HISTORICAL

=**__Sunni and Shiá Muslims__**=

As seen in the book Kite Runner, Islam has many different divisions amongst itself. The religion of Islam is divided up into sects, divisions (branches), schools, traditions, and faith based principles. In the religion of Islam, there are at least four major branches that divide Islam. There is the Sunni, Shiá, Kharijite, and sufi faiths. In each one of these branches/divisions, there are many different sects that fall under each division. Also the Obandi.

__**Why so many divisions**…..__ The reason that the religion of Islam is divided up into so many different branches is because, each division has its own interpretation of their faith. Each division has its own set of principles which they have derived from their understanding of the Koran (the holy muslim book). In the book //Kite Runner,// two main divisions which are focused on are the Sunni and the Shiá. What do you say if we take a closer look at what makes up these two branches.

For all of those that don’t know there many different Muslim faiths…there are. As previously mentioned, the religion of Islam is divided up into various branches. Now, you may be wondering WHAT’S THE FREAKING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO, THEY BOTH LOOK THE SAME. Well just as all Asians are not Chinese; all Muslims don’t believe the same thing. Although both Shi`a and Sunni Muslims share most of the basic Islamic beliefs and faith, they are distinctly different. There points of difference date back to the death of //Prophet Muhammad//. The Sunni Muslims believe that after prophet Muhammad died, his successor should have been elected from all people that were capable of doing his job (Prophet Muhammad). The Shi`a on the other hand believe that the leadership should have stayed within the prophets’ family line. They believe that after Muhammad’s death, leadership should have been passed to his cousin/son-in-law, Ali., So to sum up their differences in a nut-shell, Sunni and Shi`a Muslims disagree on the Process in which their leaders should be elected. Shi`a Muslims believe that that Imam (leaders directly elected by Allah himself) is sinless by nature. They believe that because of this fact, leadership should never leave the family line because they are uncontaminated before Allah. Sunni Muslims argue that leadership of the community is not a birthright but a trust which is earned. They believe that it is a trust that can be given as well as taken away. Although Sunni and Shi`a Muslims have many differences, they share the same main beliefs of their faiths. To many they “are considered to be brethren of faith”.
 * __Difference between SUNNI and ShIá Muslims[[image:girl.jpg width="352" height="271" align="right"]]__**

__**Some of their Main Doctrines**…__ · Salat-called Namaaz in Persian-(prayer)-performing five daily prayers (prayers can be made up for at night) · Sawm-called “Roozeh” in Persian-(fast)-fasting during the holy month of Ramadhan (able to eat after sun goes down) · Hajj-(pilgrimage)-performing the pilgrimage to Mecca (once in a lifetime) · Zakat (poor-rate)-paying the poor-tax (2.5% of your wealth every year should go to the poor) · Amr-Bil-Ma’ruf-commanding what is good · Nahi-Anil-Munkar-forbidding what is evil -Belief in Allah as one Deity and Muhammad as his messenger

__**Quick Facts about Shi`a and Sunni Muslims:**__ · “The Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam”. They make up roughly “85%” of all Muslims all across the world. · Shi`a Muslims are the second largest denomination of Islam. · In Afghanistan, of the entire population 80% are Sunni Muslims and 20% are Shiá. · They (Sunni) are also referred to as “Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jama`h”. Like in most religions there, the name of their division comes from an old Islamic word. The term Sunni comes from the word //Sunnah// which means “the teaching and actions of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad. They choose to use this term because the term refers to those that follow and maintain the //Sunnah// of the Prophet, Muhammad. · Shi`a’s derive their name from the term “shia-t-ali” or “the party of Ali”. They are also referred to as the people of the household.

**__[[image:AfghanWoman.jpg width="247" height="285" align="left"]]RELIGION IN AFGHANISTAN...__**
Like many countries around the world, there is more the one major religion based in Afghanistan. Here is a list of religions that are in Afghanistan…

- Majority of religion in Afghanistan is Muslim.-99% of the country. Of that 99%, 80% are Sunni. Likewise of that 99%, 20% are Shi`a. - There are 30,000 to 150,000 Hindus and Sikhs living in different cities but mostly in Jalalabad, Kabul, and Kandahar. - There are/was a small a small Jewish community in Afghanistan (Bukharan Jews). - There are 3,000 -5,000 Christians in Afghanistan. Most of them converted Muslims. - Buddhists are very few in number-0.3%

//Brief Overview of some religions that are/were persecuted in Afghanistan//…


 * Bukharan Jews**:

They are Jews that come from central Asia. They speak Bukhori, a Persian dialect. Their name comes from the Uzbek city of Bukara, which at one point in time had the largest Jewish community. The Jewish population in Afghanistan was at one point reached about 5,000. But after the years of Persecution from the Soviet forces, this number rapidly fell. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the vast majority have either gone to Israel or moved into the United States.


 * Afghani Hinduism**:

During the Taliban regime, Hindus were forced to wear yellow badges in public to identify themselves. Hindu women were forced to dress according to Islamic Hijab. This was a method that was used in order to protect them from harassment. This was part of the Taliban plan to segregate the "un-Islamic" and "Idolatrous" communities from Islamic people. This action taken by the Taliban was condemned by the Indian and United States governments as a violation of religious freedom. All of the this segragtion lead to many violent acts towards the Hindus in Afghanistan. Violence against lead to a decrease in the Hindu population. Since the 1990's, many many Afghan Hindus have fled the country, seeking asylum in countries such as Germany.


 * Christianity in Afghanistan:[[image:Afghan_home-school.jpg align="right"]]**

From the earlier origins of the Islamic faith, many muslims have persectued Eastern Christians. Here are some of the rules Afghani christians have to follow. 1)They can not pass on the right of a Muslim but on the left. 2)They can not testify against muslims in court law. 3)They can not ride a horse or camel but only a donkey or a mule. 4)They should wear tag in their neck as prove that they have paid their. taxes (Jizyah) 5)They are not own weapons to defend themselves, ex: if they were beaten by a Muslim, but they may try to cool him down. 6) They are not allowed to build new churches or restore the old one. 7)A Muslim should not Punished (executed) for killing non-Muslims. there are many more.

__**United States, Soviet, and Taliban Relationship**__

During the late 1970s and 1980s, both the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) wanted to gain control of Afghanistan. The communist government of Afghanistan was supported by the Russfgians, but the Americans wanted factions in Afghanistan to rebel against the government. So the Americans began to provide aid to these factions, such as the Taliban. Once the Soviets retired their army and the United States stopped providing aid, Afghanistan entered a period of civil war from 1992-1996. In 1996 the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan.



Kabul during the Afghan Civil War

**__Taliban Kicked Alliance out of Kabul[[image:anti-taliban.jpg align="right" caption="Taliban Soldiers"]]__**
The Taliban was a big part of eradicating the Russians from Afghanistan. The Taliban, which is made up of holy warriors and religious scholars, took control of most of Afghanistan in 1996 and left the Afghan Northern Alliance a small area in the Northeast. The people of Afghanistan were at first happy the Taliban eradicated the Soviets, but soon came to realize their heros were actually horrendous men in disguise. If you did'nt support their beliefs they killed you, including Hazaras.

Ahmad Zahir was born on june 14, 1946. He wanted to bring his talent to Afagan. During his period he was one of the most influenced musician in Kabul. By late 1960s Ahmad Zahir tried a new musical movement. He also worked with the most uknown musicains in Kabul. Ahmad Zahir composed 22 albums he sang love songs, ghazels and free verse poems he also sang with themes that had social and poltical. Ahmad Zahir died on his 33rd birthday. He was murdered admir zahir influenced an entire nation of lovers of music.**
 * __AHMAD ZAHIR__



In the book //Kite Runner,// Khaled Hosseini mentions a lot about the Afghanistan government. He talks how things were before and after the Soviet invasion. During the period in which the book takes place, the Afghani government was in transitional phase. It was coming out of its old ways of government and moving into the shadows of a republic. One of the things the book doesn’t really do is give us much detail of who ruled the country before the soviet invasion so,…we decided to look it up.

__**King Zahir Shah**__

Zahir Shah was born on October 15, 1914. He was raised and educated in Kabul and France. He became King because of his family ancestry, during that time leaders of government were selected by age and if they were already part of the governing family linage. When King Zahir Shah came to power, one of the first things he did was create a new constitution. His new constitution created separate and independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. He also excluded all close relatives of the King from high office. He was totally about change; he made sure that everyone (educated people) had a chance to assimilate into the governing process. At first his newly implemented constitution gave many problems. People complained that it was too difficult to exercise any dynamic leadership under the new constitution. But despite all of the problems, the country did grow. It was the highest in its history. Women got more freedom during King Zahir Shah’s reign than under any ruler in the country’s history. Everything was going great until the country was effected by a severe drought in 1971. This made the economic situation in Afghanistan really bad. So in attempts to help re-stabilize the country’s economy, the Shah went on a trip to Europe. During his trip, one of his uncles Daud Khan took advantage of the Shah’s absence and seized control of the government. (If you want more info on Daud Khan go get it yourself…:-(...lol :-) . ) Zahir Shah now lives in Rome, Italy. Today, a good percentage of the population would like to see him come back and put Afghanistan back in order. To many Afghani’s he is the most prominent leader Afghanistan ever had.