I Am Galle

The Wedding Dresser

Sithy Muhsin

Sithy Muhsin was the only dressers of Muslim brides in Galle during the sixties. Also a teacher, she talks about her work styling Muslim brides over the years and her impressions of the advent of the abaya or burqa in Sri Lankan Muslim society.

Interview language: English
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Transcript and translations

Language

English

Subjects discussed

If I cover my whole self, no one will know who I am!

I should cover my hair. Cover my body. Only my hands and the face, I can expose. Not even a single hair should be seen. But the prophet has said, you should be recognised by another person. Now when I walk on the road, if I cover my whole self, no one will know who I am! You understand? I know when some of my friends come to give salaams to me in the wedding house, I say I’m sorry. You write your name on your gloves and show who you are. Otherwise raise and show me your face! Actually I couldn’t recognize her. I can’t say that I’m correct or that one is wrong, or she is correct. What I feel is, as a Muslim, I practise very well. As a Muslim, I pray five times a day. I fast and more than anything, I love to help others. And I love to organise things. We should cover ourselves, we can’t expose ourselves to men like this. It’s wrong, it’s true. But there are people who just for the sake of…I also have abaya. I was feeling lazy to get into 6 yards of sari, I just wore something underneath and went. Don’t think it’s for the religion, it’s for my comfort. I know in the morning, if they want to go out, the people who want to wear this abaya, even with their nightclothes to drive their children to school. And on top of that they wear that abaya and cover themselves. They must be doing that! Easy to put on. Even over the pajama you can wear and go! I may be wrong, it may be a very good idea wearing abaya and covering yourself. Which our religion says only the hands and the face should be open to all, and everything should be covered. I think that’s true. But that’s what we do when we pray and all. But there are people who wear all that but they don’t help others, they are not good with their neighbours. They have backbiting habits. They don’t give alms giving to anybody. There are some groups of Muslims. They believe only in the Koran. The men have their beards and the women cover themselves. Some of the husbands force their wives to wear, and before marriage, they want “face cover” or ask for a person to wear abaya on agreement. That has come up very recently. So once you get into an agreement like that, you have to abide by that agreement. So they do it. I have told my daughter, if you are going to wear the abaya, you have to be very respectful. You can’t go on the motorbike with your husband wearing the abaya with all you legs out!

About this portrait

Photographer: Kannan Arunasalam
Interviewer: Kannan Arunasalam
Assistant: Gayathri Lokuge
Recorded: February 18, 2011
First published: August 2, 2023
Last edited: November 7, 2023

Comments

  1. Kannan Arunasalam
    January 31, 2011 at 04:59 pm
    Sithy welcomed me into house in the Galle Fort where she lives with her daughter. Her granddaughter was visiting from America and so I met three generations of the family's women. Fashionable, fun loving and candid, Sithy Muhsin is different. There's a joie de vivre about her approach to life. Sithy talked about her talent for hairstyles and make up that made her popular in Galle as a bridal dresser in the 60s and until the death of her husband. After that, her daughter took over and has built up a successful business dressing Muslim brides on their big day. Our conversation naturally led to talking about trends in dress among Muslim women. Sithy was unsure about the move among younger women of wearing the burqa or abaya, a style uncommon in her day. So after their special day on the throne, these brides would conceal their faces from everyone, but their husbands. The next day Sithy took me along to a recital of her Muslim ladies group of which she is an active member. I asked permission to record the beautiful verses recited by one younger member of the group. The ladies made me feel comfortable being there, but I couldn't help thinking I was being introduced to a world usually behind closed doors.
  2. Akheel Muhsin
    January 31, 2011 at 05:05 pm
    Dear Sithy Aunty, Now that's what I call taking a stand! Proud of you. Akheel
  3. Souad
    December 9, 2016 at 10:04 am
    Proud of you Ummamma

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