Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012, will forever be known as a day of liberation for Pakistan women, when the Taliban shot Malala Yousafzai—a 15-year-old Muslim girl—at point-blank range in the head. This invasive act ignited the spark for a modernized version of the Islamic faith, based on revolutionary principles of educational equality regardless of cultural conventionalism. Scrutinized for the banning of women’s education in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s rise to power in 1996 mandated the oppression and seclusion of women. In her argument for retaining her religious background, Malala states, “I am very proud to be Pashtun, but sometimes our code of conduct has a lot to answer for, especially in its treatment of women.” In an attempt to defy this warped view of the Islamic faith, Malala exemplifies what it means to be an education ally. As an inspiration to the sixty-two million girls out of school globally, she utilizes the Muslim faith as a framework to argue for the importance of education rather than making Islam a justification for oppression.

Malala was born on July 12, 1997, in Swat Valley, Pakistan. Raised as a devout Muslim in a Pashtun society, Malala viewed her religion from a different perspective due to her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, a Pakistani diplomat, and schoolteacher, who believed in the value of education. The assassination attempt received worldwide news coverage and produced an outpour of sympathy and anger opposing the Taliban’s narrow-minded interpretation of the Islamic faith. As a result, protests against the shooting were held in several Pakistani cities the day after the attack, and over two million people signed the Right to Education campaign's petition, which led to the ratificationof the first Right to Free and Compulsory Education Bill in Pakistan. This bill guarantees free education for all children between the ages of five and 15. Since this ratification, Malala has turned her attention to the rest of the world, focusing specifically on discrimination towards women in the developing world. In an interview with Ronan Farrow, Malala states, “When I was meeting President Obama, my message was very simple. I said that instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending weapons, send teachers. I said that these countries, the developed countries, should start focusing on education. This is how we are going to develop and go forward.”

Malala’s story highlights the details of a continuous battle for emancipation that millions of Muslim women around the world are fighting for every day. This battle has an authentic vocabulary, communicating the path for empowerment, that at times veers away from the path of tradition. Malala’s victory lies not in a renunciation of her faith, but in resistance and reclamation of Islamic culture, “The word Islam means peace. For me, Islam is an origin of peace, brotherhood, humanity, and love. As far as I know, Islam has always given the message of justice. I strongly believe in Islam and I’m proud to be a Muslim, but there are a few people who have shown this bad image of Islam. They are misusing it.”

In 2013, Malala addressed the United Nations General Assembly and expressed her justifications for focusing on women’s rights and girl’s education worldwide. As Malala told her story, she promoted well-known religious figures—such as The Prophet Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Lord Buddha—emphasizing her acceptance of other religions into her own faith. This culmination of diversified beliefs reiterates her peaceful upbringing in Islam and acceptance of other denominations, along with providing modernization tactics for the role of women in all cultures.

For Muslim women, Malala’s story is more than just a tale of miraculous survival, but that the desire for equity in education and empowerment is not the terrain of any single culture or faith. Malala is part of a surge of women in Muslim countries who are attempting to end the cycle of cultural and religious barriers to their freedom while still holding on to their faith.

Not even a bullet could silence Malala and her passion for educational equality. She will continue to influence and modernize Islamic culture because education is a vital portion of society that has become less and less appreciated. It is vital that people everywhere understand that education is not always a right, but a privilege, one that 25 million Pakistani children go without each year. Malala has made great strides towards eliminating gender disparity in education, by proving that her religion does not regard the degradation of women as compulsory, but rather encourages the ideology of peacefully co-existing with other religions and cultures.