I am not sure about the origin of the practice of covering the female's face in the Arab world. Was it practiced before the introduction of Islam? and if so, for what purpose? Is it the same purpose it is today or close to it? Or does it come from the Koran?
The covering of the face is essentially a cultural thing, found in the more conservative middle-eastern states. For example, African muslim women often cover their hair, but will rarely cover their face since there's no religious doctrine behind that.
It was pre-Islamic practice in Arabia, carried on more or less by Arab Muslims and introduced into Islam later on. The heda covering is not unique to Islam, and was rather common among Christian and Jewish women as well. To this day, nuns do wear a headcovering, don't they? It's cultural and was integrated into Islam later on more or less. EDIT: I thought you were talking about head-covering, not face-covering, so appologize for the mistake on my part. Face-covering is an ultra-conservative practice in Islam, and is not specifically mentioned as something that women should do. The more fundamentalist societies -- Saudi or under the former Taliban -- required this as a part of a woman's attire in public. IMO, it's semantics that have very little to do with what Islam intended. The vast majority of Muslim women around the world don't wear such a thing, let alone a hijab, which many Muslim women don't wear either.
did it predate Islam? I guess my focus is whether or not this was something misinterprated by ultra-conservatives (if it is somehow referenced in the Koran, which according to you, it isn't), or if it had its origins long before Islam came along.
and was somehow assimilated by some Muslims to be par of Islamic law. fair enough, happens all the time with Christians too
you see this happen with every religion. people adapt the religious doctrine to fit their culture or what satisfies the existing culture the best.
