Recently, Noble Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzaiwho resides in Birmingham, UK recently tied the knot with her spouse Asir Malik (of Pakistan), both at the ripe age of 24. Their marriage followed the textbook on Islamic terms and practices, where Nikah Nama was read and then both of them signed the document. Nikah Nama is a written document that two muslim partners that agree on becoming a civil union is used to legalize the marriage. What is controversial about all of this, is that Malala recently stated in an interview that you shouldn’t need to sign a paper in order to legitimize the marriage and that two people CAN live together the rest of their life without being married. The people of Pakistan (Asir’s home country) felt that her statements were anti-islamic due to the fact that in Islam, man and woman cannot live together unless they are married and have signed the Nika Nama. I felt that this article was interesting to read about because Malala herself has been through hell and back, from being shot in the head by the Taliban militants in 2012, and now she is facing criticism over her “liberalist views” on marriage. It baffles me that people have the nerve to question her words when she was the one who stood up for girls who wanted to go to school to receive education. Malala has good intentions and different viewpoints that obviously don’t coincide with the Islam faith, which is normal and should not be criticized in 2021.
Here is the link for those who are interested : )
https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/report-dna-special-has-malala-yousafzai-changed-her-mind-on-islam-2919188