October 12, 2012

MPAC today condemned the Taliban’s appalling attack against Malala Yousafzai, an innocent 14-year-old girl in Pakistan, who was advocating for education. Malala was shot in the head by the Taliban for being a girl and standing up to unjust policies and oppression for the past three years through her BBC blog.

SEE: Malala Yousafzai, the Girl Shot by the Taliban, Becomes a Global Icon (The Atlantic)

SEE ALSO: My ‘Small Video Star’ Fights for Her Life (New York Times)

International campaigns have sprung into action in support of Malala and her courageous defiance of oppression, including a Facebook page created by MPAC-NYC. “I Stand with Malala” has already gained more than 2,500 likes, including peace activist and hip-mogul Russell Simmons.

This heinous attack on a young girl should refocus the world’s attention on the Taliban’s oppressive and restrictive force within Pakistan. Since the incident gained international attention, moderate voices within Pakistan and around the world have expressed their shock and outrage. Yesterday, a group of 50 Islamic scholars in Pakistan issued a fatwa against the shooting and the Taliban itself.

The international community is horrified by the Taliban’s denial of basic human rights and the violence directed at those who defy them. This week, the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) issued a statement condemning the attempted murder.

“The text of the Quran is clear on the sanctity and inviolability of human life, young or old, male or female, irrespective of religious or non-religious affiliation,” the FCNA statement read and went on to cite the hadith that proclaims, “Seeking knowledge is a mandatory duty of every Muslim.”

How women fare correlates directly with how society fares overall. In far too many places around the world, Muslim women are being disproportionately abused using outdated rulings and ages-old customs. In an effort to address this injustice, three years ago MPAC released "Abusing Women, Abusing Islam," a paper that exposes how patriarchal and distorted interpretations of sharia have been used to subjugate women and rob them of their fundamental rights.

READ: "Abusing Women, Abusing Islam” (mpac.org)