By Hameed Farzad and Sayed Hassib
KABUL (Reuters) – Soraya Shahidy fastidiously lays a stencil on Nargis Merzayi’s arm earlier than inking the newest tattoo in her salon in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul.
A standard routine in studios around the globe, Shahidy’s paintings within the conservative nation breaks a tattoo taboo: she believes she is the primary feminine tattoo artist in a rustic the place some non secular students say tattoos are forbidden below Islam.
“I may have carried out this occupation overseas however I needed to do it in Afghanistan as a result of there are not any feminine tattoo artists within the nation,” she advised Reuters. “I consider it is not solely males who can apply tattoos. Ladies can do it too.”
Shahidy, 27, who educated in Turkey and Iran, insists her paintings is professional in Islam.
“Some mullahs say tattoos are forbidden, however there are different mullahs who say the alternative,” she mentioned, including that Kabul is seeing a small however rising demand from younger individuals for tattoos.
“Most purchasers need tattoos on their wrists, arms, neck and legs… Ladies are extra excited about delicate tattoo designs equivalent to flowers, butterflies and dragonflies, or the names of individuals they love. However some boys select designs which are extravagant to me.”
One shopper, she mentioned, needed a tattoo of a tombstone inscribed “volunteer of dying”.
Shahidy’s present shopper, Merzayi, was lengthy excited about getting a tattoo and at last determined to go forward with a design on the within of her forearm.
“My tattoo is in Hindi handwriting and it means braveness,” she mentioned.
Like many within the nation, Shahidy thinks about the potential for a return to energy by the Taliban, who’re in peace talks with the Afghan authorities to finish 20 years of conflict. However she expressed confidence the nation has modified dramatically because the hardline Islamists had been ousted in 2001.
“We aren’t the individuals who can simply lose the achievements we’ve got gained over the latest years,” she mentioned.
(Reporting by Hameed Farzad and Sayed Hassib; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Enhancing by William Mallard)
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