Hate preacher issues Fatwa against brave Malala Yousafzai

Shot Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai should be sentenced to death says Muslim extremist 

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND (ANS) -- She has won millions of supporters across the world for her brave fight for girls to be educated in Pakistan.

Malala Yousufzai at Birmingham's QE Hospital (Photo: Birmingham Mail)

But Malala Yousafzai's campaign has caused her to become a target for twisted Muslim extremists.

"She was shot in the head by the Taliban as she sat on a bus in the Swat Valley, in northern Pakistan, following her lessons on October 9," wrote investigative journalist, Amardeep Bassey, in a story run on the Birmingham Mail website (www.birminghammail.co.uk).

"Now banned hate preacher Sheikh Omar Bakri is set to issue a fatwa against her at a conference at the Lal Masjid (red mosque) in Islamabad on Friday."

The writer said that The Taliban claimed that her "crime" was to call for girls to have a right to attend school, added, "Security around the brave teenager is expected to be tightened even further as a result of the fatwa."

Malala is currently recovering at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, where she is receiving specialist care after a bullet was removed from her spine. She is currently in a stable condition.

Sheikh Omar Bakri (Photo: Birmingham Mail)

Bakri, dubbed the "Tottenham Ayatollah" is set to officially issue the fatwa against her in front of British extremists via videolink from Lebanon.

Speaking to the Sunday Mercury newspaper in Birmingham from the Lebanese capital Beirut, Bakri said: "Malala is a traitor to Islam because of her attitude and failure to behave like a good Muslim.

"The Taliban were right to try to punish her because death is the ultimate punishment for apostasy, for regressing from Islam, and that applies to males or females."

"Malala is mature Islamically, she is not immature, she has reached that period we say is adulthood so she is responsible for her actions and any consequences.

"Ideally she should face an Islamic court which would most likely sentence her to death under Sharia law which is the only law a Muslim should recognize."

The Islamabad conference billed as "Sharia4Pakistan".

Posters for the event feature pictures of Bakri under the title "Declaration of Fatwa on Malala Yousafzai".

Bakri continued: "The fatwa against Malala is an edict which should be adhered to by every Muslim who becomes aware of it. It is their duty to follow the instructions wherever they may be in the world.

"These are not my personal views. I am only applying Allah's law which calls for death to apostates. If you want to accuse Allah of incitement then that is out of my hands."

Malala Yousufzai with her father, Ziauddin, at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Photo: Birmingham Mail)

The writer said that Bakri's London-based side-kick Anjem Choudary, who is also speaking at the conference, added: "There is no covenant of security in Pakistan for non-Muslims. If someone apostasises (renounces) Islam they become like the non-Muslims.

"They no longer have any form of protection."

Celebrities including Madonna and Angelina Jolie have joined millions of people across the world to support Malala.

There are growing calls for her to be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize.

"And the president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has been presented with a petition with more than one million signatories urging him to make education available to all children irrespective of gender," wrote Amardeep Bassey.

"The huge document was delivered by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in his role as UN Special Envoy for Global Education."

The Taliban attack on Malala Yousafzai has highlighted the issue of education for girls around the world (Photo: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)

Malala was only 11 when she started documenting how difficult it was to get an education in the Swat Valley: "I dreamt of a country where education would prevail," she wrote.

Her anonymous blog, first published by BBC Urdu, documented Taliban atrocities committed in Pakistan's Swat Valley and saw the schoolgirl receive international praise.

"Last week it emerged she may make the UK her permanent home after her father Ziauddin Yousafzai was offered a job in Birmingham by the Pakistani government," the story continued.

Syrian-born Bakri, aged 52, was banned from Britain in 2005 after he caused outrage by blaming the 7/7 bombings on the public and Government. He fled to Lebanon and was refused entry back into the UK where he lived for 20 years.