I am Malala Book Review

I am Malala is the true story of a young girl and her family growing up as Pashtuns in Pakistan. It focuses on the effect of global terrorism on her home of Swat, her fight for girl’s education, and her family’s fight in defying the unjust cultural norms associated with Islam. To describe this book in one word, it would be powerful. It is not only powerful because of Malala herself, but also because of all the people that shaped her throughout. The word “powerful” is used to describe courage and strength and this book presents how much courage and strength the people in her life presented on a daily basis.

This book sheds light on Islam by refuting a lot of the toxic culture surrounding it as not true teachings of the religion. One instance of that toxic culture was the mistreatment of women. There is a constant emphasis on prizing males over females. Malala herself speaks on this quite frequently growing up as a female, to the point where people were disappointed with her birth simply for not being male. This idea then gets pushed to the extreme when the Taliban implement themselves into her town because they start to forbid females from doing many things, for example, dancing at the bazaar. However, her father, Ziauddin constantly points out that these values are no where in line with the teachings of the Quran. In fact, a lot of the discrimination and oppression of women is an outcome of the patriarchy and society itself. Instead, he always pushed to give Malala the same priority and care as he would any male child of his. He decided to name her after Malalai of Maiwand because she was a national folk hero of Afghanistan that fought for freedom. He wanted Malala to fight for her rights and freedom too. With this perspective, Ziauddin spoke out against the Taliban, proclaiming their actions were cruel and unjust. This caused many people to doubt his faith, but he stood by his points, completely risking his life in the process. From this, it is clear that at its core, Islam should actually be taken as a religion of peace and non-violence. The discrimination of women and actions of the Taliban were completely out of line with the true teachings of the religion.

Women, including Malala’s mother, played a very traditional role in this book. This is not to say they were not completely powerful and hardworking in their own right. However, they were expected to cook, clean, and have children. Although some girls were allowed an education before the arrival of the Taliban, many could not utilize it towards their futures. Malala’s mother even went as far as to just stop going to school because she knew her future was already laid out for her and could not see the significance of an education. It was not until she married Malala’s father Ziauddin, a major advocate for education and someone who wanted to build a school, that she wished she pursued her education. It is also because of a role model like Ziauddin that Malala was so passionate about pursuing her own education. It is clear he was a huge influence on Malala’s character and her family. Ziauddin also never saw his wife as less than simply because she did not have an education. Malala states that he told her mother everything, valuing her opinion and input. Although her father is her role model, Malala always remembers to thank her mother for being right there with her on her fight for education.

For Malala, education is everything. Although there is still a lot of work to do in providing women across the globe with their basic human rights, providing them with education is a necessity because they are learning more than just academia. Education allows people to learn about themselves in the context of the world. If every woman was educated, they would learn about their basic human rights. They would learn how they could stand up for themselves, how they are supposed to be treated. They would learn about their potential, the different ways they could contribute to society. Girls would grow up learning to dream big and think about the ways they could change the world. Women would learn to stand together in their communities in the hopes they would not be taken advantage of. They would no longer be seen as less than a human.

“No struggle can succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a third power stronger than both, that of women.” — Malala Yousafzai, I am Malala

Chance plays a big role in Malala’s story. A major moment of chance is when BBC contacted her father. A journalist asked him if he knew of young people willing to talk about their life under the Taliban. He directed them towards Malala, which gave birth to the “Diary of a Pakistani School Girl.” Under the pseudonym Gul Makai, she wrote about her hopes to continue her education and her fears about the future. This pioneered a lot of the support and recognition she started to gain. Later she gets the lucky opportunity to film a documentary with the New York Times when she sits in on an interview with her father. Since she is there, she is asked questions with a translator present only for the interviewer to realize she is fluent in english. It when she breaks down crying answering questions about her future and education that the interviewer realizes the true story lies in her. It is chance that brings these opportunities to her doorstep, but it was she who utilizes these opportunities to her advantage.

The biggest miracle of chance in this story is her survival. This is the story that really catapulted her to fame because she survived a gun shot to the head. Not only did it garner her a lot of attention, but it also brought a lot of attention to her cause. It was fair to say she nearly died fighting for her right to education. Then, she lived to tell the story and continue her fight. There is something truly powerful in that story that people latched onto. It led her to become the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize, a feat that she truly deserved.

It is easy to forget that Malala is still a young girl who experiences the same things as other young girls. She likes to say she is probably the only Nobel Peace Prize winner that still argues with her brothers. But it is solely because she is that young that makes her such an inspiration. She is still a young girl in every sense of the word, but she is a young girl who shows more courage and bravery than most people on the planet. Through this book, Malala brings it to the forefront an issue that effected her life and the life of those around her. She shows girls across the globe that their life and their rights are worth fighting for. She shows religious people across the globe that you can still be someone who believes in their faith while fighting the toxic culture surrounding it. She shows children across the globe that you’re never too young to make a difference. Most of all, she shows people across the globe what courage, strength, and true power can look like.