Shayla (Arabic: شيلة) is an Islamic head covering worn by some Muslim women in the presence of any male outside of their immediate family.
Sometimes it is worn in the form of a half niqab with part of the face still appearing.
[1] It is traditionally worn by some women in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
[2] It is often worn by Indo-Pakistani women as a cultural symbol rather than for religious reasons.
The shayla is particularly meaningful to the Pashtuns.