Egyptian women walk down the street in Cairo, Egypt on Oct. 29. In its broadest sense, the “Islamic veil” refers to a large variety of coverings, the most widely worn is the head scarf. Covering hair and neck, it can be black and simple, or colorful and sweeping, as in Cairo, where scarves are tightly wound around women’s heads and then cascade luxuriously to their waists. Amr Nabil/AP
Moroccan Faiza Silmi walks down a street in Le Mesnil-Saint-Denis, France, on Jan. 12. A controversial French parliament report on the burqa issued in Paris on Jan. 26 recommends outlawing the full-length Muslim veil in public or state venues like buses, hospitals, and schools – though it also condemns what it calls 'Islamophobia.' Silmi has taken her case to the European Court of Human Rights, but her fate could be decided before her case is heard if France passes the law banning burqas. France is home to an estimated 5 million Muslims, the largest population in western Europe. Christophe Ena/AP
An Iranian woman adjusts her veil before the start of the Eid-al-Fitr prayers outside a mosque in Tehran, Iran. Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Newscom/FILE
This combination photo created from AFP images shows different head coverings for Muslim women. Clockwise, a Hijab, a Niqab, a Tchador, and a Burqa are shown. AFP/Newscom/FILE
Students interact on the college campus of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, India. Mary Knox Merrill/Staff
Jordanian soccer player Shehnad Gabriel (2nd r.) kicks the ball during a game against the Palestinian national team in the West Bank town Aram in October. The match was the first women's soccer game to be played in the Aram stadium. Tara Todras-Whitehill/AP/FILE
Germany's Stefanie Sommerfeld examines Burqas coming from Afghanistan and set up as an art installation called 'Disparation,' or disappearance, by French artists Jean Pierre Giovanelli in a Nice, France gallery. Lionel Cironneau/AP
Kashmiri Shiite Muslim women pray during Muharram in Khanda, west of Srinagar, Kashmir in December. Danish Ismail/Reuters
Students compete in an 800 meter race during a week-long women's sports event in Sanaa, Yemen, in March. The event features women taking part in activities such as volleyball, boxing, and horse riding, among others. Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
A Jordanian woman is seen in Amman in September. Mohammad abu Ghosh/AP/FILE
US Marine Sgt. Monica Perez (l.) helps Lance Cpl. Mary Shloss put on her head scarf before heading out on a patrol in Khwaja Jamal in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Perez and Shloss are members of the Female Engagement Team, whos mission is to engage with local Afghan women. Julie Jacobson/AP
Sama Wareh walks along the sand dressed in swimwear designed for Muslim women in Newport Beach, Calif. Chris Carlson/AP/FILE
A burqa-clad woman walks past a billboard in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August. Mohammad Kherikhah/UPI/Newscom/FILE
Two women, one wearing a niqab, a conservative Muslim garment that only exposes a woman's eyes, walk side by side in Marseille, France, in June. Claude Paris/AP
A Muslim woman walks in Duomo square in Milan, Italy, in October. Italy's anti-immigration Northern League party is pushing for legislation regulating women's burqas and veils. Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters
An Afghan woman (c.) wears an Afghan flag as a head scarf during a gathering held by the Afghanistan Women Council to discuss presidential candidates ahead of the presidential election in August. Musadeq Sadeq/AP/FILE
Danish politician Asmaa Abdol Hamidis wears a headscarf in this 2007 file photo. Hamidis was the first Muslim woman to wear a headscarf of hijab in the Danish Parliament. Francis Dean/Dean Pictures/Newscom/FILE
An Islamic sharia policeman (r.) gives advice to Acehnese girls during a street inspection in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Women may soon be banned from wearing tight trousers in parts of an Indonesian province that practices strict Islamic law, and offenders could see their attire cut up. Aceh is the only province in predominately Muslim Indonesia to use Islamic Sharia for its legal code. Beawiharta/Reuters
Husna Haq, a Boston University graduate student and Monitor intern, chose to wear hijab in ninth grade. Born and raised in the United States, she says that she has many more positive encounters over the veil than discouraging ones. Mary Knox Merrill/Staff
A Palestinian woman appears in Court led by Hamas in Gaza City in July. A top Gaza judge has ordered female lawyers to wear Muslim headscarves when appearing in court. Ahmad Khateib/Newscom/FILE
Sri Lankan Muslim women walk across a field as they go to vote in the presidential elections in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Jan. 26. Eranga Jayawardena/AP
Veiled Muslim women send off relatives who are leaving Ahmedabad, India, for Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the annual Haj pilgrimage in November. Amit Dave/Reuters
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