On the edge of her seat...

Up and coming article writer, Miss Aja Anderson on the impact of Dr. Ahmed's work-in-progress, a play entitled Noor:

The play is provocative, reflecting the reality of challenging relationships between the contemporary family and the world, and the individual and God. It is both the story of a family’s quest to reclaim their stolen daughter, and the effort to rediscover God’s light in their lives. On one level the woman Noor had been taken from the family on stage, but figuratively God’s light was missing from the household as well. Many Muslims today feel forsaken; the ascendance of the West in politics and economics has turned their homes into the last frontier. Now in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, with a physical American presence in the country, their homes do not feel safe. Opportunists use the lack of security for political and economic gain, kidnapping children for ransom or worse. As a student of Dr Ahmed’s, a young American woman, and a scholar of Islam, the play affected me professionally, emotionally, and intellectually. I felt a profound sense of pride for my professor, for our team who have spent so many hours reading, researching, and editing to refine the script, and for the honor of being involved in this significant work. I sat on the edge of my seat both evenings, simultaneously taking notes, photos, and gasping with surprise at the powerful delivery of the dialogue. I noted key points about Islam cleverly cloaked in the banter among brothers. The characters were entangled in a web of political, economic, and religious restraints, infinitely limited by the social constructions in which they put such trust. Noor made the audience uncomfortable because it breathed life into previously two-dimensional archetypes who were people very much like us, sitting with fingers crossed, waiting, hoping, and praying for the return of a beloved.

Go Aja!