Malala Yousafzai was not bought on marriage earlier than she met her husband, Asser Malik.
“I by no means thought I might get married,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner advised People in October 2025. “For those who discover the proper particular person and also you and your accomplice have mutual understanding about how that is going to be a journey collectively, and you'll be taking care of one another and making one another's life happier than earlier than it will probably work out very well.”
Yousafzai met Malik in 2018 whereas she was learning at Oxford. Over the subsequent yr, they grew nearer — till Yousafzai lastly confessed to her dad in summer season 2019 that she favored Malik.
“‘I like him, Dad. I like him… romantically,'” she recalled telling her father in her 2025 memoir, Discovering My Means, earlier than they referred to as her mother who was mad that he was not a Pashtun man.
Though Malala's father didn't say a lot, he instructed that they meet Malik over the summer season if he was on the town. ‘However we received't announce the engagement till after your commencement,'” he advised her. “I glared out the window, fuming at myself for bringing it up, at my dad for calling my mother, at my mother for being so small-minded, and at them each for citing engagements and husbands.”
Regardless of her opposition to marriage at first, Yousafzai and Malik went on to tie the knot in November 2021.
Preserve scrolling to be taught extra about Yousafzai and Malik's relationship timeline:
2018
Yousafzai met Malik whereas she was learning at Oxford and he was there visiting associates. They continued to develop a friendship — till they each began to have emotions for one another. The duo talked on the telephone for hours on a regular basis whereas she was nonetheless in faculty.
“We had change into greater than associates and we each acknowledged it—he referred to as me ‘babe' and mentioned I appeared stunning within the footage I despatched him,” she wrote in her 2025 memoir Discovering My Means.
Summer time 2019
Whereas Malik was in London visiting Yousafzai, she lastly felt prefer it was time to inform her dad about their potential relationship — though she knew her dad and mom wouldn't essentially approve.
“‘Dad, …it's onerous to fulfill good folks…like, individuals who have a superb humorousness but in addition discover me humorous,'” she wrote in her 2025 memoir. “He appeared attentive, like he was attempting to know me. … ‘It's identical to whenever you meet somebody and wish to spend extra time with them? Nicely, I suppose…I suppose, mainly, I've met somebody like that. He's, uh, 29…he lives in Lahore, however involves England in the summertime to see his sister. And he works in cricket, which is nice for me.'”
Girls supporting girls. Malala Yousafzai had nothing however like to share for this yr's feminine Oscar nominees on the pink carpet. The schooling activist, 25, attended the ninety fifth annual Academy Awards in a glittering silver robe alongside her husband, Asser Malik, on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 12. She served as […]
Yousafzai advised her dad that she favored him earlier than telling him to keep away from talking to her mother about something.
“At first it appeared like he was about to ask a query. However he stopped himself, appeared straight forward and mentioned nothing,” she recalled within the ebook. “Then I watched in disbelief as my dad, my lifelong confidant, pulled out his telephone and referred to as dwelling. On the opposite finish of the road, I heard my mother say, ‘Completely not! Does he even converse Pashto? She should marry a Pashtun man!'”
After the decision, Yousafzai's dad advised her that if Malik was on the town for the summer season, he wished to fulfill him.
“‘However we received't announce the engagement till after your commencement,'” he defined.
July 2021
Two years after assembly, on the final day of their journey in Lake Placid, New York, Yousafzai advised Malik that she was “able to marry” him. The pair secretly obtained engaged.
November 2021
After Yousafzai graduated with a level in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford, the couple tied the knot in a small Islamic ceremony at her dad and mom' dwelling in Birmingham, England.
“Immediately marks a valuable day in my life,” she shared through Instagram alongside images of their marriage ceremony. “Asser and I tied the knot to be companions for all times. We celebrated a small nikkah ceremony at dwelling in Birmingham with our households. Please ship us your prayers. We're excited to stroll collectively for the journey forward.”
Whereas Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s transfer to the U.S. coincided with the worldwide coronavirus pandemic and has pressured them to quarantine at dwelling, the couple admitted in a video interview on Sunday, October 11, that the time has allowed them to savor valuable moments with their son, Archie, and be there for all of […]
February 2023
Malik took to Instagram to share a candy Valentine's put up in honor of Yousafzai.
“Appears like a superb day to write down about this. Once I was in faculty in Lahore, numerous our time was spent in these home windows hanging out with associates as soon as lessons completed,” he captioned a photograph of him and Yousafzai sitting on campus. “Coming again after years and sitting in the identical place with Malala felt particular. In her I discovered probably the most caring, supportive and exquisite accomplice. Right here's to many home windows all around the world we get to take a seat in and I hear your humorous jokes. TL;DR Pyaar dosti hai (Love is friendship) ♥️.”
September 2024
Malik supported Yousafzai on the launch of her first movie that she produced referred to as The Final of the Sea Girls.
“When you have got a superb hair day in Toronto and your spouse is celebrating the premiere of her first characteristic movie,” he shared through Instagram on the time.
June 2025
Yousafzai and Malik launched Recess Capital, an funding agency for girls's sports activities.
“For the previous two and a half years, Malala and I've been constructing an funding platform that may show how the ladies's sports activities ecosystem has nice funding alternatives but in addition with a mission of gender fairness,” Malik wrote through Instagram. “Recess is a sports activities platform that invests in sports activities groups, leagues, and adjoining ventures with a mission of fairness for girls and ladies in sports activities.”
