Noor

Characters

Main characters

Abdullah (oldest brother, professor, idealistic Sufi)

Daoud (middle brother, medical doctor, hardened religious literalist)

Ali (youngest brother, lawyer and government bureaucrat, relatively secular)

Father (Assad Hussain)

Auntie Fatima (father's sister)

Noor (youngest sibling, a bright college student)

Secondary characters

Three soldiers

Sheikh Moinuddin

Disciple

Flunky

Fadel (truck driver)

Plot

Act 1

It is Ramadan. Daoud comes home and talks with his brother Abdullah. Soldiers of unknown background have abducted their younger sister Noor. Daoud is angry and blames Americans for this and most of the world's other woes. Abduallah urges calm and compassion. Ali returns and recounts the abduction of Noor and his own detention. Aggressive soldiers break into the house to search it, then leave. About Noor, Abduallah proposes consulting a Sufi sheikh. At the same time, Ali recommends he use his connections in a government ministry, and Daoud implies an act of violence would be the best response.

Act 2

In search of Noor, Abduallah consults a Sufi sheikh and Ali speaks with a government minister. Neither approach produces results.

Auntie Fatima, Noor's aunt and mother of Noor's finance Rahman, expresses concern that in detention Noor's "honor" may have been violated and has come to call off the engagement. The three brothers defend Noor and try to point out she loves Rahman and that love itself should triumph, and their father goes to talk to his sister Fatima. To bring back Noor, Abduallah prays, while Daoud blames "the Crusaders" and urges violence; they disagree about the true nature of Islam. Noor returns. She is strong and wise, and brings peace to the three brothers' disagreements.

Performances

The play Noor premiered at Theater J in Washington, D.C., in 2007.