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Malala Yousafzai is a female Pakistani education activist born on 12 July 1997. Despite her young age, this girl is very passionate in ensuring all girls get education all over the world. Malala is the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. She was born in the Swat District, which is located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan. Her name Malala was given to her by her father means a Pashtun heroine. The heroine was a poetess and a warrior from southern Afghanistan. She is blessed to have two younger brothers and both her parents Ziauddin and Tor Pekai. She currently resides in the Birmingham, United Kingdom

Malala has been a key personality in helping improve the education for girls in Pakistan. Personally she can speak Pashto, Urdu, and English fluently. She has a strong educational background from her father who is an owner of several private schools in their area. They are known as the Khushal public school. Initially, Malala wanted to learn and become a doctor but his father’s influence was very strong, and she liked politics instead (Saleem Ali, 2012).

At 11-12 years, she was courageous enough to write blogs under an alias for the BBC regarding the occupation of their Valley by the Taliban. The Taliban occupation of the Swat Valley threatened education for the girls. Furthermore, the Taliban banned music and television in that area and told Malala’s father to close his school. Women and girls were forbidden to go shopping. Continuous blogging and speaking or girl’s right to education put her, and her father’s life in danger as Taliban threatened to kill them (Owais Tohid, 2012).

Malala was shot by a masked gunman in her school bus while traveling to school but survived the attack. The impact of this event was felt worldwide as the world condemned the Taliban for their coward action, and protests rose all over Pakistan. Approximately 2 million people signed a petition regarding the right to education for every Pakistani which was quickly passed by the parliament. The education was also set to be compulsory. It was very unfortunate that she and two of her friends were injured during the attack. Malala has received several global awards for her effort to fight for girl-child education. She won the National Youth Peace Prize in Pakistan and received Sakharov Prize in 2013. An Honorary Canadian citizenship was given to her by the Canadian parliament and in 2014 she became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate.

Malala is a Sunni Muslim, and her religious background has not been able to pin her down like most of the girls in the Middle East. Her father was an education lover and advocated for education for every child in the Swat district as well as the entire Pakistan. In most areas in the Muslim countries, girls are not given the chance to go to school which is very bad. The Taliban closed down schools where they occupied and ensured no girls received education. They also banned music and television that are very core in every society as a means of life and getting information all over the world respectively (Yousafzai, Malala, 2014).

However, due to the efforts of this girl, many young girls, not only in Pakistan but all over the world have the chance to get educated and mould their own future. The culture in which girls get married at tender age is now long gone and if any individual is found forcing his/her child to get married against her will can be arrested and charge in a court of law. Religion is a very important part of our society, and it should promote the well-being of all community members as well as the development of the society itself. Some individuals have, however, used religion in a twisted approach to strangle community development and authorize terrorism. Taliban are Muslim extremist who believes in jihadist that is not part of the Islam culture. Islam is a religion of peace and generosity and any individual using it to terrorize people cannot be in his/her right mind. No one in his right mind would advocate for killing innocent people all over the world and denying children their right to get educated except coward individuals masking under the name of a religion they don’t even know.

The elements of religion captured in this article are traditions, belief and religious organizations. Many religious leaders in Pakistan have stood up to fight for education for every child in their country, and they believe Allah has given them the power to help the needy and pray for those in trouble. If it’s not for religion, today’s society would be chaos without any moral approach to actions and lack a sense of direction.

The traditions laid down by any religion are very important, for example, Muslim women, and girls are required to wear “Bui Bui” and scarf to cover their hair. This is a tradition that ought to be respected. A religious organization is very key as it determines how the religion will succeed in ensuring their traditions are followed despite the change in time. A dominant religion will have a strong organization that will help in their management.

References

Yousafzai, Malala (2014). I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Owais Tohid (11 October 2012). "My conversations with Malala Yousafzai, the girl who stood up to the Taliban". The Christian Science Monitor. p. 3.

Saleem Ali (14 October 2012). "Malala and Sharbat Gula: Pashtun Icons of Hope". National Geographic (University of Queensland, Australia).