Editing Burqa (section)

==Face veiling in Islam==
[[File:Burqa clad Pashtun & Qizilbash women, Kabul, 1840.jpg|thumb|A painting of burqa-clad Afghan women in [[Kabul]], 1840]]
Despite legal requirements and prevalence in certain regions, many modern Islamic scholars<ref name=campo>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Islam|title=Burqa|editor=Juan Eduardo Campo|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2009|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZbyz_Hr-eIC&pg=PA119|isbn=9781438126968|access-date=27 December 2018|archive-date=7 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207071712/https://books.google.com/books?id=OZbyz_Hr-eIC&pg=PA119|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=qaradawi>{{cite web|last1=al-Qaraḍāwī|first1=Yūsuf|title=Is Wearing the Niqāb Obligatory for Women?|url=http://suhaibwebb.com/ummah/women/hijab-niqab/is-wearing-the-niqab-obligatory-for-women-part-1-of-2-by-yusuf-al-qara%E1%B8%8Dawi-translated-by-u-%CA%BFabdullah|website=SuhaibWebb.com|access-date=16 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709012848/http://www.suhaibwebb.com/ummah/women/hijab-niqab/is-wearing-the-niqab-obligatory-for-women-part-1-of-2-by-yusuf-al-qara%E1%B8%8Dawi-translated-by-u-%CA%BFabdullah|archive-date=9 July 2014}}</ref> and most contemporary Islamic jurists<ref name=mubarak>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Burqa|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor=John L. Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|author=Hadia Mubarak}}</ref> have said that Islam does not require women to cover their faces.

=== Scriptural sources ===

Although the Quran commands both men and women to behave modestly and contains no precise prescription for how women should dress, certain Quranic verses have been used in exegetical discussions of face veiling. 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:<ref name=mubarak/><ref name=siddiqui>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Siddiqui, Mona | year= 2006 | title=Veil |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān|editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|publisher=Brill| doi= 10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQCOM_00103 }}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Tell the believing women to lower their eyes, guard their private parts ({{transliteration|ar|furuj}}), and not display their charms ({{transliteration|ar|zina}}) except what is apparent outwardly, and cover their bosoms with their veils ({{transliteration|ar|khumur}}, sing. {{transliteration|ar|khimar}}) and not to show their finery except to their husbands or their fathers or fathers-in-law [...]}}

The verse goes on to list a number of other types of exempted males. Classical Quranic commentators differed in their interpretation of the phrase "except what is apparent outwardly". Some said that it referred to face and hands, implying that these body parts need not be covered, while others disagreed.<ref name=mubarak/><ref name=siddiqui/>

Another passage, known as the "mantle verse" (33:59), has been interpreted as establishing women's security as a rationale for veiling:<ref name=siddiqui/>

{{Blockquote|O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters, and the women of the faithful, to draw their wraps ({{transliteration|ar|jalabib}}, sing. {{transliteration|ar|jilbab}}) over them. They will thus be recognized and no harm will come to them. God is forgiving and kind.}}

Based on the context of the verse and early Islamic literature, this verse has been generally understood as establishing a way to protect the Muslim women from a hostile faction who had molested them on the streets of Medina, claiming that they confused them with slave girls.<ref name=siddiqui/><ref name=amer26-28>{{Cite book|first=Sahar |last=Amer | year=2014 | title=What Is Veiling? |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press (Kindle edition)|pages=26–28}}</ref>

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. <ref>{{cite web |url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari:146 |title=Sahih al-Bukhari 146 - Ablutions (Wudu) |access-date=16 July 2024 }}</ref>

The exact nature of garments referred to in these verses, {{transliteration|ar|khimar}} and {{transliteration|ar|jilbab}}, has been debated by traditional and modern scholars.<ref name=siddiqui/><ref name=amer26-28/>

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).<ref name=mubarak/> 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.<ref name=qaradawi/>

===Classical jurisprudence===

When veiling was discussed in early [[Fiqh|Islamic jurisprudence]] beyond the context of [[Salah|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 {{transliteration|ar|[[Intimate parts in Islam|awra]]}} (intimate parts) and the question of whether women should cover their faces.<ref name=bucar54>{{Cite book|first=Elizabeth|last=Bucar| year=2013 | title=The Islamic Veil: A Beginner's Guide |publisher=[[Oneworld Publications]] (Kindle edition)|pages=54–55}}</ref> 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 {{transliteration|ar|awra}} (parts that shouldn't be shown), concluding that it should be veiled, except for the eyes.<ref name=siddiqui/><ref name=bucar54/> The Hanbali jurist [[Ibn Taymiyyah]] (d. 1328 CE) was an influential proponent of the latter view, while the Hanafi scholar [[Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani]] (d. 1197 CE) stressed that it was particularly important for a woman to leave her face and hands uncovered during everyday business dealing with men. There was a difference of opinion on this question within the legal schools.<ref name=bucar54/> Thus, [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]] quotes Shafi'i and Hanbali jurists stating that covering the face is not obligatory.<ref name=qaradawi/>

In the [[Ja'fari|Shi'a Ja'fari]] school of {{transliteration|ar|fiqh}}, covering the face is not obligatory.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.al-islam.org/modestdress/ |title= The Islamic Modest Dress |date= 7 March 2008 |publisher = Mutahhari |access-date = 2 June 2008 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080615234312/http://www.al-islam.org/modestdress/ |archive-date = 15 June 2008}}</ref>

===Salafi views===
[[File:Burqa seller in Afghanistan.jpg|thumb|''Chadaree'' in Afghanistan]]
According to the Salafi point of view, it is obligatory ({{transliteration|ar|fard}}) for a woman to cover her entire body when in public or in presence of non-mahram (i.e men who aren't their husbands and intermediate family) men.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} Some interpretations say that a veil is not compulsory in front of blind men.<ref>''Queer Spiritual Spaces: Sexuality and Sacred Places'', p. 89, Kath Browne, Sally Munt, Andrew K. T. Yip - 2010</ref>

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]]. His opponents within the Saudi establishment ensured that his contract with the university was allowed to lapse without renewal.<ref name=glo66>Meijer, ''Global Salafism'', pg. 66.</ref>

===Reasons for wearing===
Reasons for wearing a burqa vary. A woman may choose to wear it to express her piety, modesty, political views, and cultural views among other reasons. A woman may also wear a burqa on being required to do so by law, such as in the case of [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan|Afghanistan during the first period of Taliban rule]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=May 7, 2022 |title=Afghanistan's Taliban order women to cover up head to toe |no-pp=y |work=[[AP News]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-49b17d77d03022ad4817eeecf4f5da93 |access-date=May 7, 2022}}</ref>