Why do Muslim women wear a burqa?

Question

What is the meaning behind it? Do men wear something similar to cover up too?

Answer 1

Muslim scholars agree about the necessity of wearing the hijab (head-covering veil) but disagree about the need to wear the burqa (face-covering veil). So some muslims believe it is actually required for muslim women to wear the burqa but they are a tiny percentage of muslims.

For both the hijab and the burqa, the idea is modesty - that is, a woman is not supposed to use her looks to attract attention or to get what she wants (by charming or impressing men). She has to live in such a way that her looks do not matter. She doesn't have to wear the hijab or burqa when at home or when with a group of women. Many muslim women who do not wear the hijab or burqa are also modest about their looks in that they do not wear clothes that make them look sexy.

A muslim woman is supposed to enjoy her sexuality and display her physical assets only to her husband - directing her sexual power at one person and not everybody around her.

It is important to note that there is a "social" non-religious hijab and burqa. That is, in socially conservative (very traditional) communities, the women have to cover up because of the social decorum and not because of religion. Many veiled women do not practice Islam (i.e. do not pray and fast.. etc.) and are not interested in Islamic law but wear the hijab or burqa because of the social pressure and expectations (if they unveil they would be considered promiscuous).

A note about the issue of rape: yes, in countries where women cover up there are cases of rape (and many go unreported) but the rape cases are FAR far less in number than in Western countries. I, for one, am not even half as scared walking alone at night in a Muslim country as I am in, say, Canada - the chances that I could get assaulted over there are considerably less. People over there tell you that dressing scantily is what primarily (although not solely) motivates men to rape women. So, in that sense, by dressing modestly you are protecting yourself - it works in Muslim countries, at least.

Answer 2

Some Muslim woman say that the feel "safe" inside the burqa. If the man can't see you, he won't molest you, harass you, etc. I suppose. I grew up in the 1950's and I remember that a woman could not walk past any construction site without whistles and calls from the men. Women felt somewhere between frightened/threatened and uncomfortable. I suppose in Muslim countries, where gender "correctness" is not observed, the women WOULD feel safer hidden underneath clothing. I do not know if these comments about feeling safer are a rationalization or not, but I suppose it could indeed be so. And if the woman feels "safe" hidden away inside cloth, I suppose her man feels safe about other men not chasing after her or stealing her away too. I doubt if the burqa is work so that men will fall in love with the personality. The Middle Eastern men I know don't seem to care much about a woman's personality. This is consistent which a man's attitude towards women, in societies where women are oppressed. Women are useful for s*x, children, and keeping the home.

Answer 3

not all muslim women wear burqah, which is covering the whole head and only the eyes can be seen, and some even have thin screens to cover the eyes.Most opt for the hijab or big scarf to cover the hair and neck and the face is seen, which is one of the commandment of God (swt) that muslim women should follow.
I have not read this anywhere but i think the reason for the covering is practical, for the physiological built of a woman is that they suffer many inconveniences caused by exposure to the UV rays of the sun, the harsh climate of the sand and wind against their skin which all lead to premature aging, wrinkles,sagging, skin cancer etc and this are factors that can unfavorably affect a woman's beauty.
With men, the african desert tribes of the tuaregs men have more coverings than the females.

Answer 4

Hi. There are some weird answers on here, since I'm actually an educated Muslim you might want to take this answer seriously :)

This is an awesome link for the reasons behind why Muslim women cover by God's command:

http://www.islamworld.net/hijabvirtue.html

by the way, men are also required to have modesty in Islam and lower their gaze towards women and not treat women badly or oppress them. In terms of covering men have no article of clothing in particular but are required to cover AT LEAST from their naval to their knees.

Hope this helps :)

xoxo

Answer 5

Not all muslim women wear a burqa. It is common for women in many muslim nations to wear only a head scarf. You see this particularly in Lebanon, Turkey, and in a number of African nations.

Modesty is the principle behind it.

Answer 6

In some cases it is by their choice, but in cases like Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, it was imposed upon them and became their prison.

I visited Egypt last year, and my guide, a woman, had her head covered but she told me that wearing a burqa is NOT mandated by the Koran.

Personally I think it is wrong to say "it is so a man won't lust after a woman," as some answerers seem to think. The lust in a man's heart is HIS problem. Shouldn't men who presumably believe in God be able to control their lust in better ways than to put a woman under a piece of fabric that inhibits their vision, hearing, and walking?? (Try it sometime, ladies. Try a trip to the mall or the playground with your kids).

And the rape argument is wrong, as well. Rape is rarely a crime of sex and lust, it is a crime of power.

Rapes DO occur in countries where the burqa is worn. Anyone who says otherwise simply has their head buried in the sand or is lying. They are just not reported nor do they often go to trial, as they do in the west.

Sorry I soap-boxed. But I think a lot of women in the world who don't have the power to speak for themselves, need the women who can to speak out.

Answer 7

coming from a muslim female, I must say that erverything in religion is a choice hence free will........It does say in our holy book to cover up to protect the women. I strongly agree with that for the protection. We produce babies , so we are a regarded in a high manner and need more protection than men first off and for the people who don't admit this have their head in the sand. The other person didn't claim that their is ZERO rape in muslim countries , but the reported # are so low that anyone with common sense knows that it's because women cover up. ....And for the comment about rape isn't about lust??? ARE U SERIOUS?????? I don't care how you want to word it or link it to something else, but When you talk about power maybe with murderers and rapists are the ones to blame for succumbing to their animal instints. Another point I want to make is before I covered up, I would spend coutless hours on hair , makeup and other things that I would need to make myself presentable only to MYSELF, but I was still a slave of all the cosmetic crap , fashion etc.....I'm not saying it's not fun, sure but when you put on what you might think is oppresive, you couldn't be so far from the truth. I don't have to worry about some guy staring at me anymore , spending $ at Mac, getting into the lastest fashion and funny part is that when you take yourself out of that world, Its amazing the sense of FREEDOM you feel....... The media tells us what we should be into from advetising celebs lives and drama which get you hooked causing you to a- idolize them and b- buy their 4 dollar people magazine......this same example is given for a lot more....When I cover up I'm not into myself eithier in fact , I feel better about my body after than before and being so caught up with every ounce of fat and basically in a nut shell, you're not so vain, ur priorities change and many more benfits. The people who say its oppression have no room to speak when they haven't even wore the whole hijab. In every command og god's, their is great wisdom behind it ...........

Answer 8

Jesus said that if a man looks upon a woman with LUST he has committed adultery with her.

It takes two to tango...........you cannot put full blame on the men and you cannot put full blame on the women either.

Men are commanded to lower their gaze in the presence of Women out of respect and women are told to cover themselves when they go into public areas.

Women spend much more time in the homes as compared to men so in this instance the women are making the greater sacrifice to preserve the stability in society.

In Islam the mother is called the Pillar of society, take her out of the home and society will collapse...... Guaranteed.

When women spend most of their time raising children to be future leaders and creating homes full of love and stability then society prospers.

If women spend more time outside the house then the evils of adultery, fornication, misguided children, drug abuse etc will plague a society and breakdown the family unit.

Islam has the solution to the ROOT of the dangers.

Muslim women are commanded in the Quran to cover themselves when the leave the protection of the home enviornment. Men are commanded to lower their gaze in the presence of women out of respect.

In Islam this is not considered a way of subjugating women…………Covering the Body with cloth is a way Women are empowering themselves to control what MEN are allowed to look at.

Most women don’t want men gawking at them like a piece of meat and most men in an immoral society DO NOT LIKE women covering up their eye candy !


My two cents from a Muslim
.

Answer 9

Not all women wear a Burqa.I dont and I dont think I could handle it.I do wear the scarf or Hijab as we call it.Modesty is required of Believing women.I dont think that it has to be so extreme but just modest clothing .When I was younger I didnt wear it and I used to get sexual harassment all of the time.As soon as I started wearing hijab it all stopped.Men seem to respect women more when they are covered up.

Answer 10

It is considered a sign of modesty to cover your hair (Obligatory) and cover your face (a plus).

How many times have you heard of women being raped by men??
How many times have you heard of men being raped by women??

Compare the two percentages and you will know why women have to cover up more than men.

Even Muslim men have to dress modestly by not wearing tight clothes.

Also, compare the rape percentages between Islamic countries who dress modestly and other countries.

If a woman chooses to not cover up her hair or face, it is her choice. She will not be stoned to death as some claimed here. Stoning to death is the punishment for adultery for married men/women under strict conditions.