Review Malala's book part one: Before the Taliban

Assalamu'alaikum ^_^

Hello everyone! I wish you have a nice weekend 😊. Today, I would like to tell you the review of novel I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban. This novel have five part. In this time, i will review part one and I will review part two on the next post. So, happy reading! 

PART I: Before the Taliban

Chapter 1: A Daughter Is Born

Malala explains that she was born at dawn (traditionally a sign of luck in her community), but many people in the village still felt sorry for her family because Malala was a girl. As she puts it, women in her country are seen as second-class citizens, fit only for making food and birthing more children.

One of the few people who come to celebrate Malala’s birth was her father’s cousin, Jehan Sher Khan Yousafzai. He gave Malala a “handsome gift of money.” He also brought with him a large family tree, showing the sons and fathers of Malala’s family. Malala’s father, Ziauddin, had an unusual reaction when his cousin brought the family tree. Instead of accepting it as a gift, he took a pen and drew a line to indicate Malala’s birth, even though she was a woman. Ziauddin insisted that Malala was special, and celebrated her birth with coins and fruit—gifts usually reserved for boys.

Malala is named after Malalai, a heroine of Afghanistan. Malala’s ethnic group, the Pashtuns, are divided between two countries, Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. The Pashtuns obey a strict moral code of honor, which obligates them to treat all people with honor and respect. The Pashtuns are also a proud, warlike people. Malalai is a heroine to them because in the 1880s, she led the Pashtuns in a successful uprising against the British Empire. Malalai was only a teenager at the time, and she set aside married life to become a general and a warrior. British soldiers killed her, but her troops eventually defeated the British. To this day, monuments to Malalai are built in Afghanistan, and she’s a symbol of the native resistance to foreign aggression.

Malala continues explaining her culture. She lives in Swat Valley, a beautiful place full of fruit trees, rivers, and forests. In the winter, the villagers ski in the nearby mountains. Swat is currently a part of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in Pakistan. Formerly, Swat was an independent state, but following Indian independence in 1947, it became an autonomous state of Pakistan. The people of Swat use the Pakistan currency—the rupee—but nonetheless maintain an unusually large amount of cultural and political autonomy from Pakistan. Most of the people of Swat have never left their valley, even though the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, is only a hundred miles away.

Malala and her family live in the village of Mingora, the largest town in Swat. Swat has been an Islamic town since the 11th century. Prior to this time, however, it was a Buddhist state, and there are still ruins of Buddhist temples in Swat. Malala has grown up surrounded by birds and other animals, enjoying the beauty of the valley and the surrounding Hindu Kush mountains.

Malala’s family is very poor. Despite founding the first school for girls in Mingora, Malala’s father and his family live in a shack. Nevertheless, Malala’s family frequently entertains visitors, cooking for them and spending time with them. Hospitality, Malala explains, is a crucial part of her culture. Malala’s brother, Khushal, is named after their father’s school, which he attends. Her youngest brother, Atal, is seven years younger than she. Her family is very small by Swati standards. Malala’s father, unlike the majority of Swati men, never hits his wife, whose name is Tor Pekai. Malala notes that the people in her community aspire to have paler skin. Malala’s father, for instance, was always ashamed of his dark skin as a child. Only after he married Tor Pekai did he overcome his shame. Tor Pekai and Ziauddin had an unusual marriage, since they married out of love, not social obligation. This is highly rare in Pakistan, Malala notes.

Malala continues describing her family. Tor Pekai is very religious, and always prays five times a day, as is the Muslim custom. Malala’s father was rarely around when Malala was growing up: Ziauddin was busy writing poetry, organizing literary societies, and taking measures to preserve the environment in the valley. Although he is from an impoverished village, Ziauddin used his intelligence and hard work to become successful. Malala grew up respecting the power of language, largely as a result of her father’s influence.

Malala’s family is descended from the Yousafzai, a noted Pashtun tribe who celebrated combat as well as poetry. The Yousafzai feuded with one another constantly, but in 1917, one Yousafzai warrior managed to impose order on the Swati Valley. His son, Jehanzeb, brought great wealth and prosperity to the Valley. In 1969, the year Malala’s father was born, the Valley firmly united with Pakistan. Malala thinks of herself as Swati first, then Pashtun, then Pakistani.

Growing up, Malala noticed that, as a woman, she was restricted from traveling where she wanted. From an early age, however, Malala decided that she wouldn’t let the sexism of her society stifle her. Her father encouraged her to be “free as a bird.”

Chapter 2: My Father the Falcon 

Malala’s father, she notes, had an ironic curse: although he loved poetry and words, he had a horrible stutter that made it difficult for him to communicate. His stutter was worsened by the fact that his own father (Malala’s grandfather), Rohul Amin, had a beautiful, clear voice. Rohul was a popular theology teacher, widely praised for his electrifying speeches and sermons. Rohul took his son to get various treatments for his stutter, but none of them worked. Despite his speech impediment, Ziauddin attended the best schools in the valley, a luxury that didn’t extend to his sisters (Malala’s aunts). Growing up, Ziauddin was also fed better than his sisters. Ziaddun was able to listen to his father discuss politics and current events, as Rohul had met many of Pakistan’s greatest political leaders, including Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of the country.

Malala explains some of her country’s history. Pakistan has already amassed a long list of military coups, despite being founded fairly recently. When Malala’s father was only 8 years old, a general, Zia ul-Haq, seized power and executed the Prime Minister. The United States refused to send more foreign aid to Pakistan, since it saw Zia as a reprehensible dictator. Zia made life harder for women, weakening their rights in court and the political sphere. One result of this was that more women were raped, and their rapists were increasingly set free after trial.

As a young man, Ziauddin gravitated towards the principle of jihad. He prayed for war between the Soviets and the Afghanis, so that he would have a chance to prove his bravery. Shortly after his “conversion” to jihad, Ziauddin met Faiz Mohammed, the brother of Tor Pekai, his future wife. Faiz Muhammed helped to convince Ziauddin to reconsider his desire for war and violence. As a young man, Ziauddin also dealt with bullying from his cousins, since he was short and dark-skinned—two qualities that were thought to symbolize mediocrity.

When Ziauddin was in his early twenties, he stunned his father by signing up for a public speaking competition. Although Rohul was skeptical of his son’s stutter, he wrote a speech for his son to deliver. Ziauddin practiced for weeks, and when he delivered the speech, it was a great success. Ziauddin was awarded the top prize. This, Ziauddin would often tell Malala, was the first thing he’d done that had made Rohul smile. Afterwards, Ziauddin entered many other rhetoric competitions, usually winning or earning a prize. Rohul became enormously proud of his son’s success. In honor of his rhetorical skills, Rohul nicknamed him “Ziauddin Shaheen,” which means “Ziauddin, the falcon.” Ziauddin politely refused this nickname, since a falcon is a "cruel bird."

Chapter 3: Growing up in a School

Malala notes that her mother began and finished school at the age of six. At first Tor Pekai was proud of being the only girl in her school, but ultimately, she couldn’t force herself to continue—she saw her female friends playing every day, and couldn’t convince herself that there was any point to learning. After Tor Pekai married Ziauddin, however, she began to regret her decision. Her husband was extremely knowledgeable, and she couldn’t keep up with him. Largely because of Tor Pekai’s encouragement, Ziauddin founded a school for girls.

Malala explains that Ziauddin’s decision to pursue education and poetry as a career disappointed Rohul. Rohul had wanted his son to become a doctor, but Ziauddin’s abilities in math and science weren’t strong enough. When the time came for Ziauddin to attend Jehanzeb College, the finest school in Swat, Rohul refused to pay for his education—if Ziauddin wasn’t going to become a doctor, he decided, there was no point. Ziauddin feared that, without any further education, he would end up teaching in Sewoor—a typical career path for people in Swat, and not a particularly desirable one for Pashtuns. Pashtuns, Malala explains, look down on the people of Sewoor because of their dark skin.

Malala continues describing her parents’ history. Ziauddin, now married to Tor Pekai, set to work improving his new school. Tor Pekai helped out by painting the school and installing lights. Despite the new couple’s happiness and optimism, the school continued to lose money. Ziauddin couldn’t afford to pay his teachers money, and eventually the jeweler who had sold Ziauddin the bangles he gave to Tor Pekai came to Mingora, demanding money. Ziauddin had no choice but to give the jeweler his jewels back—this humiliated him. The school endured more problems: floods, power shortages, and teachers who quit in the middle of the year.

Throughout the difficult early period in his school’s history, Ziauddin remained optimistic. He advertised for his school across the valley. It was during this period that Malala was born. She grew up in her father’s schoolhouse, observing the students and the teachers. When Malala was young, Ziauddin’s friend and partner, Hidayatullah, left the school to found one of his own. Ziauddin accepted Hidayatullah’s departure. This occurred in the latter half of the year 2001. It was during this time that terrorists bombed the Twin Towers in New York—an event that Malala was only dimly aware of. Nobody in Pakistan, Malala concludes, could have predicted how September 11 would change life in their part of the world.

Chapter 4: The village

Malala’s relationship with Rohul Amin has none of the venom and competitiveness implicit in Rohul’s relationship with Ziauddin. Grandfathers are often gentler with their grandchildren than with their children, and also Rohul might not have as high expectations for Malala because she’s a girl.

From an early age, Malala is conscious of being different from the people around her. Unlike the vast majority of her relatives, she reads books and celebrates women’s rights to education and equality. At the same time, Malala feels an unshakeable sense of connection to her community—both to the people who don’t like her at all, and to the land itself. These early chapters of Malala’s life have an almost mythical tone to them—she seems like a child of the valley, tied to her people by an almost supernatural bond.

Malala confronts the paradox of her existence in this final section. She feels boundless love for her friends, her neighbors, and her community, but she also can’t force herself to respect a culture that treats women as second-class citizens or even as currency. Malala will return to this paradox many times in her book: whenever she feels especially close to Pakistan, some event will remind her that her home is still, in many ways, “foreign” to her.

Chapter 5: Why I Don't Wear Earrings and Pashtuns Don't Say Thank You

Malala, determined to be a moral person, spent much of her childhood running errands for other people. Malala looked up to an older girl at school, whose name was Fatima. Fatima made speeches before hundreds of onlookers, usually in English—English, Malala notes, was the language of prestige and wisdom among Pakistani people. Eager to impress her father, Malala decided to enter a public speaking competition, just as her father had done when he was a young man. The topic for the competition was “Honesty is the best policy.” Malala made a speech written by her father, as was the custom. When she made her speech before a large audience, she was extremely nervous. At the end of the competition she came in second, and her best friend Moniba won. Malala wasn’t hurt by her loss, as she remembered the words of Abraham Lincoln: “Teach him how to gracefully lose.” She resolved to put all her effort into her speeches in the future, and to speak “from the heart.”

Chapter 6: Children of the Rubbish Mountain

Malala was moved by her father’s description of the child in the rubbish mountain, and she begged her father to offer the girl a free place at his school. Ziauddin agreed—over the years, he’d given away many free places because Malala and Tor Pekai asked him to do so. At this point, Ziauddin’s school had more than 800 students, and three locations. More than 100 students attended the school for free. One side effect of this was that the richer students left Ziauddin’s school, as their parents didn’t want them associating with the poor. Nevertheless, Ziauddin remained a powerful, respected man in his community, despite the fact that he had little money and few family connections. 

Chapter 7: The Mufti Who Tried to Close our School

Near Malala’s school, there lived a tall, handsome mufti (scholar of Islam) named Ghulamullah. Malala’s father sensed that Ghulamullah didn’t approve of the notion of a school for women. “He was right,” Malala notes. Ghulamullah eventually accused Ziauddin of running a haram (blasphemous) school, and of corrupting women against Allah.

Ghulamullah held a public meeting to discuss the virtues of Ziauddin’s school. He invited Ziauddin to this meeting, where he accused Ziauddin of perverting the Quran. Ziauddin calmly argued that the Quran encouraged women to improve their minds and souls, citing passages from the book to back up his argument. Eventually, he and Ghulamullah agreed to a compromise: Ziauddin would build a new, private gate through which the girls would enter the school. This way, men wouldn’t see women entering the school. Ghulamullah didn’t like this compromise, however, since he was aiming to shut down Ziauddin’s school altogether.

Chapter 8: The Autumn of the Earthquake

Malala was about thirteen years old, there was an earthquake in Swat. While Mingora was largely spared from damage, the earthquake did huge damage to nearby cities like Kashmir and Kabul. Children and the elderly died in the disaster. In the aftermath, Malala’s family campaigned to raise money to help the families of the victims of the earthquake.

In response to the earthquake, the United States sent helicopters and aid to Pakistan. At the same time, the JuD (Jamaat-ul-Dawa), a fundamentalist group, took in thousands of children who had been orphaned by the earthquake. As a result, these children grew up believing in the teachings of the JuD, including the idea that women had no rights. Mullahs preached that the earthquake was a sign that Pakistan had angered Allah, and that Muslims should embrace the Quran with new passion.

That's all about review about Malala's book of part one. See you on next post 🤗

Wassalamu'alaikum ^_^