A Thousand Splendid Sons 

In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the relationship between the novel’s two main characters is uncannily similar to the history of the two main religious divisions within Islam, the Sunni and the Shi’a. A central plot point in The Kite Runner is that Baba does not tell his sons Amir and Hassan that they are half-brothers. Both Baba and Hassan have died when Amir finally discovers that Hassan was his brother. Amir realizes that he had been Baba’s socially legitimate son, while Hassan was the son who never inherited his birthright. While literally, Amir is Sunni and Hassan is Shi’a, one’s inheritance of power over the other parallels the historical split between the religious factions. What follows is a look at how this religious division affects Afghanistan specifically, and then more generally, how it has affected the entire Muslim world. In either context, one can see how this schism plays a significant part in The Kite Runner.

 The religious difference between the Pashtuns and Hazara is primarily that of the conflict between the Sunni and the Shi'a sects of Islam. The Pashtuns are usually described as being Sunni, while the Hazara almost always adhere to the Shi'a branch of Islam. The conflict isn't so much a difference between religious theology (although that plays a part), but a difference between the practice and cultural aspects of each sect. The Pashtun majority wants a unified Afghan identity, but the Hazaras' religious and linguistic similarity to Iran's religious and linguistic sympathies puts the two groups into conflict because the Pashtuns do not trust the Hazara to be loyal Afghanis.

From the Pashtun perspective, the Hazara are not Afghani because they differ ethnically, culturally, and especially religiously. Unfortunately, as a result of the extreme distrust between the two groups, violence tends to be the norm. An example of the distrust between the two groups can be seen in the interaction between the Taliban, a radical Sunni group, and the Hazara. This radical group has been responsible for the persecution of Hazaras living in Afghanistan because it considers Hazaras neither Muslims nor Afghani. Scenes of this persecution are depicted in The Kite Runner when members of the Taliban take Hassan from his home and kill him because of his race.

 The difference between Sunni and Shi'a is primarily in the way they view the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran, but it also relates to the way in which the two groups isolate themselves from each other in their communities and their struggle for political and religious power. The Sunni emphasize the Quran, the Law, practice, and works, while the Shi'a emphasize the Prophet Muhammad, tradition, rituals, and faith. The main disagreement lies in the separation of the two groups after the death of Muhammad and the violence following his death. When Muhammad died in 632 C.E., there was tremendous debate about who would be his successor. The debate centered on whether Muhammad's son-in-law, Ali, or his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, would be the new Caliph. The majority of the tribal Elders decided in Abu Bakr's favor, but there was a small group who did not agree with the choice. However, because the majority had ruled in Abu Bakr's favor, the small group submitted to the authority. Abu Bakr was followed by three other Caliphs including Ali, all unfortunately killed, murdered, or assassinated by Muslim dissenters. After the assassination of Ali, a new dynasty of Caliphs came to power, but they were not of Muhammad's bloodline.

 The break between the Sunni and the Shi'a occurred because the Shi'a wanted the Caliphs to be of Muhammad's bloodline while the Sunni preferred the rule of consensus and order. The Shi'a saw the initial decision of electing Abu Bakr to power instead of Ali as an error that had "mired their faith in violence and confusion" (Nasr 37) and they believed spirituality to be found only in the bloodline of Muhammad. Although the Sunni's do not consider the Shi'a true Muslims, it seems more likely that the conflict is more political now than religious, and the Shi'a, with their devotion to a different kind of Islam, threaten those in power because they call into question the religious and political authority of the Sunni Muslim leaders by implying that they are not the rightful leaders of the Islamic world.      

 The Kite Runner’s protagonists Amir and Hassan can be viewed as representative types of this religious schism, competing forces vying for legitimacy. They both have the same father, but only one son is recognized as the rightful heir. In one sense, The Kite Runner is a retelling of the story of an age-old division that still divides Muslims. On the other hand, The Kite Runner complicates the issue by presenting a situation in which both sons are technically rightful heirs, but their father lies to them to preserve his honor. This situation pits honor against honesty, and like a kite runner weaving in and out of the streets, this story attempts to navigate between the two, seeking some kind of redemption from a feud that began back in the seventh century.

Sources:

Fuller, Graham E. and Rend Rahim Francke. The Arab Shi’a: The Forgotten Muslims. Palgrave. New York: 1999.

Gohari, M. J. The Taliban: Ascent to Power. Oxford UP. Oxford: 2000.

Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. Riverhead. New York: 2004.

Misdaq, Nabi. Afghanistan: Political Frailty and Foreign Interference. Routledge.  London: 2006.

Nasr, Vali. The Shi’a Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future. W. W. Norton   & Company. New York: 2006.

Newell, Nancy Peabody and Richard S. Newell. The Struggle for Afghanistan. Cornell UP. London: 1981.

Rashid, Ahmed. Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. Yale UP. New Haven: 2000.

-- Dana Morency and Jason Hogue