International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences Vol-6, Issue-6; Nov-Dec, 2021 Journal Home Page Available: https://ijels.com/ Journal DOI: 10.22161/ijels Peer-Reviewed Journal IJELS-2021, 6(6), (ISSN: 2456-7620) https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.66.48 301 Does Malala Need Saving? Understanding Western Idea of Rescue and Importance of Islamic Feminism in Malala Yousafzai’s Autobiography Shabnur Parveen Department of English, Visva- Bharati, West Bengal, India Received: 19 Nov 2021; Received in revised form: 11 Dec 2021; Accepted: 20 Dec 2021; Available online: 31 Dec 2021 ©2021 The Author(s). Published by Infogain Publication. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Abstract— My paper entitled “Does Malala Need Saving? Understanding Western Idea of Rescue and Importance of Islamic Feminism in Malala’s Yousafzai’s Autobiography” endeavours to understand a very specific focus to trace the problematic identity of Muslim women in any South-Asian Muslim society and try to project how an individual Muslim woman locates herself in the male-dominated Muslim society. The purpose of this research is to argue how women are oppressed and humiliated in the name of religion. Here Malala is reacting against the falsity of society by writing their life narratives. The protagonists are believers of Islam and they are not speaking against Islam and the Quran, rather they are raising their voice against how the patriarchal society is misrepresenting the Quranic verses and using them against the women of the society. On the other side, whenever the women of Third World country are divulging their story, the West is immediately taking the responsibility to promote Muslim women’s position in the Muslim world, as a victim. Hence they are suffering from double oppression. On one hand, they are condemned by their society for raising voice against existing norms of the society, and on the other hand, they fall under the tendency of the West to represent the backwardness of the Muslim country. So, in this paper, I have tried to highlight the journey of the writer, how they are fighting against these oppressions and creating their own individual identity. Keywords—Empowerment, Islamic Feminism, Third World Women, Western Media. I. INTRODUCTION “I don’t want to be thought of as ‘the girl who was shot by the Taliban’ but ‘the girl who fought for education’. This is the cause to which I want to devote my life.” (Yousafzai, 2013) Muslim women were long improvised of freedom of choice both by the West and in their own society. Malala not only faces discrimination in the West based on her faith, dress and socio-cultural position but she also meets isolation, physical, mental abuse in her homeland. Nobody acknowledged that she can also become a model of empowerment and hope for women across the world that was previously deprived of education. Malala stood for the betterment of her countrymen but her nation accused her of being an opportunist for the comfort of the West and the Taliban mentioned her as an agent of the West. II. METHODS This paper endeavours to understand very specific but important question on the rise and history of Islamic Feminism, shooting of Malala, her treatment in the UK and the presentation of media regarding the whole incident. Then this paper will focus on Malala’s treatment in the UK and the media coverage on this issue. This portion will help us to understand how the narrative of media is shaping the story of Malala and justifying their intervention in Third World country politics. How she is transformed from a strong activist of women rights and