Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and her partner Asser announced their wedding on social media today. The girls' education activist and Asser held their nikkah ceremony at home in Britain's Birmingham. 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," Yousafzai said in her tweet. The 24-year-old activist from Pakistan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
Malala, now 24, was 15 when she was targeted by the Taliban in Pakistan for speaking up for the right of girls to be educated. She survived the assault, in which a militant boarded her school bus in north-western Swat valley and opened fire, wounding two of her school friends as well as Malala. After recovering from her near-fatal injuries, she and her family relocated to Birmingham, which she later called "a second home". Aged 17, she became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She went on to study at Oxford University, and has become a leading human rights campaigner. Malala has previously voiced her misgivings around marriage. In an interview with Vogue in July, she said: "I still don't understand why people have to get married." "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?" she continued. "My mum is like… 'Don't you dare say anything like that! You have to get married, marriage is beautiful'."