Chapter 7: The Mufti Who Tried to Close Our School
Malala tells of the struggle between a local conservative mufti, or Islamic scholar, and her father, Ziauddin. The mufti accuses Ziauddin of committing blasphemy by allowing girls to go to school instead being in purdah, or seclusion. Malala says that she does not like the interpretation of Islam that emphasizes jihad and restricts women’s freedom by requiring that they stay home and wear burqas.
When men from the community confront Ziauddin about his school, he defends his position by referencing the Quran. He then offers to have his female students enter school through a different entrance. Malala then relates the bloody division of India that created Muslim Pakistan and resulted in the death of millions of Hindus and Muslims. She explains the disagreement between Sunnis and Shias over who is the rightful heir to the Prophet Mohammad. She highlights the subdivisions within the Sunnis in Pakistan. While General Musharraf relaxes constraints on women in Pakistan, Malala’s more conservative Pashtun area elects a mullah government (MMA) that gains support because of America’s invasion of Afghanistan and its fight against the Taliban. Violence breaks out when General Musharraf sends the army to the ungoverned FATA lands and the United States attacks Pakistan. Ziauddin worries about the growing militancy that is coming to Swat