MailOnline has learned that Malala Yousafazi’s husband is now a private-educated Pakistani cricket executive who worked once at Coca-Cola.
Malala (now aged 24) is a women’s rights activist. She announced her marriage to Asser Makik in lovely wedding scenes during a nikkah in Birmingham.
Malala talked about her excitement at the “journey ahead” after she tied the knot to cricket fanatic, Mr Malik during their small Islamic ceremony.
In adorable outdoors snaps, she smiled beside her husband as he wore the same pink tie. Malala was also seen touching her hair while Asser signed their marriage contract.
The couple has captured the attention of the entire world in their beautiful photos. Social media was abuzz with speculation about their relationship.
MailOnline has learned that Mr Malik was educated at a private Pakistani school, and worked as a sales representative for Coca Cola.
Malala had mentioned that she’d met someone this summer – it was now Mr Malik. She then asked why anyone would want to marry her in an interview for Vogue.
Instagram images confirm their first public appearance as a couple in social media. They were spotted together watching England play Pakistan at Cricket World Cup in the UK.
Malala and her new husband Asser Malik (centre) pose for a picture on their wedding day with her father Ziauddin Yousafzai and mother Toor Pekai Yousafzai in Birmingham
He is believed to be in his 30s.
It is believed that Mr Malik, who is now in his early thirties, was recently appointed as the high-performance manager for Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
His previous experience was as an operations manager at Pakistan Super League (PSL), franchise Multan Sultans.
Last Man Stands, an amateur league in Pakistan that Mr Malik manages, is also run by him. This franchise, he describes as an attempt “to revive grassroots cricket” in Pakistan.
His twitter account is full of vocal support for women’s cricket. This may have helped him with Malala his new wife, Malala. Malala describes herself as a keen cricket fan who played for Oxford University. Malik, in addition to being an avid cricket fan, is also a well-known supporter for Newcastle United FC.
He started school at the £175-per-month Aitchison College in Lahore in 1998, and then graduated from the Lahore University of Management Sciences in 2012 with a degree in economics and political science.
After university, Malik worked for a host of companies in Pakistan, the biggest among them being Coca Cola, until he began working for the Multan Sultans in 2018.
In 2019, Malik moved on to player management and consultancy with MLK Management, where he served as managing director for just over a year.
It is unknown how long Malala and Mr Malik have been dating but he posted a picture of them together with friends in June 2019, watching England play Pakistan during the Cricket World Cup at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
It’s also unclear where they plan on building their lives together, with Malala’s family known to reside in Birmingham, and Azsser’s job requiring him to be in close contact with the Pakistan national cricket team.
In an interview with Vogue Magazine in June, Malala said she has only recently entertained thoughts of marriage after being lectured on the topic by her mother.
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?’
‘My mum is like: “Don’t you dare say anything like that! You have to get married, marriage is beautiful.”‘
It is not known when Malala and Asser began their relationship, but her husband posted this photograph from her birthday in July
Malala and Asser Malik pictured with friends in June 2019, watching the England versus Pakistan cricket game at Edgbaston.
Malala wrote: ‘Today marks a precious day in my life. Asser and I tied the knot to be partners for life’
Nobel laureate Malala and Asser Malik signing the register at their wedding in Birmingham
In an interview with Vogue in June, Malala teased the fact she never considered getting married until the second year of her PPE degree at Oxford University – which would have started in 2019.
She also spoke of how her father was often propositioned by prospective families looking for her hand in marriage in Pakistan.
The couple may have first crossed paths while working for the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, where Malik started out as a curator from 2016 and Malala spoke at global conferences.
Malala shared sweet photographs from the wedding day, where she wore a beautiful pink bridal gown, to Twitter.
She captioned the photographs: ‘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.’
On his own Twitter post, Malala’s father said he and his wife were ‘overwhelmed with joy and gratitude.’ adding ‘Alhamdulillah,’ an Arabic phrase meaning ‘praise be to God’.
This summer, Malala had alluded to the fact she had met someone in 2019 – now revealed to be Mr Malik (above) – and questioned why people needed to get married in an interview with Vogue
Malik was a graduate of university and worked in a variety of Pakistani companies, including Coca Cola. He then started working with the Multan Sultans. Malik made the transition to MLK Management in 2019, where he was the managing director.
Malala also mentioned the possibility that Malala had met someone who was great and might have changed her outlook on marriage during her Vogue interview.
“I’d say I’ve met people who are great and I want to find one who loves and respects me.
‘Even until my second year of university, I just thought, “I’m never going to get married, never going to have kids – just going to do my work”.
‘I’m going to be happy and live with my family forever.’
‘I didn’t realise that you’re not the same person all the time. You change as well and you’re growing.’