I Am Not Worried
Ramadan began on July 8. It is a month of fasting, prayer and study of the Quran with an emphasis on self-sacrifice for Muslims around the world. Malala Yousafzai spoke to the Youth Assembly at the United Nations just after the start of Ramadan. Malala was shot in the head last October by the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat Valley because she was going to school and advocating for education for all girls. So on her sixteenth birthday, she spoke to the United Nations continuing her efforts to encourage compulsory education for all girls and boys. In her speech, she reflected on her own experience of being assaulted: "The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our 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. My dreams are the same."
Ramadan began on July 8. It is a month of fasting, prayer and study of the Quran with an emphasis on self-sacrifice for Muslims around the world. Malala Yousafzai spoke to the Youth Assembly at the United Nations just after the start of Ramadan. Click here to read her speech.
Malala was shot in the head last October by the Taliban in Pakistan's Swat Valley because she was going to school and advocating for education for all girls. So on her sixteenth birthday, she spoke to the United Nations continuing her efforts to encourage compulsory education for all girls and boys. In her speech, she reflected on her own experience of being assaulted: "The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our 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. My dreams are the same."
I am not worried about the future because of efforts by young women to drive back the forces of ignorance and fear in order to make the world safer for women and girls.
Malala is a strong, brave Muslim woman bringing hope to people around the world. Check out the music video, "I Am Malala."
I am not worried; I am Malala.
May this season of Ramadan be a time of blessing for all people.
Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune
FaithTrust Institute
www.faithtrustinstitute.org
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I am Malala...