Burqa

A burqa or a burka[a] (/ˈbɜːrkə/; Arabic: برقع) is an enveloping outer garment worn by some Muslim women which fully covers the body and the face.

Also known as a chadaree[b] (/ˈtʃæd(ə)riː/; Pashto: چادري) or chaadar (Dari: چادر) in Afghanistan, or a paranja (/ˈpærənˌdʒɑː/; Russian: паранджа́; Tatar: пәрәнҗә) in Central Asia, the Arab version of the burqa is called the boshiya and is usually black.

Coptic Orthodox Christian women traditionally wore dark garments with veils, white for the unmarried and black for the married.

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.

[30][31][32] These primary sources show that some women in Persia, Egypt, Arabia, and ancient Israel veiled their faces long before Islam.

Coming after a verse which instructs men to lower their gaze and guard their modesty, verse 24:31 instructs women to do the same, providing additional detail:[37][38] Tell the believing women to lower their eyes, guard their private parts (furuj), and not display their charms (zina) except what is apparent outwardly, and cover their bosoms with their veils (khumur, sing.

[38][39] A sahih hadith (authentic tradition) elaborates the circumstances under which the verse was revealed and attributes it to Umar ibn al-Khattab for taunting one of Muhammad's wives while she was walking.

[38][39] Islamic scholars who hold that face veiling is not obligatory also base this on a narration from one of the canonical hadith collections (sayings attributed to Muhammad), in which he tells Asma', the daughter of Abu Bakr: "O Asmaʿ, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this", pointing to her face and hands (Abū Dawūd, Book 32, Number 4092).

[37] According to Yusuf al-Qaradawi, traditional hadith scholars have not viewed this narration as providing proof on its own, because its recorded chain of transmission made them uncertain about its authenticity, but those who argued that face veiling is not required have used it as supporting evidence along other practices, such as those recording customary practice at the time of prophet Muhammad and his companions however it is argued that this because of the low resources and incapability at the time.

[36] When veiling was discussed in early Islamic jurisprudence beyond the context of prayer, it was generally considered an "issue of social status and physical safety".

Later, during the medieval era, Islamic jurists began to devote more attention to the notion of awra (intimate parts) and the question of whether women should cover their faces.

[41] The majority opinion which emerged during that time, predominant among Maliki and Hanafi jurists, held that women should cover everything except their faces in public.

In contrast, most medieval Hanbali and Shafi'i (two of the four islamic madhabs) jurists counted a woman's face among the awra (parts that shouldn't be shown), concluding that it should be veiled, except for the eyes.

[43] The Salafi scholar Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani wrote a book expounding his view that the face veil is not a binding obligation upon Muslim women, while he was a teacher at Islamic University of Madinah.

[50][51] The decision was announced by El Hadji Djibril Bopaka, the president of the country's Islamic High Council who stated that "some non-Muslims have been using the full veil to hide and to carry out uncivic acts".

Due to political instability in these areas, women who might not otherwise be inclined to wear the chadaree must do so as a matter of personal safety, according to Khalid Hanafi.

[67] According to The Jerusalem Post, in 2010, Marina Solodkin, a member of the Knesset, intended to put forward a bill to "prohibit the wearing of a full-body and face covering for women.

Ghiyath Barakat, Syria's minister of higher education, announced that the government would ban students, teachers or staff from covering faces at universities, stating that the veils ran counter to "secular and academic principles of the country".

[74] On 29 April 2010, the lower house of parliament in Belgium passed a bill banning any clothing that would obscure the identity of the wearer in places like parks and in the street.

[78] In autumn 2017, the Danish government agreed to adopt a law prohibiting people to wear "attire and clothing masking the face in such a way that it impairs recognizability".

When the measure was sent in May to the parliament, it was stated that "Given the damage it produces on those rules which allow the life in community, ensure the dignity of the person and equality between sexes, this practice, even if it is voluntary, cannot be tolerated in any public place".

[90][91] In 2022, France's top administrative court ruled against allowing body-covering "burkini" swimwear in public pools for religious reasons, arguing that it violates the principle of government neutrality toward religion.

[92] In a 2016 speech, accepting her nomination for reelection, the German chancellor Angela Merkel called for banning the burqa in Germany "wherever legally possible", which was interpreted as support for the earlier proposal by Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière to outlaw full-face veils in public buildings.

The announcement was seen as an attempt to counter public anger at Merkel's handling of the migrant crisis and electoral gains by the anti-immigration AfD party.

[111] On 27 January 2012, a bill was agreed upon by the Dutch cabinet, banning any clothing that would hide the wearer's identity, with potential fines for wearing a burqa in public going up to 380 euros.

[119] In June 2018, the parliament of Norway passed a bill banning clothing covering the face at educational institutions as well as daycare centres, which included face-covering Islamic veils.

Despite explaining to the media that a female staffer would remain in the room during any potential meeting, reaction was varied, with some Muslim groups saying that they understood his concerns, and others rejecting his request as prejudicial.

[131][132] In 2011, Carnita Matthews of Sydney was sentenced to six months jail for making a statement accusing a police officer of attempting to forcibly lift her niqab, which news sources initially referred to incorrectly as a burqa.

[135] On 4 July 2011, New South Wales became the first Australian state to pass laws allowing police to demand that burqas (and other headgear such as motorcycle helmets) be removed when asking for identification.

[138] On June 16, 2019, Bill 21 was passed which banned all religious symbols in the public sector for those in a position of authority i.e teachers, police officers, judges and lawyers amongst others.