On the radio, a mullah tearfully tells his followers to stop listening to music, watching movies, and dancing, or else God will send another earthquake to punish them. Malala knows this is patently untrue—an earthquake is a natural geologic event—but many of the women who listen are uneducated and raised to do what their religious leaders tell them. This Radio Mullah declares that music is haram, or forbidden, by Islam. He instructs men to grow their beards longer and women to always stay home in purdah.

People, especially women, find the Mullah charismatic and initially approve of the Mullah’s message to return to daily prayer and embrace Islamic law rather than rely on the inadequate Pakistani judicial system. Malala’s father, however, tells them not to listen. He discovers that the radio speaker is Maulana Fazlullah, a TNSM leader with no religious background. On the radio, Fazlullah begins naming individuals and calling them sinful.

Malala still enjoys listening to her father’s political conversations, but now that she is older, she must do so more covertly. Men discuss the Radio Mullah and the fighting in Afghanistan, which is led by the United States. The United States seeks Osama bin Laden and wants to topple the Taliban, who protect him.