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From childhood, Ziauddin’s tenacity serves as his defining trait, and it’s her father’s multiple examples of persistence that instill in Malala the confidence to never back down in the face of adversity. As a child, Ziauddin conquers a crippling stutter. As an adult, he pushes through a corrupt bureaucracy to open Kushal School. Ultimately, Ziauddin becomes an articulate and persuasive activist for education, quite an accomplishment for someone who once struggled with a speech impediment. Ziauddin is atypical for a Pakistani man in his belief that both women and men should be educated. As a boy he becomes troubled when he observes his sisters being treated differently than himself and his brothers. This injustice follows him into adulthood and inspires him to open a school that focuses on educating girls. When the Taliban arrive in Swat and threaten to close his schools, Ziauddin refuses to back down and be silenced. He publicly claps back at their threats more than once and rarely gets discouraged even though he is often the lone voice of opposition.
Ziauddin is determined to arm the next generation with the knowledge they need to protect themselves and Pakistan. A sharp observer of politics and a student of history, Ziauddin believes his country’s uneducated populace is its biggest problem because their ignorance coupled with their strong faith allows corrupt leaders to distort the Quran to mislead them. When Malala follows his example to the point of becoming an even bigger target of the Taliban than Ziauddin, he suffers intense guilt. He questions his defining trait, second-guessing whether he should have encouraged Malala to take so many risks with her activism. Although he dedicates his life to education, watching Malala recover and resiliently take the international stage arguably brings Ziauddin more pride than his own work.
