Pardah.
It is a voluntary act that comes from within the heart. The literal meaning is 'curtain'. There a many ways to curtain oneself off from others.
Some of them are as follows:
'Aawaaz ka pardah'- veiling of the voice. A person may not speak unnecessarily in presence of the other gender. A woman should not sing in their presence of a male. A man may become infatuated with the voice of a singing woman.
'Badan ka pardah '- veiling of the body. Cover oneself completely so as to not show the face or hands or feet in addition to Satar.
Satar is an obligation for every Muslim in the world. It is the minimum required coverage of the body. A woman must cover her body up to the wrists and ankles and only the hands and feet and the face may be visible. The clothing may not be tight fitting or see through.
The hair is considered to be nakedness. This may be because it is one of the things that beautifies a woman. A man has different Satar from a woman's . He must cover everything from the belly button up to the knees.
"And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their khimār over their breasts and not display their beauty except to their husband, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments." (Quran 24:31)
The people to whom a woman may display her beauty to are called 'Mehram '. They are listed in the above Quranic verse.
These are the basic teachings a girl learns even earlier than a boy does.
With the various evils prevalent in this society of ours, We, the women of Islam commit to concealing ourselves so as to hide from the gazes of Men. It is our belief and a part of our faith.
Our clothes are meant to show our dignity. We hope you respect us the same way we respect you.