(October 8, 1999) A play about a student eager to finish entrance exams sparked demonstrations, death threats, and international protests. Entrance Exam and the Time of Resurrection, which appeared in an obscure Iranian campus journal last September, was banned almost immediately after it was published. The play describes a fictional meeting between a student named Abbas and the Imam Mahdi or Imam Zaman (“Lord of All Ages”), a prophet that according to Shiite Muslims is supposed to return to Earth, choose 313 disciplines, and lead a worldwide insurrection against tyranny. Many Muslims believe that this play mocks their beliefs because Abbas does not want the Imam to start the final battle until after university entrance exams.

Home. Evening.

ABBAS finishes his prayers and goes over to the mosque. He kneels on the ground.

ABBAS (with a begging voice): Oh God, Oh God! Please hurry the coming of Imam Zaman. Oh God, let me see his radiant face. Oh God, let me be one of his disciples. Oh God! please answer my prayers tonight and let me pass my university entrance exams. Oh God! You know I only wish to be useful in Imam Zaman’s government of justice on earth. That is the reason why I am alive.

ABBAS stands up, wipes his face and his tears. He then kisses the prayer stone and packs up his prayer mat.

* * * * *

Street. Night Time.

ABBAS is walking quickly in the street. His face conveys the message that he is late. Suddenly a hand touches his back.

Voice of a young man.

ABBAS (without turning around): If you have come to Tehran from the provinces and you have been mugged and have no money and can’t find your way, let me tell you I haven’t got money to burn either. Go and work to earn money.

MAN: No, Abbas. It is not me who can’t find his way. I have come to show you the way.

ABBAS turns towards the voice with trepidation. It is a MAN with a long white dress, standing in front of him.

ABBAS: How do you know my name?

MAN: Not only do I know your name, I know all the secrets of your life. The ones you have confessed and the ones you haven’t. Abbas, I am your Imam Zaman.

ABBAS: You are kidding!

The MAN shakes his head from side to side. ABBAS pauses and then throws himself onto the man’s feet. He starts to stroke the man’s leg like a dog.

ABBAS: My Lord! My Lord! My Lord! Where have you been? My Lord! I am your lowly servant. My Lord, I wish to die for you.

The MAN helps ABBAS to get back on his feet.

MAN: Do not weep Abbas! Today is not the day to weep. Abbas, you know why I have come to you.

ABBAS (sobbing): My Lord, you are the one who knows all.

MAN: I have come to gather 313 disciples. I am asking you if you wish to be my disciple.

ABBAS: My Lord, how can I not wish so? I am alive because of your love. If I could I would have wished to be all of the 313 disciples myself.

MAN: You shall shave your head on Friday. At 8:00 in the morning you will go to Revolution Avenue. When I arise, you shall be recruiting followers for the final uprising.

ABBAS: Friday??

MAN: What is wrong? Is it too late?

ABBAS: Umm...er...we have the university entrance exam on Friday at eight. Let’s postpone it to Saturday.

MAN: No, it cannot be. It is God’s will for it to be on Friday.

ABBAS begs with a pleading face.

MAN: No, it can’t be!

ABBAS: Look, I am not asking to postpone it for after the exam results. I said Saturday. One thousand three hundred fifty-four years and fifty-five days you have been hiding, why can’t you wait one more day for me??

MAN: I said it cannot be! The world has become filled with oppression and tyranny.

ABBAS: What a turn up? Dear Lord. If you want to carry out the insurrection tomorrow, I know what will happen. You see, we have had a revolution before. I will miss the exams, your insurrection will take one to two years, then there will be a cultural revolution. Universities will be closed for two to three years. When they are opened again, instead of 1.5 million to two million participants there will be seven to eight million people taking the exams — that is, if we don’t count the African/Asian imported Islamic students. I will have forgotten my studies by then. I may as well kiss university goodbye.

MAN: But you always prayed for me to appear as soon as possible. You prayed to be one of my disciples.

ABBAS: And I still do my Lord. But if I become a member of your government tomorrow, I will be a minister without expertise and education, whereas we need expert disciples. You were in hiding when our revolution happened in Iran. Same thing happened here. Take my father — I don’t mean to be rude, but he got suckered to become a revolutionary and served time in prison, so he missed higher education. Then, after the revolution, he got a high-profile position in the government because of his revolutionary activities. Pardon the expression, but he really screwed things up. Then they replaced him with one of these experts. My Lord, this so-called expert struck at the very root of Islam! I am concerned that a similar situation may happen again.

MAN: The Almighty has decided. If you refuse to become a martyr...

ABBAS: What? You are getting worse than these Ayatollahs. They promised us so much and look what happened, you have only just resurrected and already have decided I should be a martyr. Lord, don’t talk to me like this, because I love you. I say nothing back to you, but if you talk like this to others they will land a punch right on your chin and tell you that they have wife and children.

MAN: Do you not love martyrdom?

ABBAS: Me? I die for martyrdom! I love martyrdom. I wish I could be a martyr 100 times over. But I am not just me. I have responsibilities. You know better than me, Plato says, “Everyone has a missing half who is made to marry him.” If I become a martyr, my “missing half” will become someone else’s wife, because they weren’t supposed to wed each other. They will have arguments with each other and their kids will be brought up badly. Because of my sacrifice, all their offspring will turn out wrong.

MAN: That is enough, I understand, I have to go.

ABBAS: That is just one side of it, obviously the other fellow should have married another woman and by doing so —

The MAN moves away from ABBAS in the other direction.

ABBAS (grabbing the man’s hand and shouting): Where are you going? You think I am going to let you make me miss my exams?

ABBAS puts his hand in his pocket and draws a knife.

The stage goes dark. The lights are turned on and off.

* * * * *

Prayer Group. Late Evening.

Every one is seated and holding the Koran to their heads. ABBAS is also holding the Koran and chanting. ABBAS punches his feet more vigorously than others and chants louder.

ABBAS is weeping loudly.

NOTES

[These notes are part of the play’s original text.]

Cultural revolution: Shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran [which brought a conservative Islamic government to power], the ayatollahs [religious leaders] closed down the universities for two years, calling it a “cultural revolution.” All students and university lecturers who were deemed “un-Islamic” were expelled or sacked.

Martyrdom is one of the most important beliefs of Shiite Muslims. [Shiites and Sunnis are the two major groups of Muslims.] Shiites believe that all Muslims should be ready to sacrifice themselves, and not willing to do so is considered as a sin. The mastermind of this plan was Dr. Abdol Karim Soroush who is today criticizing the Islamic Regime and realizing that his mistakes cost Iranian education a great deal.

Promises of Ayatollahs: On the very day [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khomeini returned to Iran after exile [in 1979, before he led the Islamic revolution that brought fundamentalist Muslims to power in Iran], he made a speech in Tehran’s main cemetery. In this speech, Khomeini promised free telephone, heating, electricity and bus services.