The Sultanate of Oman
The Sultanate of Oman, easily accessible from Dubai, is situated in the northeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. A little smaller than the United Kingdom, its major products and industries include petroleum, dates, citrus and tropical fruit, incense, mineral oil, fisheries, and tourism. Sultan Qaboos bin Said has ruled the country with a stable government for the past 35 years. In this time Oman has built up a modern infrastructure and is trying to enlarge its economy. Its five largest cities are Muscat, Salalah, Sohar, Nizwa and Sur.
Muscat (population: 514,000)
Muscat is the capital of Oman. Omanis from all over the country come here for study, government services, economic reasons, and medical treatment. A large percentage of the population is foreigners (engineers, specialists, university teachers, skilled workers), since it has only begun building up a university system in the last 30 years.
Salalah (population: 186,000)
Salalah is situated about 1,000 km southwest of Muscat - about 11 hours by bus through barren wastes. Salalah, the only area in Oman where the monsoon rain falls, is fruitful. At its greenest time in the autumn, thousands of visitors come for the Khareef festival. Because of its connection with the Sultanate of Zanzibar, off Tanzania, many Omanis in Salalah are Swahili-speaking. There are several Christian denominations in this city.
Sohar (population: 135,000)
Sohar is said to be the home of Sindbad, the famous Omani seafaring hero. It is considered a conservative city with a traditional lifestyle. Many of the older generation have not received any schooling.
Nizwa (population: 85,000)
Nizwa is situated about 85 km west of Muscat in the mountains. For centuries, the city has been famous as a center for handicrafts, craftsmen, and the arts. However, it is also a center for superstition and the occult. Silver amulets manufactured in Nizwa are worn in many parts of the Arab world.
Sur (population: 75,000)
Sur is the least evangelized Omani city, situated in the eastern point of Oman. Historically it is known for its famous shipyards, where ships are still being built and repaired. The famous Omani dhows sailed as far as China. The population is very conservative.
Flag of Oman
Map of Oman
Prayer guide for Oman:
* In Oman, 75% of the population follows Ibadi Islam, which is generally considered heretical by Sunnis. Ibadis believe that they are the "true" Muslims, making them even more resistant to Christianity. Pray that God may bring breakthroughs.
* Omanis are friendly and hospitable but restrained. They consider it impolite to discuss religious questions, making it difficult to have deep conversations with them. This may be a result of having been persecuted by Sunnis. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open hearts for conversation.
* There are many Christians among the foreign workers in Oman. Pray that their light will shine (Matt 5:14).
Background on Oman (World Factbook)
The inhabitants of the area of Oman have long prospered on Indian Ocean trade. In the late 18th century, a newly established sultanate in Muscat signed the first in a series of friendship treaties with Britain. Over time, Oman's dependence on British political and military advisors increased, but it never became a British colony. In 1970, QABOOS bin Said al-Said ousted his father and has ruled as sultan ever since. His extensive modernization program has opened the country to the outside world and has preserved a longstanding political and military relationship with the UK. Oman's moderate, independent foreign policy has sought to maintain good relations with all Middle Eastern countries. In February and March 2011, in response to protester demands, QABOOS reshuffled his cabinet, pledged to create more government jobs, and promised to implement economic and political reforms, such as granting legislative and regulatory powers to the Council of Oman.
Economy of Oman
Oman is a middle-income economy in the Middle East with notable oil and gas resources, a substantial trade surplus, and low inflation. Tourism and gas-based industries are key components of the government's diversification strategy. By using enhanced oil recovery techniques, Oman succeeded in increasing oil production, giving the country more time to diversify, and the increase in global oil prices throughout 2010 provides the government greater financial resources to invest in non-oil sectors.
Statistics on Oman
Population: 3,027,959
note: includes 577,293 non-nationals (July 2011 est.) World rank #135Life Expectancy at Birth: 74.22. World rank #104
Ethnic groups: Arab, Baluchi, South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi), African
Religions: Ibadhi Muslim 75%, other (includes Sunni Muslim, Shi'a Muslim, Hindu) 25%
Languages: Arabic (official), English, Baluchi, Urdu, Indian dialects
Literacy: 81.4% -- male: 86.8%, female: 73.5%
School life expectancy: 12 years
Muscat - Capital of Oman - Video
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I've lived in Salalah for 8 years, but have only met the occasional Swahili speaker. So it would be more correct to remove following sentence: "Because of its connection with the Sultanate of Zanzibar, off Tanzania, many Omanis in Salalah are Swahili-speaking."
What would be important to include for Salalah, however, is the following: "Although Arabic is the national language of Oman, the first language of about 70% of those living in the region around Salalah, is Shehri. This ancient language is unrelated to Arabic, and only has a spoken form."
Our LORD Appreciated Christians as per Quranic Verses 3:55,5:82,57:27,28 Except Quranic Verses 5:14,15,16 & 57,9:31. As per Quranic Versus 4:59 and 83, it is our duty to spread the following messages to all concerns towards public peace, security, health and wealth of mankind in the world as per our website http://www.goldenduas.com. The following message ought to have published to all the members of the group so far.As per quranic versus 4:59 and 83 it is a duty tospread the following messages in the interest of public peace, health and wealth. "please download from web site http://WWW.GOLDENDUAS.COM for peace, security, health& wealth for mankind and the same may be published to all members of the group based on quranic verses 2:2,10:57,17:11,16,28:59,39:55,57,13:37&65:8. Otherwise it will amount to refusal to follow our Lord Order, guidance and direction as per Quranic verses 6:26" Please kindly arrange to post the above said message in all the websites/news in the interest of public to know all concerns in the interest of peace, security, health and wealth of all mankind. Otherwise it will amount to refuse to follow our Lord Order, guidance and direction as per Quranic verses 6:26
With kind regards
U.IBRAHIM AL
What about Musandam Peninsula? Nobody evan mention. Is a wonderfull area and people are realy friendy and wellcome.
I'm living in Musandam more than 5 yrs and shihu tribe have them arabic dialect and also we have Kumzari people from Stait of Hormuz. Them dialect is a mixture of 5 languages, spanish,english, farsi, portughese, and arabic.
Hope in the future these NorwAY Of Arabia to be mention on it....
Pray for Oman:
* pray for Omani leaders to come to know Jesus
* for youth to be hungry for jesus
* for Islamic clerics to come to know the Lord
* for Christian forigeners to share the Gospel in a meaningful way
* for Bible translation and distrbution in the Sheheri
* for spritiual pride to be broekn down amongst Omani Muslims
* pray for Omani leaders to come to know Jesus
They know Jesus and believe in him as a mighty prophet. You are not a muslim if u dont believe this!
* for youth to be hungry for jesus
They donot eat humans! They are hungry for the creator of Jesus.
* for Islamic clerics to come to know the Lord
Trust me, no body knows the Lord better then the muslims
* for Christian forigeners to share the Gospel in a meaningful way
The christian foreigners themselves have little faith in the Gospel
* for Bible translation and distrbution in the Sheheri
The SHEHERI speak and read arabic very well
* for spritiual pride to be broekn down amongst Omani Muslims
Are u envious of their spiritual pride, is it because it doesnot exist in most christians?
Well said kiza. May allah always keep you in the best of Iman. Ameen.
Pray for the Arabian peninusla:
* for the stratgetic cities and towns of the land
* for government officals to come to Christ
* for visons, dreams, and revelations of Eisa [Jesus] to Muslims
* for many workers for the Arabian peninusla
* for Bible translation into local Arabic and Swhaili
* for spritiual pride to be broken down among Arabian Muslims
* for Christian guestworkers to know hwo to share the gospel with others
most of the information that is mentioned inthis article isn't true at all
I'm Omani, I know my country very well and I can see that the one who wrote this article wants to fake facts
First, we don't have such thing called (Ibadi Islam)
Ibadiah is a sect of Islam which is not very different of sunnah
there are small differences but we all agree in the basic things ( at least we have one and only one Quran not many like other religons if You see what I mean
Secondly, Sunnah don't consider Ibadiah heretical, this is a lie
if you visit Oman, you will find Sunnah and Ibadiah pray togather
by the way, I'm Sunny
Third, we don't consider it impolite to discuss religious questions, and I always discuss religious matters with Christans but I seem to know more about Christanity than they do
and most of them used to be Christans, and now they are atheists
Some of them converted to Islam after they know what Islam really is
There are many other things that i dislike about this article but I don't have time to write more
Thank u brother! I am Ibadhi and totally agree with u!
As my brother Sultan Al Rushidi said , I'm totally agree with him.
And I really would like Christans to read about islam more and more to find out the way....
Dear Sir,
how are you?i hope you will be fine there.i want to Embrace Islam.i love and i want to spread all over the world.please help me,if you can.regards.
javed,
Salaam Alaykum.
This article is very misleading in that it makes it look like there is an Islamic Orthodoxy (there isn't). This article also makes no mention of the fact that the Ibadhi Madhab, the Shia Madhabi, and the 8 Sunni Madhabi, as well as Sufi Mysticism and Salafi thought, were accepted as legitimate interpretations of Islam by the Amman Message (24 of the world's most prominent Muslim leaders including Shaykh Al Azhar, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, and Ayatollah Muhammad Hussayn Fadlallah signed it in Amman, Jordan). Please do some more research next time.
Christianity is a false religion. Beware. Don"t fall into the trap of Satan. The agents of Satan are in reality the modern day Christians who believe Jesus to be son of God rather than son of man. How stupid! They believe in trinity.They say 1+1+=1 . How absurd! They believe Jesus was crucified for our sins? Can God be so unjust as to punish an innocent person for the sins that he did not commit. If you want to know the real Jesus, look at the shining personality of Muhammad (SAW), the seal and crown of all the prophets.