Theme: Feminism

Tradition: Islam

When I think about Islam and feminism, the role model who springs to mind is Malala Yousafzai. She is a brave and inspirational young woman who dared to speak up for Islamic girls’ right to education, and nearly lost her life for speaking her truth.Taliban extremists took over her town in Pakistan and began to terrorize its citizens by blowing up schools and threatening those who spoke out in defense of education for girls.Following her father’s example, Malala felt called to speak out against what the Taliban was doing. To silence her voice, Taliban soldiers stopped her school bus and shot her in the head.

Thanks to Allah’s grace, they did not succeed. She lived to tell the story and shout her message loud and clear to young people all over the world. She was award the NationalPeace Prize in Pakistan when she was 14 years old. And, at 17 years old, she was the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

She remains a faithful Muslim who believes that women should have the right to equal educational opportunities. She works to raise funds to build schools for women in Muslim countries. Her life shows that one person, no matter how young, can make a big difference.

In her own words…“One child, one teacher, one pen, and one book can change the world.”

May it be so,
Allison Prout