Burqa

What it is

A burqa is an enveloping outer garment that covers the whole body and the face. Some Muslim women wear it. Sources also give the name harabah, used in Egypt in the 19th century, and in Afghanistan this full covering is called the chadaree. Two related garments appear alongside it: the paranja of Central Asia and the black boshiya of the Arab world. The burqa is discussed together with modesty, Islamic law and women's dress, and it is classed among face veils such as the niqab. It belongs to everyday life rather than to any one ceremony, and its meaning depends on who is wearing it and where.

Older than Islam

Face veils are recorded long before Islam. The Byzantine Empire used them among certain classes of women, though Byzantine art from before Islam shows covered heads and hair rather than covered faces. Strabo, a Greek geographer writing in the 1st century CE, mentions Persian women who veiled their faces. In the early 3rd century the Christian writer Tertullian described women of Arabia whose veil covered the whole face as well as the head. Genesis tells of Tamar and Rebecca covering themselves. In Oriental Orthodox Christianity, Coptic women historically covered head and face in public, unmarried women in white and married women in black.

In Islamic teaching

Most Islamic scholars, past and present, do not treat covering the face as a religious duty. Quran 24:31 asks women to guard their modesty and to cover their chests with their veils. The mantle verse, 33:59, asks the Prophet's wives, daughters and believing women to draw their wraps around them, so that they are known and no harm comes to them. A hadith about Asma', daughter of Abu Bakr, is used by those who say only the face and hands need show. Medieval jurists disagreed: Maliki and Hanafi opinion held that everything except the face should be covered, while many Hanbali and Shafi'i jurists counted the face among the parts not to be shown. Salafi teaching commonly holds full covering to be obligatory.

Why women wear it

The reasons differ from woman to woman. Those who wear the burqa often speak of modesty, piety and cultural identity, or of personal and religious commitment. Others wear it because the law requires it, as happened in Afghanistan during the first period of Taliban rule. In a few cases the garment has been worn to make a political point. In 2017 an Australian senator put on a burqa inside the Senate chamber while calling for a ban, and did so again in 2025. Another senator answered that mocking a community's religious garments is an appalling thing to do.

Bans and limits

Many countries have restricted the burqa or face coverings in public. The list in the sources includes Austria, France, Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Germany in some states, and the Netherlands in schools, hospitals and on public transport. Chad and Cameroon banned the full veil after suicide bombings in 2015, while Gabon and the Republic of the Congo gave security as their reason. Morocco stopped the manufacture, sale and import of burqas in 2017. Egypt restricts them in universities, and Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and China's Xinjiang also appear in the list. Quebec bars them in the public workplace.

How Burqa is kept

There is no ceremony and no fixed day. A woman who wears a burqa puts it on over her ordinary clothes when she leaves the house or meets men who are not relatives. It covers the body and the face. Some women choose it as a sign of piety, modesty or cultural identity. Others wear it because the law asks it of them, as in Afghanistan during the first period of Taliban rule. In a small number of cases women have worn it to make a political point, including inside a parliament.

When and where

The burqa is worn in Afghanistan, where it is called the chadaree, and by some Muslim women in other countries. Face covering was recorded in Egypt, where the garment was known as harabah, and in Persia and Arabia before Islam. Central Asia has a related garment, the paranja, and the Arab version is the boshiya.

What Burqa means

People read the burqa in different ways. Women who wear it often describe it as a statement of modesty, piety and cultural identity, or of personal and religious commitment. Many Muslim scholars, classical and modern, hold that covering the face is not required by the faith, and that the Quran asks for modest behaviour rather than for one fixed garment. Outside the tradition the burqa is sometimes taken as a sign of women's oppression, and some politicians have campaigned to ban it.

Questions people ask about Burqa

See also

Traditional tattooingThe ancient custom of marking the skin for protection, healing, status and sacred ritesTurbanCloth wound around the head, worn for faith, rank, shade and identityNiqabA face veil worn by some Muslim women, hiding all but the eyesKurtaA loose collarless tunic from South Asia, worn plain or embroidered over pyjamas or jeans

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• Chad police: Anyone wearing face veils will be arrestedAl Jazeera, Article
• Denmark passes ban on niqabs and burkasBBC, Article
• Chad police: Anyone wearing face veils will be arrestedAl Jazeera, Article
• Denmark passes ban on niqabs and burkasBBC, Article

• Burqa on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.