By guest contributor Sunanda Sharma
Malala Yousafzai is known as “the girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban,” and she casually includes that on the title page of her incredible book, I Am Malala.
Before she was shot, Malala anonymously chronicled her life under the pen name Gul Makai for BBC in 2009.
Malala states in her book that her father, Ziauddin, has been her greatest inspiration in advocating for women’s rights and education for all children. His own sisters were not allowed to get an education, being forced instead to learn all the household chores that would be expected of them once they were wed.
Based on his observation of his sisters’ fates and his own love of learning, Ziauddin started his own chain of public schools in Swat, Pakistan, including the school that Malala attended until she was shot by the Taliban in October 2012.
The Taliban occupation of Swat was a harrowing time for residents of the Valley. Malala describes how Fazlullah, “the radio Mullah,” broadcast rules for “proper” Islamic conduct, which he claimed were written in the Qu’ran. 
A mufti (Muslim scholar) tried to shut down Ziauddin’s schools, claiming they were “haram” (prohibited in Islam). The mufti went on to accuse Malala’s father of being an infidel. But Ziauddin said, “I am a Muslim too,” asserting that he had never heard of such ridiculous claims in the Qu’ran.
Their conflict reflects the struggles of the modern Muslim whose religious identity is so misunderstood by Westerners who fail to recognize the divide between radical extremists claiming to act in the name of religion and the millions of Muslims who practice Islam as peaceful citizens.
Malala’s story led to her United Nations address on July 12, 2013–her sixteenth birthday–which is now known as Malala Day. Her speech is powerful but sweet, reflecting her personality.
Sunanda Sharma is a senior undergraduate at Boston University, majoring in psychology and intent on promoting peace
