THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1

THE KITE RUNNER
ISLAM
ISLAM
Islam is a monotheistic religion which embraces
over one billion people of many races and cultures
worldwide. It is the religion of virtually all Afghans.
The word Islam is Arabic and means submission.
The followers of Islam, called Muslims, believe in
God—in Arabic, Allah—and that Muhammad is
His Prophet. The Prophet Muhammad was born
in 570 CE in the town of Mecca, which is located
in present day Saudi Arabia. At the age of 40,
Muhammad began to receive the first of a series of
revelations from God, transmitted to him through
the angel Gabriel over a period of 22 years.
These revelations are contained in the Quran, or
Koran, meaning recitation, regarded as the sacred
scripture of Islam.*
Sunni and Shia: What’s the Difference
The difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims
dates to immediately following the death of
Muhammad, the Messenger and Prophet of Islam.
A divide emerged regarding who should lead
the religion. Many followers believed that a man
should be chosen from Mohammed’s inner circle
of followers to lead the religion. He would not be
considered equal with the Prophet, but instead
would be called the Caliph and would be the
religious leader of the Muslim religion. A close
friend of Mohammed named Abu Bakr was elected
to this position and he began to lead the religion.
However, there was a portion of the Muslims at the
time who believed that the only appropriate way
for a successor to be chosen was by selecting a
blood relative of the prophet, as, in their minds, a
choice of blood ensured that Allah’s will was being
done. The Shiite Muslims did not, and still do not,
recognize any leader of the Muslim faith that has
come down through elections. Therefore, they don’t
recognize many of the decisions and laws regarding
the Islamic faith that have been determined by
Assef wasn’t the only one to
call Hassan “fl at-nose.” It was a
common slur. And for years, that’s
all I knew about Hazaras. Then
one day, I found a history book in
Baba’s study. It said that my people,
the Pashtuns, had persecuted the
Hazaras in the nineteenth century.
They drove the Hazaras from their
land and burned their homes because
Pashtuns were Sunni Muslims,
whereas Hazaras were Shia. Although
I spent the fi rst twelve years of my
life playing with Hassan, I never really
thought of him as a friend. History and
religion aren’t easy to overcome. In the
end, I was Pashtun, he was Hazara; I was
Sunni, he was Shia. Nothing was ever
going to change that. But we were kids
who had learned to crawl together, and
nothing was going to change that
either. – Amir, The Kite Runner
A mosque in Afghanistan
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 21