The Better Chancery Practice Blog

Christianity does not have a monopoly on understanding the nature and operation of peace, love, and forgiveness. One of the most powerful exemplars of these treasured traits is Malala Yousafzai, a 15-year-old Pakistani Muslim girl whom the Taliban tried to kill because of her activism for the right of education, a pursuit forbidden to females by Muslim fundamentalism.

This is part of her testimony before the United Nations:

Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born. I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. And my dreams are the same.

Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists.

I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother. This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.

Jesus said it this way: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

In 2014, Malala was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

On June 14, 2018, a US drone strike in Pakistan’s northeastern Kunar Province killed Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah, the insurgent leader who ordered Malala’s assassination.