THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1
THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1
THE KITE RUNNER Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1
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<strong>THE</strong> <strong>KITE</strong> <strong>RUNNER</strong><br />
ISLAM<br />
ISLAM<br />
Islam is a monotheistic religion which embraces<br />
over one billion people of many races and cultures<br />
worldwide. It is the religion of virtually all Afghans.<br />
The word Islam is Arabic and means submission.<br />
The followers of Islam, called Muslims, believe in<br />
God—in Arabic, Allah—and that Muhammad is<br />
His Prophet. The Prophet Muhammad was born<br />
in 570 CE in the town of Mecca, which is located<br />
in present day Saudi Arabia. At the age of 40,<br />
Muhammad began to receive the first of a series of<br />
revelations from God, transmitted to him through<br />
the angel Gabriel over a period of 22 years.<br />
These revelations are contained in the Quran, or<br />
Koran, meaning recitation, regarded as the sacred<br />
scripture of Islam.*<br />
Sunni and Shia: What’s the Difference<br />
The difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims<br />
dates to immediately following the death of<br />
Muhammad, the Messenger and Prophet of Islam.<br />
A divide emerged regarding who should lead<br />
the religion. Many followers believed that a man<br />
should be chosen from Mohammed’s inner circle<br />
of followers to lead the religion. He would not be<br />
considered equal with the Prophet, but instead<br />
would be called the Caliph and would be the<br />
religious leader of the Muslim religion. A close<br />
friend of Mohammed named Abu Bakr was elected<br />
to this position and he began to lead the religion.<br />
However, there was a portion of the Muslims at the<br />
time who believed that the only appropriate way<br />
for a successor to be chosen was by selecting a<br />
blood relative of the prophet, as, in their minds, a<br />
choice of blood ensured that Allah’s will was being<br />
done. The Shiite Muslims did not, and still do not,<br />
recognize any leader of the Muslim faith that has<br />
come down through elections. Therefore, they don’t<br />
recognize many of the decisions and laws regarding<br />
the Islamic faith that have been determined by<br />
Assef wasn’t the only one to<br />
call Hassan “fl at-nose.” It was a<br />
common slur. And for years, that’s<br />
all I knew about Hazaras. Then<br />
one day, I found a history book in<br />
Baba’s study. It said that my people,<br />
the Pashtuns, had persecuted the<br />
Hazaras in the nineteenth century.<br />
They drove the Hazaras from their<br />
land and burned their homes because<br />
Pashtuns were Sunni Muslims,<br />
whereas Hazaras were Shia. Although<br />
I spent the fi rst twelve years of my<br />
life playing with Hassan, I never really<br />
thought of him as a friend. History and<br />
religion aren’t easy to overcome. In the<br />
end, I was Pashtun, he was Hazara; I was<br />
Sunni, he was Shia. Nothing was ever<br />
going to change that. But we were kids<br />
who had learned to crawl together, and<br />
nothing was going to change that<br />
either. – Amir, The Kite Runner<br />
A mosque in Afghanistan<br />
<strong>Arizona</strong> <strong>Theatre</strong> <strong>Company</strong> <strong>Play</strong> <strong>Guide</strong> 21