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Bhanu Bhakta Joshi

Professor Lava Deo Awasthi (PhD)

English 605.1 Advanced Research Methodology

13 Jan. 2023

Malala: The Icon of Education

Review on I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood up for Education and was Shot by Taliban

Winner of the non-fiction book of the year 2013, I am Malala: The Girl who Stood Up

for Education and Was Shot by Taliban is a memoir that covers Malala’s life from birth to

sixteen years and her astonishing journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls

of United Nations . Written by Malala Yousafazai and Christiana Lamb, the book has major five

parts having sub-titles in each along with the prologue and epilogue. More importantly, the

record of the important events in Pakistan and Swat that impact in Malala’s life in one page

provides an easy access to the readers to correlate Malala’s activities and political events. After
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its first publication in London in 2013, the book gets world-wide popularity especially among the

readers of the west and non-Muslim world. The support in writing by Christiana Lamb, one of

the world’s leading correspondents, and the journalist of Sunday Times make the written pattern

simple so that even the common people can be the readers. The texture of writing and the

activities of an innocent girl below sixteen are beautifully interconnected. This paper attempts to

justify Malala as an icon of education through reviewing the book.

I am Malala celebrates the value, power and trength of education. From her early

childhood, it is reflected that the more she learns, the more she recognizes the value of learning,

and the more mature she becomes. She is more interested in study and passing school exams in

good position, so she reads the letter written by Abraham Lincoln to his son’s teacher. “Teach

him it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat . . . give him the quite time to ponder the eternal

mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside” (59). Besides

school education, she wishes to earn natural knowledge which can be fruitful and practical for

the betterment of her communities. Malala is a Pashtun , a tribe that traditionally confines

women to the domestic affairs and education for them is only in Madrasas. The command from

the Mufti; so called Islamic scholar and authority of Islamic law, “Girls should not be going to

school . . . A girl is so sacred she should be in purdha, and so private that there is no lady’s name

in the Quaran as God doesn’t want her to be named” (77). These sorts of anti-girl and anti-

women activities in the name of religion are deeply vibrating her minds to advocate for equal

education.

Growing up in and around a school, Malala learns the power that education has to shape a

child’s life, resolve the future, and provide courage to speak against injustice. As Talibans

expand their power in Swat Valley, the schools are closed and the girls are not allowed to go
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school. “There should be no education for women even at girls’ madrasas”(97). It is a

proclamation of Sufi Mohammad and the young Malala is highly demotivated but her curiosity

encourages to ask her father Ziauddin; an advocate for school and education and a great

supporter in her campaign. His reply, “They are scared of the pen” (97) depicts the power of

education. Fazlullah closes beauty parlors, bans shaving shops, stops women from going to

market, seals DVD shops and in every walks of life there is the impact of Talibanization. The

soft heart of Malala is broken when she knows the threat to women “. . . those who went to

school would also go to hell” (98). Malala inspires other girls for going to school and develops

courage in adversities. “Some of the girls refused, saying their teachers had taught them to

become a martyr is glorious thing” (106). Taking Benizer Bhutto as a role model, the girls under

the leadership of Malala emerge against anti-education campaign of the Taliban.

The respect for education grows, as Malala has been growing up. She continues going to

school even in the life-threatening situation, and becomes the great message to other girls. “It

was school that kept me going in those dark days”(112), “There was more to school than

work”(113). These are her great infatuations towards education and learning. She cannot stop

going to school whatever the political environment there may occur. She is utterly against the

doctrine of Taliban regarding education for women. “All the other girls in my class wanted to be

doctors, but I decided I wanted to be an Inventor and make an anti-Taliban machine which would

sniff them out and destroy their guns” (114). It is her strong denunciation of Talibanization

which is in her own term an inhuman. She believes, “If people were silent nothing would

change” (117), and advises others to raise voice against inhuman activities. As a follower of

Islam, she prays Allayah for getting strength to fight against them. She thinks, “If one man

Faslullah, can destroy everything, why can’t one girl change it” (117). She tries to embolden
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herself; “The Taliban could take our pens and books, but they couldn’t stop our minds from

thinking” (122). She is not afraid of the unfavorable circumstances created by Taliban but the

strong sense of hatred towards their activities, and a devoted respect to education is growing

inside her.

She usually tells to her terrified friends ‘pursue your education at any cost’. It is her

determination of life. “Education is our right . . . just as it our right to sing and play. Islam has

given us this right and says that every girl and boy should go to school” (129). Her interpretation

on schooling of girls is different than the extremist groups of Muslim. For her, education is an

inherent right for the children as singing and playing. She begins making radio broadcasts,

television interviews and writing articles under ‘The Diary of Gul Makai’ for BBC Urdu website

in which she argues for equal rights and universal education. The Taliban make great effort to

stop her and her friends from school. “I cried and cried. I didn’t want to stop learning. I was only

eleven years old but I felt as though I had lost everything” (135). She expresses her inner urge

towards education as she hears girls are stopped from schooling. During her stay at Islamabad,

she along with her father gets chance to visit Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the American

envoy to Pakistan, and talks with him for education; “Respected Ambassador, I request you,

please help us girls to get an education” (154). Malala’s concern to education is insatiable and

remains as a main motto of her life. Wherever or whomever she talks, she talks for education to

girls.

By considering her passion and advocacy for education, the government of Pakistan

awards her National Peace Prize on 20 December 2011 when she is just thirteen. She presents

her demands to Prime Minister, “I told him that we wanted our schools rebuilt and girl’s

university in Swat” (179). She wants not only the rebuilding of the destroyed schools but also
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establishing institutions for higher education. Her academic journey has faced many upheavals

but her enthusiasm and audacity enhance her potentiality to cope with the challenges. For her,

school examinations are not only for getting good scores but these are the platforms to expose

her potentiality. “So I studied hard too. Usually I liked exams as a chance to show what I could

do. The night before the exams began I stayed up studying until three o’clock in the morning and

reread an entire textbook” (199-200). These are the inspirational habits for the students of every

corner of the world. She turns fifteen and her fame and activities don’t support the dogmatic

concerns of Taliban who treat her as anti-Islamic figure fostered by the West. On 9 October

2012, she along with her friends enjoys riding a bus to school, is shot by Taliban asking “Who is

Malala” (203)? This is a great shock to an innocent girl and a turning point of her new life.

The last two chapters of the book unfold the intensive care and treatment of Malala from

the Army Hospital in Rawalpindi to the Queen Elizabeth Hostipal in Brimingham and the

sympathy as well as support from different persons and institutions. She wins Nobel Peace Prize

alongside children’s rights activists Kailash Satyarthi, gets chance to address in UN on her

sixteenth birthday where she calls for free education for all children. There, in front of 400

dignitaries, she appeals to all, “Let us pick up our books and our pens . . . they are our most

powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world” (262).

Her advocacy on the power of education reflected in abovementioned remarks is noteworthy for

all the people. She requests the world’s leader to provide free education to every child in the

world. Having the vision of educating girls and empowering them to change their lives and

communities, she sets up Malala Fund through which she has been providing education in the

different countries of the world. The book attempts to prove her as an icon of education

campaigner in the world.

The book envisions Malala as an icon and role model for education and women’s rights.

The over glorification of one’s own life for getting popularity can be assumed is as the weakness

of the book. About the two girls’ treatment; Sahazia and Kainat, though non-fatally injured in

shot, is hardly written. Her childhood schoolmate Moniba, who sets rules in their friendship and

assists her in each step, is under shadow. The reflection of her father Ziauddian Yousafazai’s

contribution for education in Swat Valley and supporting to the mission of Malala is appreciable

but the supporters to Ziauddian for school establishment and running them in unfavorable

situation are lost and nameless in the book. Similarly, Malala’s perspective towards the

westerners’ behaviors and unjust activities towards the common people after event of September

11, 2001 and the US entry in Pakistan for fighting against the terrorism caused by al-Qaeda, ISI

and Taliban not very clear. Instead she seems critical towards the politicians and administrators

of Pakistan. In terms of Christian charity she is found speechless.

The book seems interesting and enjoyable for all kinds of readers. The texture of the book

and the choice of simple words can be correlated with the simple and innocent life of a young

girl. So the youngsters can easily grasp the message. Those who are interested in Pakistani

politics can get the brief outline of politics after the Independence of Pakistan and the impact of

terrorism on common people. For the non-Islamic readers, it portrays the true pictures of Islamic

interpretation and misinterpretation regarding education for women and their roles in the society.

It shows that how challenging and life-threatening can be if one doesn’t follow the Islamic

traditional dogmas. For the readers like students and educationists, the book reveals the

hardships and challenges in running schools and educating the girls especially in the rural

villages of Pakistan. Inclusion of the photographs of Malala from home to abroad, from different

time and diverse aspects adds more charm and makes more interesting to read. The attachment of
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the interview with Malala by her US editor Judy Clain after winning Nobel Prize at the end of

the book is additional support to understand Malala and her future career of Malala. Therefore

this book is informative and interesting to read.

Work Cited

Yousafzai, Malala, and Christina Lamb. I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and

Was Shot by the Taliban. Weidenfeld &Nicolson, 2013.