I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

“By the age of seven I was used to being the top of my class” (69). Malala competeswith her good friend, Moniba. When a new girl, Malka-e-Noor joins the class, she thinks little of it, until Malka-e-Noor receives top marks on the year-end exams. The incident hurts Malala, and she cried. Around the same time, Malala and her family moved to a different neighborhood. She meets Safina, a younger girl.

Malala plays with a fake cellphone her father bought her. It disappears, and one day, Safina plays with one that looks like Malala’s. Malala begins to steal Safina’s things and finds it thrilling. However, she is caughtand her mother refuses to speak to her. “It’s horrible to feel unworthy in the eyes of your parents” (71).

After that day, Malala did not steal or lie. She stops wearing jewelry. “What are these baubles which tempt me? Why should I lose my character for a few metal trinkets?” (72). Her father comforts her by talking about the mistakes others have made.

Malala enters a public speaking event. Her father writes her speech. “We thought speaking in English meant you were more intelligent. We were wrong of course. It does not matter what language you choose, the important thing is the words you use to express yourself” (78). Malala loses the event to Moniba. Instead of sadness, Malala realizes she must sometimes lose.

Malala’s family moves again as the school attracts more students. The increase in attendees meant Malala’s family could buy a TV. Her favorite show features a boy with a magic pencil. “At night I would pray, ‘God, give me Sanju’s pencil. I won’t tell anyone. Just leave it in my cupboard. I will use it to make everyone happy’” (80). In particular, Malala wants to help the children who rummage through the rubbish dump. Malala begs her father to give the children free entrance to school. Unfortunately, her father explains they were likely their family’s lifelines.

However, her father usually gave away free spots. “Giving places to poor children didn’t just mean my father lost their fees. Some of the richer parents took their children out of the school when they realized they were sharing classrooms with the sons and daughters of people who cleaned their homes or stitched their clothes” (83). Her father does not make much money. Regardless, he finds time to promote other endeavors. “Aside from corruption and bad government, my father’s main concern in those days was the environment” (84). Malala describes him promoting peace and education through his organization. He also writes poetry about controversial topics.

After 9/11 the Pashtuns found themselves torn between two evils. On one side is the Taliban, and on the other is the Americans bombing Afghanistan. Malala points out some people called Osama bin Laden a hero, but she suggests they forgot “the Holy Quran clearly says it is wrong to kill” (86).

Despite the global issues enclosing around the valley, Malala and her father focus on local issues. “I was more concerned with matters closer to home—our own street to be exact. I told my friends at school about the rubbish dump children and that we should help” (88). She writes a letter to God, hoping He would help, and puts the letter in the river with the hope it would reach God.

Conflict arises regarding her father’s school. A religious authority, a mullah named Ghulamullah “called himself a mufti, which means he is an Islamic scholar and authority on Islamic law” (90). The man watched girls coming and going from the school each day. Malala’s father fears the man watching the school is an ominous sign. Ghulamullah reaches out to the property owner and accuses Ziauddin of running a haram(forbidden) school. The owner refuses to take the building away and tells Malala’s father to watch out for the mullah.

Malala turns her narrative to her country’s history. “It could hardly have been a bloodier beginning,” she says (91). Muslims flooded into the country from India and Hindus ran away to India. Many died on their way to cross new borders. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, their country’s founder, made a speech before independence, saying, “You are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed—it has nothing to do with the business of the state” (92). Despite the founding words, the country remained split and at war with itself. “Most Pakistanis are Sunnis like us—more than 80 percent—but within that we are again many groups” (93).

The mufti gathers several elders and influential leaders and brings them to Malala’s house. To Malala’s father, the man argues, “A girl is so sacred she should be in purdah, and so private that there is no lady’s name in the Quran, as God doesn’t want her to be named” (94). Her father points out that Maryam’s (Mary’s) name is in the Quran, and he tells the other men that the mufti refuses to greet him in the streets. The other men explain they thought he was an infidel, but they notice all the Qurans in his house. Her father explains he will have the girls enter from another entrance. It appeases everyone except the mufti, but he leaves. The hypocrisy of it all? The mufti’s niece attends the school.

General Musharraf becomes the military leader and Malala considers him different from past generals. He “abolished the law that stated that for a woman to prove she was raped, she had to produce four male witnesses” (96). The new government banned CDs and DVDs. They also “insisted women cover their heads. It was as if they wanted to remove all traces of womankind from public” (97).

Soon, a local militant leader is bombed by the U.S. “Whatever you thought about Nek Mohammad, we were not at war with the Americans and were shocked that they would launch attacks from the sky on our soil” (100). A local cleric “announced that the deaths would be avenged by suicide bombings” (100). Malala’s father and his friends call a peace conference. No one listens and her father comes home frustrated. “I have a school, but I am neither a khan nor a political leader. I have no platform….I am only one small man” (101).

One day in October, an earthquake hits the valley. Malala is in school, and once the ground stops shaking, her teachers send everyone home. Aftershocks continue during the day. “Every time we felt a tremor we thought it was the Day of Judgement” (103). The earthquake was 7.6 on the Richter scale. It devastated Pakistan. “We remembered how scared we were that morning and started raising money at school. Everyone brought what they could” (104). General Musharraf declares the aftermath a “test of the nation” (105).

Due to the ongoing conflict between Afghanistan and the United States, U.S. helicopters covertheir flag logos in order to drop aid without being attacked. One Islamic organization, a front to a militant group, called Jamaat-ul-Dawa (JuD) begins taking in children. “In our culture orphans are usually taken in by the extended family, but the earthquake was so bad that entire families had been wiped out” (107). Malala’s father tells her young boys are taken in by JuD and taught the Quran. But they also learn “that there is no such thing as science or literature, that dinosaurs never existed and man never went to the moon” (107).

Finally, on top of the devastation, another group begins preaching about the earthquake being a sign from God. It warns people that women have become too free. If the ways of women aren’t changed, the group pronounces, then punishment will be severe.