As Ad el-Fitr approaches, which this week marks the end of Ramadan, the sewing machines are running at full speed in the workshops of Afghan tailors who are experiencing their hot spell of the year.
The third Ad since the return to power of the Taliban, who prohibit any mixed festive celebration, no longer has the splendor of yesteryear. But despite everything, everyone wants to mark the event by dressing in new clothes, as is the Muslim tradition.
On the first floor of Crystal Siddiqui, a boutique in the north of Kabul, tailors, measuring tape around their necks, cut out patterns for the final orders before the Ad, which will take place Tuesday or Wednesday.
Further away, half a dozen employees sew the machine for shalwar kameez, the long tunics over baggy pants traditional for men.
During the entire fasting month of Ramadan, they worked 19 hours a day to be able to make 5,000, they say, not a little proud.
It’s Ramadan, a month full of promises, explains AFP Shayeq Siddiqui, who works in the family business.
“When someone wears new clothes or new shoes, it gives them a new state of mind and new energy,” says the 23-year-old Afghan.
After their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban imposed numerous restrictions on the celebrations and leisure activities of the 40 million Afghans, in particular banning music.
The first victims of their ultra-rigorous application of Islamic law, Afghan women have been virtually excluded from public space.
So the Ad will once more be celebrated this year in discretion, more in private space.
If men can always gather outside, women must be content with their homes or visits to neighbors.
Despite everything, tailors continue to make and sell large quantities of richly embroidered clothing for women, which they wear at home, without having to cover themselves from head to toe with the abaya and veil that are imposed on them as soon as they are ‘they go out.
Kandahar embroidery
Crystal Siddiqui recorded twice as many orders during Ramadan as in a normal month, for a wide variety of outfits.
Of course it’s difficult, but it’s our job and it’s what people want, says one of the tailors, 28-year-old Abdul Farooq Azimi, enjoying a short break on a stool.
We are happy to see our compatriots wearing new clothes for the Ad, he told AFP.
We are at the service of the people for this holy month, he affirms in front of piles of shalwar kameez embroidered with rich patterns and freshly ironed which will make their owner proud in front of family and friends whom it is imperative to visit, according to tradition Muslim, during the three days of Ad.
Traditional clothing costs 1,500 to 30,000 Afghanis, or almost 400 euros, a fortune in this country where 85% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.
This year, embroidery from the southern city of Kandahar, which gives the fabric a snakeskin appearance, is in vogue.
But there is something for everyone: in the shop, on the ground floor, you can also see piles of tunics embroidered with gold thread and dazzling precious stones.
On this eve of Ad, Afghanistan’s markets are also overflowing with food, particularly dried fruits and sweets.
