The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe

Woja Abdul Sidiqi, Kamila’s father, listens to the old radio in his living room. The BBC’s Persian news service is his only way of getting news from outside Kabul; for the last month, it has told of the approaching Taliban. The Taliban publicly hanged the former president, Dr. Najibullah, to indicate that “a new regime was in charge” (27). Woja had served under Dr. Najibullah, so he worries for his future and his family. He tries to explain the Taliban fighters’ lives to his daughters: Many are orphans from refugee camps, their parents killed during the Soviet invasion, and their only education came from hardline scholars in religious schools. Their teachings are very different from Afghan traditions.

Mostly from small villages, these men view Kabul as decadent and in need of spiritual cleansing. Once they arrived in Kabul, they had immediately begun to institute their brutal (and effective) law and order system. Thieves have hands and feet cut off. Crime drops almost to zero. Music, movies, and games are banned. Representations of human figures are outlawed. Shaving is prohibited. Most of all, the changes affect women. They are to stay at home. They are not allowed to work. They must always wear the veil in public. Women are banned from offices and schools; girls’ schools are closed; women have no place left to go. This is particularly devastating for widows, who can no longer work to support their remaining family members.

Woja has long believed in the importance of education for women. His nine daughters and two sons have all been to school. Each night, new rules are announced on Radio Sharia (formerly Radio Afghanistan). The family grows despondent. The women have not left the house; purdah—the practice of isolating women in the house—is practiced in many conservative rural communities but is unheard of in Kabul. Kamila tries to be optimistic as her sisters grow restless. Her brothers bring worrying reports from the streets, where patrols of men—members of the Amr bil-Maroof wa Nahi al Munkir, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Suppression of Vice—spread out across the city. Just the name Amr bil-Maroof is enough to frighten people. The young men in the patrols carry wooden batons, beating anyone who dares disobey the strict new laws. The worst offenders are taken to prison, where bribery is the only means of escape. Neighbors begin to flee Kabul as the situation worsens and the economy collapses. Kamila’s brother Najeeb announces that he is fleeing with their uncle and his family, but Kamila knows that it is unlikely that her father will go, too. The trip to Pakistan is too risky, especially with five young girls.

Though the streets are safer under the Taliban, ethnic minorities and former military personnel are at risk. This means Woja (and his daughters) may face the wrath of the Taliban, even if they adhere to the new laws. Najeeb and boys his age are in danger of being forcibly recruited into the Taliban. Eventually, the male family members are compelled to flee Kabul. The men are at risk if they stay, and the women are at risk if they flee; they must separate. Woja says he will send for his wife and daughters when he has found a safe place to live. Najeeb will stay behind with them for now. The family prepares for Woja’s journey, making him food. As night falls, Woja tells Kamila to take care of the family. He is sure that she will be “a good leader for [her] sisters” (35). All she and her sisters can do is learn how to live under the new regime. 

Kamila’s sister Saaman is lost in her thoughts. Only months before, Saaman had been accepted into Kabul University, but her studies have been cut short by the Taliban. All across the city, women are growing bored and restless. The war continues as winter draws in. The Taliban have been in Kabul for months, and any hope of a swift resolution has been abandoned. Laws are becoming stricter: Clothing must be loose and thick, while mixing with strangers and leaving the home without a male relative is forbidden for women. Kamila and her sisters try to devise solutions; they establish a local book swap group, centered in Kamila’s living room. The girls take turns reading poetry aloud. The mystical literature is starkly opposed to the Taliban’s “rigid idea of Islam” (38), but even the book swap cannot alleviate Kamila’s restlessness.

A change in circumstances seems inevitable, as too many widowed women need to work to support their families and too many girls want to attend school. As the economy continues to implode, foreign aid is essential to feed the city. While Kamila’s father left the family some savings, this is not an indefinite solution. The family has not heard from him since his departure. The Taliban continue to fight for control of politically- and economically-important areas of the country, allowing them to control Afghanistan’s industrial output and its seat at the United Nations. Meanwhile, they push back against international criticism of their treatment of women, blaming women who work for any harm that comes to them. They beat women who are forced to beg in the street. Some women are so destitute, they turn to prostitution. If caught, the punishment is execution. Even laughing in public is prohibited for women, and shopping has become a dangerous chore. Male tailors can no longer measure women for clothes, lest they have impure thoughts. Kabul has “never been so abandoned and stripped of hope” (42).

Kamila desperately thinks of how to help her family. Najeeb, in increasing danger of being press-ganged into the Taliban forces, must flee to Pakistan. However, he may find himself trapped in a refugee camp, unable to send money home. Kamila needs to earn money without contravening the Taliban’s harsh laws. She needs a job she can do from home, away from men, which will produce something people will need to buy. Then, she has an idea: Her sister Malika is a talented seamstress; Kamila can become one, too, helped by her sisters at home. The idea is perfect, but Kamila does not know how to sew. She nervously travels to her sister’s house without a male relative. Kamila is forced to sit at the back of the bus, separated from the male section by a wool curtain; she overhears the women complaining about their hardships.

At Malika’s house, Kamila asks to be taught how to sew. Malika agrees, but there are conditions: Kamila must never go out alone, she cannot talk to strangers (including women), and she must assume the Taliban are always watching. Kamila accepts the conditions, but Malika is doubtful of her sincerity. They begin the lesson. Malika cuts and prepares the fabric for a simple dress, instructing her sister on each point. They bead the dress and use the sewing machines in Malika’s house. Kamila is an excellent student, picking up the techniques quickly. They finish the dress as evening approaches, and Kamila must return home before dark. Kamila thanks her sister and leaves; Malika hands Kamila money, enough to buy materials to get started on her business. Kamila arrives home, ready to announce the good news but is met with good news from her father: He is alive and well. Soon, Kamila’s mother will join him in Parwan, and the daughters will be left alone in Kabul.