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Congratulations are in order for Malala Yousafzai! The education activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner recently announced that she had gotten married. In a sweet Instagram post, the 24-year-old shared a couple of photos from her wedding to Asser Malik in Birmingham, England.
Calling the occasion a “precious day in her life,” she wrote, “Asser and I tied the knot to be partners for life. We celebrated a small nikkah ceremony at home in Birmingham with our families. Please send us your prayers. We are excited to walk together for the journey ahead.”
Malik shared a similar loving sentiment on his Twitter account. “In Malala, I found the most supportive friend, a beautiful and kind partner—I’m so excited to spend the rest of our life together.” The message is accompanied by a shot of the two cutting a cake. Malik, who is the general manager of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s High Performance Department, says, “In following our cricket team’s tradition, we had to do a victory cake cutting.”
Months before they got married, Malala spoke with British Vogue in which she expressed her doubts that she would ever tie the knot. This was met with a social media backlash in her home country of Pakistan, where 86% of women over the age of 25 are married.
“I still don’t understand why people have to get married,” she said in the interview. “If you want to have a person in your life, why do you have to sign marriage papers; why can’t it just be a partnership? My mum is like… ‘Don’t you dare say anything like that! You have to get married, marriage is beautiful.’”
Malala, who describes her own parent’s union as “an arranged love marriage,” had a perspective shift as she saw her friends at Oxford University begin to settle down. “Even until my second year of university,” she explained, “I just thought, ‘I’m never going to get married, never going to have kids—just going to do my work. I’m going to be happy and live with my family forever. I didn’t realize that you’re not the same person all the time,” she said. “You change as well and you’re growing.”
Malala has received well wishes from people across the globe, including many celebrities and fellow activists such as Greta Thunberg, whom Malala recently met.
Activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala recently announced she got married to a man named Asser Malik.
Today marks a precious day in my life.
Asser and I tied the knot to be partners for life. We celebrated a small nikkah ceremony at home in Birmingham with our families. Please send us your prayers. We are excited to walk together for the journey ahead.
📸: @malinfezehai pic.twitter.com/SNRgm3ufWP— Malala (@Malala) November 9, 2021
Malala has shared some photos from the “precious day,” and her new husband also posted a sweet tribute to his wife.
In Malala, I found the most supportive friend, a beautiful and kind partner — I’m so excited to spend the rest of our life together.
Thank you all for the wishes on our Nikkah. In following our cricket team’s tradition, we had to do a victory cake cutting. pic.twitter.com/KSGQOHsY64
— Asser Malik (@MalikAsser) November 10, 2021
Malala Yousafzai: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
h/t: [NBC News]
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