Burqa not of Islam

While the burqa is often associated with the Islamic faith, its history actually predates Islam by thousands of years. The earliest known instance of women veiling their faces is found in the Assyrian empire, which dates back to 5000 BC. Assyrian legal writings preserved on engraved stone tablets detail the first laws concerning the concealment of women's faces.

Other cultures favoured the veil for upper class women; The Byzantine Christian women of Persia, the Rajput women in India and many in classical Greek society. Many Hindu women who practice Purdah today still cover their faces with the end of their Sari when in public.

Face veiling was a custom adopted by Islam, not organic to it. For the first 100 years of Islam, Muslim women did not veil their faces. The Islamic holy book is the Qu’ran. From this book, all Muslims derive their faith. The Qu’ran makes three references to dress and asks both men and women to be modest in their appearance. The Qu'ran asks women to cover their hair in a similar way to that of Jewish and early Christian women and the Roman Catholic Nuns of Today. There is no specific reference to covering the face in the Holy book, this is for the most part a modern interpretation by a sect of Islam called Wahabism. 

Wahhabi Islam, the primary religious movement behind extremist Islam, includes beliefs and doctrines not found elsewhere. Adherents of Wahhabi Islam do not regard it as simply one school of thought out of many; rather it is the only path of true Islam — nothing else counts. The majority of the world's Muslims , over 85% are Sunni, Shia or Sufi and do not subscribe to these views.

REFERENCES
http://atheism.about.com/od/islamicsects/a/wahhabi.htm
http://middleeasternaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_burqa_controversy
http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/fashion_costume_culture/The-Ancient-World-Mesopotamia/Veils.html