When Sabeeha Rehman came to the United States from Pakistan in the 1970s through an arranged marriage, there was no Islamic center or mosque to help educate her children in the Muslim faith. She and her husband Khalid became teachers for their children.
“We had to go back to scripture and take the theology out of the culture which led to an American Muslim identity,” she said. She has been writing and teaching about interfaith dialogue since that time. Her book, Threading My Prayer Rug, describes that journey.
Her work led her to write three books and now a play, The Pakistani Bride, which will be performed at 5 p.m. today in the Marian Lawrance Room of Hurlbut Church. The performance is free and open to the public.
The Pakistani Bride is based on a story Rehman heard on a visit to Pakistan in 2023; inspired, she wrote a magazine story, and then her husband suggested it should be a drama. The fictionalized drama of a true story starts with a man from a small village who becomes a cook for a wealthy family; he brings his wife and daughter to live at the house. The wife works as a cleaner, but the wealthy patron notices how bright the daughter is and sends her to college.
While at college, the daughter falls in love with a young man, and they secretly marry. But the daughter had been engaged to a boy in her home village when she was 13, and one day, that boy comes to claim his bride.
Thus, the drama is set.
When Rehman met fellow Chautauquan Susan Laubach, she found a mentor to help her through the playwriting process. They met for coffee and Laubach gave her plays to read, then books on how to write a play, and then said: “Now, tell me what your play is about.”
Laubach helped Rehman learn how to format a play, and in June The Pakistani Bride had its first reading with members of Rehman’s family and Laubach in the roles.
When Rehman asked the Department of Religion about doing the play at Chautauqua, staff agreed to sponsor the reading, and Laubach did the casting. Today, the cast will include Laubach, Bijou Clinger Miller, Lee Heinz, James Hubbard, Beth Gunell and Steve Piper.
Rehman and her husband have been teaching Islam 101 courses at Chautauqua since 2016. When she called Maureen Rovegno, former director of the Department of Religion, about teaching a course, President Donald Trump had just enacted a ban on Muslims coming into the United States.
Rovegno said yes, and suggested they use the classroom at the Hall of Missions. When Rehman arrived about 20 minutes early to set up the room, she could not get in the door. The room was already full.
“That week people lined up an hour before the class because they were so interested in learning about Islam,” Rehman said.
In 2017 they moved Islam 101 to Hurlbut Church, where Rehman and her husband continue to teach about Islam for at least three weeks each season.
