You know what's funny? A lot of local women won't mind if their face is being exposed to a non-qatari male but if a Qatari male is around they need to cover up. In one restaurant I entered as soon as I walked into the place a woman eating a meal with her husband quickly turned her face to the side, however she was ok with all the other Indian waiters in the restaurant seeing her without the veil! LOL! It just shows that even for some it is more to do with tradition/culture rather than religion.