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The Taliban have stated very clearly that Malala is an infidel because she criticizes them and whoever criticizes them criticizes Islam. So what does Islam actually say about Muslims and education?
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "The
seeking of knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 74
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "If
anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, God
will cause him to travel on one of the roads of
Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their
great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge. The
inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and
(even) the fish in the deep waters will ask
forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of
the learned over the devout is like that of the moon,
on the night when it is full, over the rest of the
stars. The learned
are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave
(no monetary inheritance), they leave only knowledge,
and he who takes it takes an abundant portion. - Sunan of Abu-Dawood, Hadith 1631
Jesus is reported to have instructed us - "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7) Asking, seeking, and knowing are the foundations of education. Jesus' use of the word "you" makes this text an invitation to all people, regardless of age, gender, spiritual tradition, or income or social level, etc. Because all three writers - Matthew, Luke, and John - have included this teaching in their texts, these words of Jesus must be extremely important.
Proverbs 4: 13
There are so many verses in the Hebrew Bible about the importance of education for "children" (which means females as well as males) that our next blog (in December) will highlight them. Proverbs is essential for women, and their important male allies, to know and to hold close to their hearts because education is described as feminine!
Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.
Education, in Islam, is the inheritance we receive from all prophets!
Malala understands the Way of Love
One of the most beautiful (and challenging) of Christian teachings:
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became grown, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
From Jeffery Lang's book "Losing My Religion: A Call for Help":
"The Quran frequently speaks of the love of God for the good-doers (2:195; 3:134; 3:148; 5:13; 5:195) the repentant (2:222), those that purify themselves (2:222; 9:108), the God-conscious (3:76; 9:4; 9:7) the persevering ones (3:146), those that put their trust in God (3:159), the upholders of justice (5:42; 49:9; 60:8), and those who struggle in the path of God (61:4)."
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