Burqa

Women with a burqa and a child, in Afghanistan

A woman with a burqa, with man and child, in Northern Afghanistan

A Burqa is a piece of clothing. It is worn by Muslim women. They can wear it as an outer garment. It only leaves a semi-transparent mesh in front of the woman's eyes, so she can see. The rest of the body is covered by it.

Other garments for Muslim women that cover less of their body are the hijab and the niqab. People often call the hijab and the niqab 'burqa' because they do not know the right word for those garments.

In Islamic texts

The Quran does not say that women need to cover their faces with a veil, or cover their bodies with the full-body burqa.

Burqas around the world

In France, Italy, and the Netherlands wearing a burqa in public is illegal.