Answer:

The purdah is the name of a special dress which prevails in certain Muslim countries. It is one of those types of dressing that fulfill the requirements of Islamic dressing.

In some other Muslim countries or areas, the purdah is not known, but Muslim women there use other different types of dressing which also fulfill the requirements outlined by Islam.

What is important is that every Muslim woman should always appear before any man who is neither her husband nor a relative to whom she may not be married without exposing vital parts of her body.

She has to wear something which meets the requirements of Islam of not flaunting her body especially the sensitive part of the body. Her face and the lower part of her hands [arms], i.e. below the wrists and the feet are allowed.

Her dress must be modest, somewhat loose so as not to describe the shape of her body. It is also important that her dress must not be transparent or eye catching.

It should not be an imitation of the dress distinctive of non-believing women. Anything that meets these requirements is appropriate.

Again, a woman in purdah is confined to the house and can only be seen without her purdah dress by her husband; her father; her brother, paternal and maternal uncles, nephews, her father-in-law, and men who have the same sort of relationship with her through breast-feeding.