What is the importance of Malala's father in her life?

Malala's father always held education in the highest regard. He felt that education was the only way Afghanistan can move out of the seemingly perpetual cycle of war and oppression. He especially saw the education of girls as a key to the future. In a country where acquiring an education was a luxury, girls were often excluded. Malala's father knew the keen intelligence and drive for education that girls possessed was being a wasted opportunity for the country. He saw in Malala, his daughter, and the chance for girls to change the status quo. Education could bring Afghanistan out of bickering patriarchal factions into a more unified and enlightened country. Malal took advantage of her father's progressive attitude and hungered for education.