Islamic Revivalism and the Challenges of Political Inclusion in Nepal: Interrogating the Inclusion-Moderation Hypothesis

Abstract

This study examines Islamic revivalism among Nepali Muslims through the lens of the inclusion-moderation hypothesis. Focusing on Islami Sangh Nepal, a Muslim organisation founded in 1985, it asks whether political inclusion in Nepal’s secular democratic order encourages moderation or instead exposes the limits of Islamist participation in a Muslim-minority setting. Given the growing demand for liberal democracy, the paper argues that Islamic activism in Nepal cannot be understood solely as a doctrinal or ideological project. Rather, it is shaped by Nepal’s historical Hindu state formation, the politics of secularism after 2006, minority claims for recognition, and the uneven distribution of political opportunity among ethno-religious communities. Nepal adds an interesting dimension to the topic because it is not usually explored in studies of Islamic activism. Using an interpretive qualitative approach and secondary sources, the study shows that the claims of Islami Sangh, particularly its emphasis on Islamic identity, religious reform, and Muslim political representation, remain constrained by Nepal’s plural religious environment and by majoritarian anxieties over secularism. The Nepali case therefore complicates the inclusion-moderation hypothesis: inclusion may open political space for Muslim organisations, but it does not automatically produce moderation where identity politics, minority insecurity, and competing religious nationalisms structure the political field.