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What’s it like to grow up in a society where women and girls have few rights, and a terrorist group is trying to take away the only freedoms they do have? What can one person do to combat violent extremism that is destroying everything she loves?

In I Am Malala , Nobel Peace Prize winner and girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai answers these questions by recounting her life story—from her origins in poverty to her campaign for girls’ education in Pakistan to her eventual shooting at the hands of the Taliban. Part memoir, part history of the Taliban’s rise to power and attacks on women’s and girls’ rights, I Am Malala is above all a chronicle of bravery in the face of great risk.

Our guide provides historical, political, and religious context for the events in Malala's life. We also examine the research and data behind issues such as gender according to Islam, the origins of terrorist organizations, the link between misogyny and violent extremism, and girls’ education worldwide.

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On September 11, 2001, the terrorist attacks in the US happened. The leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization, Osama bin Laden, was living in Kandahar, Afghanistan at the time. America sent thousands of troops to Afghanistan to catch him and overthrow the Taliban regime that had protected him. Just as America had needed Pakistan’s help to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, it also needed Pakistan’s help to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. As a result, America embraced General Pervez Musharraf, who was Pakistan’s president at the time and who agreed to help the US with its “War on Terror.”

(Shortform note: The War on Terror is a global military campaign initiated by former US President George W. Bush to combat terrorism following the 9/11 attacks and continued through successive administrations. While the War on Terror succeeded in toppling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and eliminating many of al-Qaeda’s senior members, including Osama bin Laden in 2011, critics argue that it often employed illegal tactics to do so, including detaining people without trial at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba and using torture to extract confessions.)

Malala writes that because Pakistan’s intelligence service, ISI, had essentially created the Taliban, many ISI officers were close to Taliban leaders. So even as Pakistan assisted the Americans, they were still providing weapons to Taliban fighters and sheltering their leaders in Pakistan.

In 2004, the Americans launched a drone attack in a region of Pakistan where they believed Osama bin Laden was hiding. They followed that attack with two more, killing over 100 Pakistanis. As a result of these attacks and Pakistan’s support for the US War on Terror, militancy and anti-government sentiment began to grow within Pakistan. This eventually contributed to the emergence of the Pakistani Taliban.

(Shortform note: Just as many fighters in the Afghan Taliban were Pakistani, many leaders of the Pakistani Taliban were veterans of the war in Afghanistan . These men had long provided support for the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. In the late 2000s, spurred on by their anger at Musharraf’s support for America’s War on Terror, they also began to direct their militancy toward their own government.)

Conditions That Contributed to Radicalization: The Example of Malala's Father

Although Malala's father eventually became an outspoken critic of the Taliban and a founder of secular schools, his experience as a teenager demonstrates how young men in Pakistan could become susceptible to radicalization.

Malala recounts how Ziauddin grew up in a poor village with few opportunities. Although he attended a secular school, he also studied the Quran with a religious scholar when he was a teenager. His teacher constantly talked about jihad, saying it was the right choice because life on earth was short, and there were few work opportunities in the village. Ziauddin was influenced by his teacher and was afraid of working in the dangerous coal mines like many of the men in his village, so he decided he wanted to become a jihadi. Ziauddin later told Malala that he believed he was subjected to a type of brainwashing.

Some of the boys from Ziauddin's district were recruited to wage holy war against the Soviets alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan. Years later, the same organization that recruited them became the Swat Taliban.

One of the things that changed Ziauddin's mind about becoming a jihadi was spending time with his future wife’s family. They belonged to secular nationalist parties and were opposed to Pakistan’s involvement in the Afghan war.

Why Do People Join Terrorist Organizations? While research about why people join terrorist organizations is inconclusive, experts suggest that Ziauddin's reasons for wanting to join the Taliban are typical. Contrary to the popular belief that terrorism is the product of mental illness or psychopathy , experts believe that people who join terrorist groups are frequently motivated by social conditions , such as poverty, lack of education, or lack of political power. Becoming a terrorist or jihadi not only provides these individuals with a sense of belonging, it also provides opportunities for power and advancement to those who otherwise have few work opportunities. Scholars generally agree that terrorism is best understood as a question of political and group dynamics, rather than as a matter of individual psychology . One example of this is the role of some madrasas in training members of the Taliban to wage jihad in Afghanistan. Poor students generally enrolled in the madrasas because of the free room and board, not out of a sincere desire to become a terrorist. But in the isolated, strict environment of the madrasas, they were particularly susceptible to being indoctrinated into radical militant beliefs .

The Taliban Attacked Girls’ Education and Women’s Freedoms in Malala's Province

After 9/11, the Taliban and militant fundamentalists associated with them increasingly attempted to curtail women’s and girls’ freedoms in Malala's province. The process began slowly, with various fundamentalist groups spreading their belief that Islamic law prohibits women’s freedoms. Then, in 2007, the Taliban entered the Swat Valley, and the violence and threats escalated—including the Taliban’s first threat against Malala's family.

Precursors to the Taliban in the Swat Valley

In 2002, the MMA Alliance won the elections in Malala's province. They were a group of five religious parties, including the one that had run the madrasas where the Taliban were trained. The MMA tore down billboards featuring pictures of women or covered the images with black paint. They took female mannequins from clothing shops and insisted women wear head coverings.

Malala's father opened his high school in 2003; at the time, boys and girls were in the same classes. But by the following year, the atmosphere in the province had changed so much that having co-ed classes was no longer an option.

In 2005, a massive 7.6 earthquake hit Pakistan, killing over 73,000 people. The Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Law, or TNSM—a group that had sent men to fight alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and was now led by Maulana Fazlullah—provided some aid to remote villages that the government hadn’t been able to help.

Taking advantage of the atmosphere of fear created by the earthquake, mullahs (religious leaders) from the TNSM preached that the earthquake was a punishment from God for women’s freedoms and obscenity . The mullahs warned that if people did not adopt sharia, or Islamic law, God would send more severe punishments.

(Shortform note: Terrorist groups often exploit crises—whether political, economic, or humanitarian—to further their agenda. Like the TNSM, they may use natural disasters to warn people against behavior they deem sinful. They may also take advantage of crises to gain political credibility and demonstrate that they have value to the community beyond armed conflict , a tactic that’s especially effective in areas where government services are lacking. For example, jihadist groups such as the Taliban, Hezbollah, and al-Shabaab provided health services during the Covid-19 pandemic when the government was unable to do so effectively.)

The Taliban’s Imposition of Increasingly Harsh Sharia Law in the Swat Valley

Malala was 10 when the Taliban came to the Swat Valley, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The Taliban fighters were armed with knives and Kalashnikovs (assault rifles) and wore black badges that said “Sharia law or martyrdom.”

Their leader was 28-year-old Fazlullah. He set up a radio station in the Swat Valley known as Mullah FM, and people called him the Radio Mullah. Many people in Swat got all of their information from the radio because they didn’t have a TV or were illiterate.

(Shortform note: The literacy rate in Pakistan ranged from about 54% to 59% from 2006 to 2019. Men’s literacy in Pakistan has long been significantly higher than women's.)

Soon, says Malala, the Radio Mullah began telling people to stop listening to music, watching movies, and dancing —activities that he said were sinful and had caused the earthquake. Malala asked her father if the Quran really prohibited those things, and Ziauddin told her that the Radio Mullah was making it up.

However, many people were fed up with the slow-moving and corrupt Pakistani justice system, so they agreed with Fazlullah’s ideas about bringing back Islamic law. Six months after Mullah FM began broadcasting, people started heeding Fazlullah’s admonishments to get rid of their TVs, CDs, and DVDs. The Taliban gathered the electronics in huge piles and burned them in the streets. Malala's family hid their TV in a cupboard and watched it on low volume.

(Shortform note: The Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan banned all forms of entertainment and most forms of independent media, claiming that music, movies, and TV shows were un-Islamic, immoral, and obscene. While these prohibitions purported to be on religious grounds, in reality, they allowed the Taliban to maintain authoritarian control over the flow of information to the Pakistani and Afghan people, as well as to the outside world.)

Fazlullah often preached directly to women, instructing them to stay home and go outside only in emergencies. Malala was confused by this because she knew that the Quran did not say that women should stay home and only men could go out. But even Malala's mother believed that the Quran prohibited women from leaving the home without a male relative.

Soon, the Radio Mullah was preaching that girls should not go to school. On his radio program, he named girls who had quit school and congratulated them, saying they’d go to heaven. He also told women not to go shopping at the bazaar. If they did try to go, the Taliban would shout at and intimidate them until they went home.

(Shortform note: The practice of secluding women from public observation and enforcing high standards of female modesty is called purdah . Purdah limits interactions between men and women, as well as limiting women’s ability to move freely outside the home. In the Muslim tradition, it begins at puberty. Some fundamentalist Islamic states, like Iran and Taliban-run Afghanistan, punish women merely for leaving the house or wearing the veil in a manner deemed improper. But Islamic modernists argue that the Quran does not require women to stay home or wear a veil, and that women have the same right to participate in public affairs as men .)

Then Fazlullah began holding local “courts” called shura to resolve disputes. The shura instituted public whippings as punishments. Fazlullah set up a stage where people were flogged in front of cheering crowds. Next, he established a morality police who patrolled the streets in pickup trucks, wielding machine guns.

One day, when Malala and her family were passing through a Taliban checkpoint, Taliban soldiers carrying Kalashnikovs told Malala and her mother that their failure to wear Burqas was shameful. When the family returned home, they found a note from the Taliban on the gates of Ziauddin’s school. It threatened severe punishment unless the school stopped teaching girls.

While all this was happening, the authorities and the people did nothing to stop it. Malala's father said that people had been seduced by Fazlullah.

However, clashes between the Taliban and the Pakistani government in Islamabad (the capital of Pakistan) led Musharraf to send the army into the Swat Valley. This was the beginning of a conflict between the army and the Swat Taliban that would last for years.

It was hard for Malala to sleep at night because of all the noise from the machine guns and cannons. The army succeeded in driving Fazlullah and his fighters into the mountains, but within a week, 40 Taliban leaders from across Malala's province met to form a united front. They called themselves the TTP, or Pakistan Taliban. Besides fighting government forces, they also acted as a morality police, targeting women who weren’t observing purdah.

Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister who had recently returned from exile, gave a speech in which she condemned the militants. Immediately after the speech, she was assassinated. Many Pakistanis, including Malala, felt that their hope for democracy and women’s rights in the country died along with her.

Misogyny, Domestic Violence, and Violent Extremism While the Taliban’s violent repression affected everyone in the Swat Valley, it was overwhelmingly directed at women and girls. Research helps explain this link between extremism and violence against women. Some researchers have called misogyny—the hatred of or desire to control women—a “gateway” to extremism . Their studies show that worldwide, men who join violent extremist groups or embrace extremist ideologies are frequently motivated by the promise of a society in which women are subservient to men. By the same token, terrorist groups recruit members by glorifying strict gender roles in which women are relegated to the domestic sphere. In addition, because misogyny dehumanizes women and often goes hand-in-hand with violence against women, it prepares men to accept other violent ideologies and commit violent acts. This may be one reason extremist violence is more likely to take hold in countries like Pakistan, which already have a poor track record when it comes to gender equality. However, research also demonstrates that even in countries like the US where women have more rights, misogyny leads to violent extremism. Studies show that men who have a history of domestic violence commit almost 70% of mass shootings in the US . Experts say that men who believe it’s acceptable to control or abuse women are more likely to commit violent acts against strangers . Author Rebecca Solnit argues in Men Explain Things to Me that the true source of male violence in the US is not mental illness or economic problems , as many claim, but a belief that men have the right to control women. Solnit draws a direct line between misogyny and violence against women, on the one hand, and mass shootings and terrorism, on the other.

Malala Campaigned for Girls’ Education and Against the Taliban

Surrounded by the Taliban’s increasing violence and attacks on women and girls, Malala did what she believed was right: She continued going to school despite the Taliban’s ban and, encouraged by her father, she spoke out in support of girls’ education.

In this section, we look at Malala’s campaign for girls’ education in the face of serious risks, including the Taliban’s bombings and closures of schools, the evacuation of the Swat Valley due to fighting between the army and the Taliban, and the continued death threats against Malala and her father. We’ll discuss Malala’s shooting at the hands of the Taliban. Finally, we’ll explore how she survived and continued her fight for girls’ education from her new home in England.

Malala Spoke Out in Support of Girls’ Education and Against the Taliban

Malala continued going to school despite the Taliban’s prohibition on girls’ education. She hid her book bag on the way there and back and didn’t wear her uniform to avoid detection by the Taliban.

The fighting continued in the Swat Valley in 2007 and 2008. Fazlullah started blowing up schools, usually after the night curfew when no one was in them. There were school bombings almost every day. One of them killed 10 members of Malala's best friend’s family. By the end of 2008, the Taliban had destroyed over 400 schools.

Some of the Pashtun elders in Swat, including Ziauddin, banded together to challenge Fazlullah. They spoke out against the Taliban by giving interviews on radio programs like Voice of America and the BBC. Malala's father encouraged her to speak up, and she began giving interviews as well.

She started when she was 11 by doing group interviews with her classmates, in which they spoke about girls dropping out of school because of the Taliban. But when her classmates reached 13 and 14, the men in their families didn’t want them to give interviews anymore because they were afraid the Taliban would punish them for not observing purdah after puberty. Malala had the support of her father and believed it was important to speak the truth, so she continued. She believed God would protect her because she was doing what was right.

Ziauddin's friend, a BBC radio correspondent, called him looking for a female teacher or student to write a weekly diary about life under the Taliban. Malala volunteered to do it. They had a computer, but there were frequent power cuts and little internet access, so the correspondent interviewed Malala over the phone and wrote up her thoughts. She used a pseudonym—Gul Makai—and couldn’t tell anyone she was writing the diary because it was too dangerous. The diary garnered international attention. Malala began to see the power of the written word.

(Shortform note: While Malala’s diary gained international attention, at home she received a lot of backlash with people calling her a “drama queen,” accusing her of blasphemy, and even saying she was a CIA agent. But Pashtun girls changed their opinion of her once they read her diary —many were inspired to write their own diaries and became more eager to go to school.)

At the end of 2008, the Taliban announced that all girls’ schools must shut down by January 15. On the day Malala's school shut down, she and her classmates stayed late playing, and then she went home and cried. After that, she did as many TV and radio interviews as she could. She said that the Taliban could close the schools, but they couldn’t stop girls from learning. However, she feared it would be very hard to learn, much less get a job, without school.

After the Taliban banned girls’ education, Pakistanis spoke out in a way they hadn’t before. The Taliban agreed to lift the ban for girls up to 10 years old. Malala was 11, but she and others her age pretended they were younger so they could start going to school again.

The Fight for Gender Equity in Education Worldwide The serious obstacles Malala faced in attempting to get an education under the Taliban are in many ways representative of what girls all over the world experience. And like Malala, many individuals and organizations are fighting for gender equity in education worldwide. Although education is a human right , 129 million girls are out of school worldwide and only 49% of countries have achieved gender parity in education . In the bottom 10 countries for girls’ education—countries like Pakistan and Nigeria— the vast majority of girls do not attend any type of secondary school , meaning that their education ends at age 11. In Afghanistan, where the Taliban returned to power in 2021 two decades after being overthrown by the US, girls are completely banned from attending school after the sixth grade. Like Malala, many girls face threats to their education due to armed conflict and gender bias resulting from cultural or religious norms . Other common barriers to girls’ education include poverty, child marriage, and gender-based violence. While boys face some of these obstacles as well, families with fewer resources often favor boys when investing in education. Although the reasons girls are unable to attend school vary by country and community, research demonstrates that the benefits of girls’ education are universal. Girls’ education improves economies and creates more stable societies. Women who receive a primary and secondary education are more likely to be employed, make more money, and provide better nutrition and health care for their families. They’re less likely to experience discrimination, gender-based violence, and child marriage. Because the need for gender equity in education is great and the benefits to society are significant, many organizations are working globally to advance girls’ education , from Camfed in Africa to Girls Who Code in the US to Malala's own nonprofit, the Malala Fund , founded after her shooting. These nonprofits advocate for policy change, provide teacher training and student mentoring, and work to remove the barriers to girls’ education.

Malala's Family Fled the Swat Valley

Finally, the Pakistani Army launched a more intensive effort to drive the Taliban out of Swat. The government told people to evacuate. Malala's family tried to stay, but the fighting left them constantly anxious. They left the Swat Valley along with almost two million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Malala and her family were away from their home for about three months. When they returned, they found buildings in ruins, piles of wreckage, and walls covered with bullet holes. The Taliban was no longer in charge, but Malala feared that they could return at any minute; she had nightmares about it.

Life began to regain a semblance of normalcy. But just when people started to think the Taliban was really gone, there was a series of bombings, kidnappings, and murders. Ziauddin continued to speak out against the Taliban, and he received another death threat.

IDPs, Evacuations, and International Humanitarian Law IDPs like Malala's family are generally defined as people who are forced to flee their homes to avoid the effects of war, violence, human rights violations, or disasters, and who have not crossed an international border. Evacuation orders due to armed conflict are a common cause of such internal displacement. International humanitarian law governs how and when governments can order civilian evacuations like the one in the Swat Valley. Governments can’t displace civilian populations to gain a strategic advantage in war; rather, evacuations must be carried out only for the safety of the population or because there is no military alternative to evacuation. In addition, the military can order evacuations only if there is a safe place for people to evacuate to: Civilians can’t be evacuated to a region where they’re still in danger.

Malala's Profile Continued to Rise

Meanwhile, Malala received many awards for speaking out for girls’ education, and she continued to give interviews to TV and print journalists. During one speech at a gala, she spoke publicly for the first time about defying the Taliban’s orders and going to school in secret.

Malala's rising profile attracted attention, and she received a death threat from the Taliban. Although her parents were worried and encouraged her to pause her work, Malala wanted to keep speaking out. She reassured herself with the thought that the Taliban had never targeted a young girl. She was more worried about her father than herself.

Nonetheless, Malala started having nightmares about the Taliban shooting her or throwing acid in her face. At night after everyone was asleep she double-checked that every door and window in the house was locked and prayed that her family and all of Swat would be protected from the Taliban.

Children in Conflict Zones Malala frequently mentions the fear she experienced as the result of the Taliban’s actions and the fighting between the army and the Taliban. Her reactions to this fear, such as nightmares and constant anxiety, are common among children living in conflict zones. Children in Syria, Ukraine, and Gaza, among other places, often live in a state of “toxic stress” that has long-term consequences for their psychological well-being . These children experience many types of violence, such as bombings, killings, and displacement from their homes. The mental health effects of living in conflict zones are most significant for children who are separated from their parents; Malala's ability to continue her fight despite her fear may have been reinforced by the ongoing love and support of her family.

Malala Was Shot by the Taliban

By the time Malala was 15, she had been speaking out against the Taliban, at increasingly greater personal risk, for four years. She and her family had been receiving threats from the Taliban for a year.

On October 9, 2012, the Taliban shot Malala. At the time, she and her friends were going to school in secret. There was no longer a sign over the door to the school, and the students arrived by bus, even though the school was only a short walk from their homes, because it wasn’t safe to walk.

Malala was riding the bus home from school with 19 other girls when Taliban soldiers pulled them over. A man asked for her by name, then shot her in the face point-blank. The bullet went through her left eye socket, exited her head, and lodged in her shoulder, narrowly missing her brain. The Taliban later claimed responsibility for shooting Malala. They said they had done it not because of her fight for girls’ education, but because she supported Western, secular ideas.

(Shortform note: Almost all terrorist groups use assassination as a terrorism tactic, but terrorists have committed far more assassinations in Pakistan than in any other country where assassinations occur. According to the US government, while terrorist groups commit assassinations to eliminate enemies, they also do so to intimidate the population of a region, influence public opinion, or garner media attention, among other reasons.)

Malala was rushed to a series of hospitals, where doctors operated on her to remove the bullet and relieve life-threatening swelling in her brain. She suffered complications after the operations and was transferred to a hospital in Birmingham, England.

Malala's family had trouble getting out of Pakistan to join her, so for her first 10 days at the English hospital, she was alone. When she regained consciousness in Birmingham, she had no idea what had happened, where she was, or why her vision and hearing on her left side weren’t working and her thoughts were muddled. She couldn’t speak, so she wrote basic phrases in English on a notepad. She couldn’t walk properly. Slowly, she regained her speech and practiced walking.

When Malala was reunited with her family, everyone released the emotions they had been holding in and cried. Malala's family was distraught to see that the left side of her face was paralyzed, and she couldn’t smile. Doctors operated to repair Malala's damaged facial nerve; after three months, movement slowly began returning to her face.

(Shortform note: While Malala started on the road to recovery following her stay in the Birmingham hospital, healing from the shooting would take at least nine years and six surgeries , including three additional surgeries to repair her facial paralysis in 2018, 2019, and 2021. When she was recovering in Boston from the third surgery on her face, she heard the news of the Taliban retaking Afghanistan. She noted on social media that millions of Afghan people had taken a bullet at the hands of the Taliban, just as she had.)

Malala Continued Her Fight for Girls’ Education From Her New Home in England

The Pakistani government rented an apartment in Birmingham for Malala's family to stay in while she recovered. They paid for her medical care and gave her father a position as education attaché to the Pakistan high commissioner in London.

Six months after the attack, Malala was well enough to start school in Birmingham. Malala liked England, but she missed home. She couldn’t return, however, because it was still dangerous for girls to get an education in Pakistan. Schools were still being bombed and girls killed.

(Shortform note: After the Pakistani army retook the Swat Valley from the Taliban in 2009, some degree of peace returned to the area. But as Malala points out, the Taliban attacks continued—including their attack on Malala herself. Arguably to guard against another Taliban takeover, the Pakistani military has remained in Swat since 2009. Sporadic Taliban attacks have continued and, following the Afghan Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in the summer of 2021, the Pakistani Taliban in Swat began regrouping . In addition to other attacks, the Pakistani Taliban attacked a school van in 2022 on the 10th anniversary of Malala's shooting, killing the driver and injuring students.)

On Malala's 16th birthday, she gave a speech about girls’ education at the UN in New York. She wrote the speech not just for the UN delegates, but for people all over the world whom she hoped to inspire.

She also founded the Malala Fund, which works to ensure that girls around the world receive an education. She went to Kenya to build a school and to Nigeria to show solidarity with schoolgirls abducted by militants. She went to the White House to discuss girls’ education with US President Barack Obama. She told the president that instead of trying to root out terrorism through war, the US should work to eliminate terrorism through education.

Methods for Combating Terrorism Malala's message to President Obama echoes the conclusions of many experts on combating and preventing violent extremism. These experts say that while counter-terrorism has long focused on military and security operations, these approaches are not enough to exterminate terrorist groups that are now active in approximately two-thirds of the world. They argue that governments must focus on the roots of violent extremism : poverty and inequality; lack of education; marginalization and discrimination, including against girls and women; and poor governance, including state violation of human rights and the rule of law. The best way to prevent terrorism, these experts argue, is to create societies that respect human rights and provide economic opportunities for all .

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I Am Malala

By malala yousafzai, i am malala essay questions.

Malala's father said he believed that lack of education was the root of all Pakistan's problems. How might this be true?

Educating a nation's children is one of the most direct ways to provide for its prosperous future. As a relatively new developing nation in a region of the world that is ripe with strife, Pakistan has not had the resources to institute widespread schooling. Ignorance breeds both hatred and intolerance, as evidenced by Taliban supporters in Pakistan. It also prevents people from having the knowledge and courage they need to stand up for the causes they believe in. As education is the only thing that can counter ignorance, education is a necessary component of any effort to build up Pakistan and eliminate many of its problems.

How does Malala mature over the course of her life in this memoir? Was this maturity forced, or voluntary?

The beginning of the memoir detailed Malala's life as a carefree child, happily living and learning in what she considers the most beautiful place in the world. When she was ten years old, however, the Taliban came into her valley, and this occupation marked the beginning of Malala's loss of innocence and her growth from a child into a mature, confident young woman. In many ways, this transformation was involuntary—the Taliban's presence in her valley forced her to become an adult much earlier than most children, after all—but the way she rose to the challenges facing her and became a true advocate was certainly of her own volition.

How does Malala question the idea that the most effective weapons are things like guns, bombs, and knives?

Malala's enemies—the increasingly destructive Taliban and its sympathizers—fight their wars with conventional weapons like Kalashnikovs and grenades, killing in order to make their point. Malala fights as well, but instead she uses words as her weapon. Malala's words, whether written like the diary of Gul Makai or spoken in her speeches and television interviews, powerfully rally people against the Taliban and in favor of the cause she most supports: girls' education. She shows that words can be far more powerful than guns or bombs. Because of how globalized the world has become, words can spread rapidly and affect far more people, alerting the world to injustices so someone can subsequently do something to fix them.

How does Malala's perspective on education differ from an American (or Western) perspective on education?

Living in a nation where many young girls like her do not receive an education, Malala grows up viewing school as the ultimate privilege. She values each day spent in the classroom, and sees education as a tool she can use to empower herself and the people around her to speak out against oppression. Conversely, in much of the Western world where education is a given for the majority of children, we view schooling as more of a means to an end, a way to get a good job in order to live comfortably. It is seen as much less of an inherently remarkable experience.

Despite the terrible things that happened in Swat during the latter half of her childhood, Malala still loves her home. Why is this important?

Even though her last five years spent in Swat Valley were largely spent suffering under the watchful eye of the Taliban, the memories of the Swat that came before are still imprinted on Malala's mind. The most formative years of her life were spent in relative happiness in Swat, reveling in its natural beauty, running freely with her friends, and attending a school she loved. The Taliban were unable to erase these happy memories of her home, even after she was forced to leave. This is a reminder that no matter where someone ends up in life, the place where she spent her childhood will always be central to her identity.

How does this memoir counter the potentially negative perceptions of Islam held by many Westerners because of terrorism and the media?

Malala's memoir indeed presents the corrupted form of Islam claimed by fundamentalist organizations like the Taliban. However, Malala herself is Muslim, and she and her family rely on themselves for peace, healing, and guidance, believing that the Taliban's actions do not truly represent Islam. Since Westerners' perceptions of Islam are tainted by constant media stories of terrorism, this perspective from an insider whose Islamic faith pushes her in positive directions can be especially eye-opening.

Why does Malala believe in the power of politics to change the world?

In the face of worldwide corruption and secrecy, it can be difficult to trust politicians or believe in their power to elicit real change. This is especially true of Pakistan, a nation that suffered immense poetical corruption during the time when Malala Yousafzai was growing up. Despite that, though, Malala believes in the political process, because she has seen the way political activism—even at the grassroots level, like her and her father's efforts—can make a difference. A good politician has the power to rally many to his or her side, as evidenced by leaders like Benazir Bhutto. There is strength in numbers, as Malala knows very well, and with a strong leader and a strong following, change can truly happen.

Why might a group like the Taliban be able to attract and retain followers?

The Taliban capitalizes on fear, dissatisfaction, and ignorance. A charismatic leader like Fazlullah is able to appeal to people's dissatisfaction with the status quo, and in addition, scare them into thinking that following them is the only way that they will be able to avoid some terrible fate. An example of this can be seen in the reaction to the earthquake that struck Swat shortly before the Taliban took over. People were hurt, impoverished, and afraid, worried that something like this could happen again and they would not be able to recover. The Taliban came in and insisted that this was the wrath of God against infidels, and many frightened people heeded their message, believing that following them was the only way to avoid destruction.

How does Malala handle the culture shock that comes with awakening from trauma in an entirely new culture?

Until she is airlifted to the UK for treatment, Malala had never left Pakistan. Once she awakes, she is struck with immense culture shock: not only is she injured, but she is also without her family for support. Though this is overwhelming, Malala handles herself with grace, and in her typical fashion asks many questions in order to gain a full understanding of the situation. Though Birmingham is different, she tries to maintain as much a sense of normalcy as possible, returning to school as soon as she can and taking comfort from her family once they do arrive.

Does having Malalai of Maiwand as a namesake prime Malala for success? Why or why not?

Malala's name is one of the many things that empower her to speak up and make a difference. Malalai of Maiwand, her namesake, is a Pashtun heroine who showed similar courage and command over words, and, in choosing this name for her, her father displayed his intent to support and empower his daughter regardless of her gender. Having this sort of support certainly played a role in priming Malala for success.

I Am Malala Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for I Am Malala is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Explain the following quote: “Inside the Khushal School, we flew on the wings of knowledge.”

Malala cherishes the memories of her father's school. Many girls were not given the opportunity of an education and even fewer were given the liberal education that Malala received inside Khushal School. To Malala, education was a liberating...

how does starting the story with this prologue help support the memoir

We get a sense of context before the story begins. The prologue acts as an exposition to the narrative.

provided a private jet for Malala’s transport to England

United Arab Emirates

Study Guide for I Am Malala

I Am Malala study guide contains a biography of Malala Yousafzai, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About I Am Malala
• I Am Malala Summary
• Character List

Lesson Plan for I Am Malala

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to I Am Malala
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• I Am Malala Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for I Am Malala

• Introduction
• Murder attempt
• Continuing activism

I Am Malala

Malala yousafzai, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition)

50 pages • 1 hour read

I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 5

Part 2, Chapters 6-10

Part 3, Chapters 11-15

Part 3, Chapters 16-19

Part 4, Chapters 20-23

Part 5, Chapters 24-29

Part 5, Chapter 30-Epilogue

Key Figures

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Consider Malala’s relationship with her parents. How does her father inspire Malala to become a champion of girls’ educational rights? In what ways is Malala similar to her father? What character traits do they share? Characterize Malala’s relationship with her mother. In what ways does her mother influence Malala? Does Malala have a closer bond to one parent over the other? Discuss.

Malala believes she—and everyone—has a basic right to education. Why is girls’ education so important to Malala? What are some of the benefits of education? In contrast, the Taliban believe that girls’ education is un-Islamic. Why do you think the Taliban want to suppress girls’ education?

Although Malala wins the Nobel Prize and receives international support and recognition for her advocacy work, she is still a teenager when she begins writing her memoir . In what ways does Malala show she is a regular teenager? What does Malala have in common with young adult readers, even those from other cultures? What narrative strategies does Malala use to connect to other teens?

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