Burqa

A burqa, also known as harabah, is a type of enveloping outer garment worn by some Muslim women which fully covers the body and the face. The term burqa is sometimes conflated with niqāb even though, in more precise usage, the niqab is a face veil that leaves the eyes uncovered, while a burqa covers the entire body from the top of the head to the ground, with a mesh screen that only allows the wearer to see in front of her.

The use of face veils has been documented in various ancient cultures, including the Byzantine Empire, Persia, and Arabia. Historical sources mention women’s practices of face veiling. Additionally, Biblical references in Genesis highlight the use of veils, indicating their significance in the cultural traditions of these regions. Oriental Orthodox Christian women traditionally wore dark garments with veils, white for the unmarried and black for the married.

Face veiling has not been regarded as a religious requirement by most Islamic scholars, either in the past or the present. While some interpret Quranic verses, such as 24:31 and 33:59, as encouraging modesty and security for women, most contemporary scholars agree that the burqa is not obligatory. For many women, wearing the burqa represents modesty, piety, and cultural identity, while others choose it as an expression of personal or religious commitment. A minority of scholars in the Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) consider it to be obligatory for Muslim women when they are in the presence of non-related (i.e., non-mahram) males. This is in order to prevent men from looking (perversely) at women. This aligns with the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, which requires men to observe modesty by lowering their gaze in the presence of women.

Women may wear the burqa for a number of reasons, including compulsion, as was the case during the Taliban's first rule of Afghanistan. However, several countries have enacted full or partial bans on its use in public spaces. These include Austria, France, Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, the Netherlands (in public schools, hospitals and on public transport), Germany (partial bans in some states), Italy (in some localities), Kazakhstan, Spain (in some localities of Catalonia), Russia (in the Stavropol Krai), Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway (in nurseries, public schools and universities), Canada (in the public workplace in Quebec), Gabon, Chad, Senegal, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon (in some localities), Niger (in some localities), Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan (in public schools), Turkey (in the judiciary, military and police), Kosovo (in public schools), Bosnia and Herzegovina (in courts and other legal institutions), Morocco (ban on manufacturing, marketing and sale), Tunisia (in public institutions), Egypt (in universities), Algeria (in the public workplace), and China (in Xinjiang).

In Central Asia, there's a similar garment called paranja (/ˈpærənˌdʒɑː/; Russian: паранджа́; Tatar: пәрәнҗә). The Arab version of the burqa is called the boshiya and is usually black.

The face veil was originally part of women's dress among certain classes in the Byzantine Empire.

However, although Byzantine art before Islam commonly depicts women with veiled heads or covered hair, it does not depict women with veiled faces. In addition, the Greek geographer Strabo, writing in the 1st century AD, refers to some Persian women veiling their faces; and the early third-century Christian writer Tertullian clearly refers in his treatise The Veiling of Virgins to some "pagan" women of "Arabia" wearing a veil that covers not only their head but also the entire face. Clement of Alexandria commends the contemporary use of face coverings. There are also two Biblical references to the employment of covering face veils in Genesis 38:14 and Genesis 24:65, by Tamar and by Rebecca, the daughters-in-law of Judah and his great-grandfather Abraham, respectively. These primary sources show that some women in Persia, Egypt, Arabia, and ancient Israel veiled their faces long before Islam. In the case of Tamar, the Biblical text 'When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; because she had covered her face' indicates customary, if not sacred, use of the face veil to accentuate rather than disguise sexuality.

In Oriental Orthodox Christianity, Coptic women historically covered their head and face in public and in the presence of men. During the 19th century, upper-class urban Christian and Muslim women in Egypt wore the burqa garment which was known there as harabah. The name harabah, derives from early Christian and Judaic religious vocabulary, which may indicate the origins of the garment itself. Unmarried women generally wore white veils while married women wore black.