Meeting Malala

For most Hoosiers and for most nine year olds, the name Malala doesn’t hold much weight. For Lydia, my nine year old, it does. She read Malala’s story of being a young girl trying to get her education in the midst of the Taliban’s ban in Pakistan. Lydia started wearing her scarves as hijabs as she pretended to be a brave girl fighting for her education. So, when Malala, a Pakistani national living in England, came to Indiana, a three hour drive didn’t seem so long.

Around 5pm, the line behind us.  Malala spoke at 7:30.

So Lydia and I set off for an adventure. We arrived three and a half hours before Malala was slated to speak, and found a place in line behind women and girls all holding Malala’s book in anticipation. This college of 2,500 students welcomed 5,000 people into their gymnasium to meet Malala. It is still incredible to me that she would be willing to come to this place, a tiny university, in a tiny town, in a tiny state.

I need to share that I didn’t have Lydia read Malala’s book to hear about the bravery and leadership Malala took. I didn’t have her read it to hear how young women can impact their society. I didn’t even have her read it to remind her how important education is and how it is a privilege to go to school. I had her read Malala’s story because Malala is Muslim. Malala is a girl of faith. Her deep faith in women’s (and girls’) rights is rooted in her study of the Quran. Malala is a practicing Muslim who believes deeply in peace and justice. 

That is the Malala who stood on stage at DePauw on Monday night. When she was asked about her regrets, she said, “I hope everyone knows I am a woman of faith.”

There are so many things we want for our children. But what I want most is to have a girl that lives her life according to her faith.

As a woman, and as a pastor, I know this is a challenge. I am told often to silence my voice. To not speak about issues of justice because they are too political. To ignore those outside of the church for the benefit of those within. But my faith tells me the opposite. It tells me to stand up against evil in all its forms, even the nice ones that show up properly and politely.  It is a long consistent pattern that whispers us into silence. But Malala reminds us that faith can help us to speak out against the voices that would silence us. God’s whispers have more power than the world that tries to silence us.

Thank you, Malala, for sharing your faith with us women in small places. Thank you for sharing your story with girls like Lydia. May your faith move us all to act out our own faith in daring ways

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