Я - Малала

•Most Pashtun men never share personal opinions and thoughts with women, as sharing problems with women is seen as weak.

•Hospitality is a big part of Pashtun culture

•People respect those who are older. You are not supposed to argue with them (teachers)

•You need to call envy woman a sister and any man a brother

•You need to eat with your right hand, the left hand is considered to be dirty

•Many religious people would love to die in service of god 

•Tall and white-skinned people were favored 

•In our culture wedding jewellery is a bond between the couple

•Wearing a burqa on hot days it’s like an oven.

•People believe in “badal” - blood feud

•”Half a doctor is a danger to one’s life. A mullah who is not fully learned is a danger to faith”

•When the mother gives a birth to a girl, she’s not congratulated, but she feels guilty. At the age of 5 when boys go to school, girls sit at home. At the age of 13 girls are not allowed to get outside without a male escort 

•A girl should be in “purdah”, seclusion. She must cover her body in “burqa” and undress only at home. “Purdah” must not be in the book, but in the heart”

•2007 year. Taliban forbade TV, music, radio, toys, western things, education for women, art works - according to their interpretation of Islam it was “haram”

•This is how these militants work. They want to win the hearts and minds of the people so they first see what the local problems are and target those responsible, and that way they get the support of the silent majority. After, when they get power, they behave like the criminals they once hunted down.

•Taliban radio said “Miss So-and-so has stopped going to school and will go to heaven”, they also closed barber shops so that men grew beards for taliban

•shahid is one who dies for his faith

•Jihad refers to the efforts of a believer to live their Muslim faith as well as possible

•First they came for the communists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the socialists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews,

and I didn’t speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics,

and I didn’t speak out because I was not a Catholic. Then they came for me,

and there was no one left to speak for me

•Osama bin Laden was shot in 2011 in Pakistan. No one knew how could he hide in Pakistan for 6 years without noticing

•I reassured my mother that it didn’t matter to me if my face was not symmetrical. Me, who had always cared about my appearance, how my hair looked! But when you see death, things change. 

•I told myself, Malala, you have already faced death. This is your second life. Don’t be afraid. 

•Once I had asked God for one or two extra inches in height, but instead he made me as tall as the sky, so high that I could not measure myself. So I offered the hundred raakat nafl prayers that I had promised if I grew.