Malala Yousafzai – Engaging Peace

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.

Malala at the White House. Photo by Pete Souza, in public domain.

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

This year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is a well-deserving intergovernmental organization—the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW works in collaboration with the United Nations to administer the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWP).

As of January 2013, the OPCW had overseen the destruction of nearly 80% of the world’s acknowledged stockpile of chemical weapons. As I write, it has a team in Syria, working to dismantle that country’s chemical weapons in the middle of a bloody civil war.

As I read the history of their work, I am fascinated. When I think of the bravery of their workers in Syria, and contemplate the potential of their efforts for peace in the Middle East and survival of humanity, I am awed and grateful.

Yet, when I view the video showing their fine exhibits to the public, my thoughts turn immediately to Malala Yousafzai—the Pakistani teenaged girl who was shot twice in the head to punish her for promoting education for girls in a district where they wanted no girls in school.

People around the world were aghast at the effort to assassinate her, prayed for her recovery, and were thrilled to see her nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize—the youngest nominee in the history of the prize.

Malala did not win it this year, though she continues to be recognized for her courage, integrity, activism—and readiness to speak truth to power. When President Obama invited her to the White House “”to thank her for her inspiring and passionate work on behalf of girls education in Pakistan,” she told him she was concerned that “drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people.”

President Obama would do well to heed the words of this young woman.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology