Akbar Ahmed - Two Plays - "Noor" and "The Trial of Dara Shikoh" (Paperback, New)

"Listen in rapture to the voices of modern Islam. I am in awe of this tremendous, important work."--Daniel Futterman, actor and screenwriter, on "Noor"

"Not only a fascinating drama, but a most important, highly instructive study of the major forces within Islam . . . that grip our modern world and may help decide our global future."--Stanley Wolpert, on "The Trial of Dara Shikoh"

"Noor" is the tale of three brothers attempting to rescue their kidnapped sister. Each brother represents a different ideological position in the contemporary Islamic world. While exploring the crisis of modern Islam, "Noor" is a heartfelt treatise for religious tolerance.

"The Trial of Dara Shikoh" tells the story of the eldest son of seventeenth-century Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Heir apparent, Dara Shikoh is a learned scholar with a strong belief in the unity of different faiths: Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, and Judaism. Akbar Ahmed's play highlights the complex issue of religious interpretation within a human context.

With an introduction by Ari Roth, artistic director of Theater J in Washington, DC.

Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University, Washington, DC, and in 2008 he was appointed Distinguished Chair for Middle East/Islamic Studies at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis. He is Pakistan's former ambassador to Great Britain and was awarded the Heschel-King Award for Interfaith Activism on King Day 2009. He is the author of "Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization," published in June 2007.