the origins, historical development, and political strategies of the Jama’at-i-
Islami of Pakistan. He looks at the tension between the movement’s idealized
understanding of the nation as a holy community founded on Islamic law and
its political agenda of socio-economic transformation for Pakistani society.
Tariq Modood has focused largely on the study of Asian Muslims in Britain,
the politics of being Muslim in Europe and the West, and the relation of these
issues to the theory and politics of secular multiculturalism (e.g. Modood
et al. 2005). Javaid Saeed (1994) makes an important comparative study of
Islam and modernization across three countries, Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey.
Comparative studies across two or more Muslim societies (sometimes
Pakistan and Bangladesh) emerge in the work of these and other scholars, either
for historical or religious reasons. Samad (1996a, 1996b, 1998) has worked
on issues related to Islam and nationalism in Pakistan as well as Islamic
identity among Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in the diaspora. Jawed (1999) has
examined the political dimensions of Islam in pre-divided Pakistan. He studied
two influential social groups, the ulamaand modern professionals, as well as
the writings of Muslim intellectuals in order to uncover the major Islamic
positions on critical issues concerning national identity, the purpose of the state
and the form of government. Clearly, Islam’s relationship with the state and
with politics and the law is of central importance in all of these studies (see
also I. Ahmed 1987; Bindra 1990; Jalalzai 1993; Mehdi 1994).Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal^3Nepal offers a considerable degree of writing on Hinduism and Buddhism,
especially within anthropology. For the most part, this scholarship has emerged
from the West and has been dominated by Western ways of understanding South
Asian culture and society. Nepal has often been placed together with India,
especially in discussions on caste and Hinduism. Buddhism too has been
studied, though Islam, Christianity and other religions have by and large been
disregarded. As in most of South Asia, there are no courses on religious studies
per se in Nepal, though the Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu offers a
postgraduate level course in Buddhist Studies. Most of the literature on religion
from the region has come from scholars of diverse backgrounds.
Such studies include ethnographies and histories of both Buddhism and
Hinduism and analyses of ritual patterns and divine hierarchies (Pal and
Bhattacharyya 1969; Nepali 1965; Pradhan 1986; P. R. Sharma 1978; Vaidya
1986; Regmi 1989). Contributions to Nepali Studies, published from Tribhuvan
University since 1973, has offered a space to writers on religion, among other
themes. At the present time, while the universities contribute to some of the
research, several persons are writing in their capacity as individual scholars or
affiliates of research institutes and organizations. Some important scholars138
ROWENA ROBINSON AND VINEETA SINHA