Nepal is a small country in south east Asia. Nepal is a country whose major population follows Hinduism. More than 80% of the population is Hindu and more than 10% are Buddhist. Around 5% populations follow the Islam religion and the rest are other races. So Islam is the third major religion in Nepal. The Muslims in Nepal are of Kashmir who came to Nepal in the 15th century during the Rana regime. Nepali Muslims speak Nepali, Urdu, Hindi, Maithali, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, and other languages.
The majority of Muslims live in the Terai region and some are in the hilly region. To bring democracy back to Nepal, the Islamic people contributed a lot. Muslims in Nepal aren’t that aware of their Islamic principles due to a lack of the education in Islamic field. Here Muslims get basic education in the field so that they can at least understand the Quran and Islam.
The education provided here can only teach them about Salah (Namaz), Zakat, Fasting, and Hajj. There are not many madrasas in Nepal only a few are there which teach Nepali, English, Science, Geography, Social Science, and Mathematics. These all subjects are similar to the national curriculum and students who read there are allowed to give Nepal board exams too. Regarding laws, there is no such Islamic personal law in Nepal. They are obliged to follow the non-Islamic rule in Nepal according to the constitution of Nepal. Muslims aren’t able to attain missionary activities like opening schools, clinics, libraries, and other facilities, including cash disbursements.
Nepalese Muslims get scholarships from countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Muslim leaders of Nepal say that “The Nepalese Muslims are excluded from sectors like the Constitutional & Legal Sector and Political Sector. Muslims aren’t allowed to work in the national army or administration. Muslims want to serve Nepal positively but due to lack of enough opportunities, they aren’t able to do so”.
Muslim peoples in Nepal are engaged in Farming, industry, technical field, tailoring and business. The major festival of muslim are Eid al-Fitr(Known as Ramjan in Nepal) and Eid al-Adha(also known as Bakar Eid). Major popullation of Muslims are still below an educational level and are under poverty.
-By: Sakshi Agrawal for Land Nepal
