Anyone who puts on niqab instead of a burka would be recognisable because no-one- or hardly anyone- else did. Equally they would perceived as innovative and wicked because to certain ways of thinking innovation and wickedness are synonymous; unless it’s a new improved weapon, of course.

Incineration and stoning? Put down your crack pipe, Dom. Put down the Sun, or whatever tabloid rag you’re high on. The better question is why are non-Muslim males so obsessed with Muslim womans clothing? Sounds like a mental disorder amongst ignorant pervs.

For whatever it’s worth, the materials choices for niqab/khimar/abaya sets and afghan-style burqa/chadri/chador (or whatever it’s being called these days) are about the same, some better and some worse. Since neither niqab nor burqa are worn without full undergarments, and burqas are open to the front, both are just as easy to flip back away from the face when appropriate without exposing the body. In short, there has been no mass adoption of the niqab simply because there is no need — it does not have any greater level of practicality than any open-style abaya, and on an aesthetic level personally I would prefer the fine embroidery and lighter colors traditional to the Afghan style than what is more typically seen of niqab. Were I living where the garment was a normative option I’d be hard pressed to want to trade it in on your suggestion myself — each have advantages and disadvantages, but neither is by nature a nightmare or reprieve in comparison to the other.