It should however be remembered that a lot of the people clamoring for these bans want them to extend not only to burqas but to niqabs and in some cases even hijabs as well, banning which would be not only clearly anti-Muslim but also arguably anti-feminist.
The problem is that the hijab and the niqab are essentially 'cultural' dress, not religious. There is no requirement in Islam to wear them.
Indeed. The Koran simply states "
Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them..." (33:59), which can be (and is) interpreted broadly, though most of the Islamic scholars agree that a woman's hair should be covered. It should be noted on the side that women covering their hairs is not an exclusively Muslim nor Middle Eastern thing.
So yes, there is no religious requirement whatsoever to cover the face, making it more of a "cultural", or more "ideological", thing. We all know not all Arab women cover their faces (far from it). Also, Berber women doesn't cover their faces (interestingly, Tuareg men cover their face to "wards off evil spirits").
Btw, I can't find a source, but I remember reading a while ago quite an interesting piece about about hijabs, niqabs and burqas history. Many of variants you currently see, especially those endorsed by most "fundamentalist" elements, have very little to do with a traditional Muslim or Arab clothing. I'll try to locate that piece.
