Burqa facts for kids

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.

Images for kids

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  Women wearing traditional Afghan burqas in Afghanistan

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  Pre-Islamic relief showing veiled Middle Eastern women, Temple of Baal, Palmyra, Syria, 1st century CE.

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  Coptic Orthodox Christian woman wearing a garment with a headcovering (1918)

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  Chadaree in Afghanistan.

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  Local Afghan women wearing burqas on a street in 2009

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  Women wearing burqas of different colors Afghanistan in 1975

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  A member of the Haredi burqa sect in Meah Shearim, Israel

See also

In Spanish: Burka para niños