Abstract
In a world that is increasingly hostile towards religious minorities, this paper tries to set a modern-day, successful example of multi-religious coexistence and interfaith dialogue. The paper examines historical examples derived from Omani history and explores Omani characteristics by surveying Western reports written by missionaries, visitors, and travellers of different religions in Oman. This is meant to demonstrate the hypothesis that the multi-religious coexistence and interfaith dialogue enjoyed today by the nearly fourmillion Omani population is a natural result of a long history of commitment to ‘Omani values’ and principles, practised by Oman’s Ibāḍī population with their fellow nonMuslims. The paper concludes that there is a strong correlation between the ‘Omani values’ recorded by the Western writers and the ongoing deeply rooted Omani experience of peaceful religious coexistence and interfaith dialogue. These ‘Omani values’ include the principles of tolerance, social justice, mutual respect, friendliness, hospitality, and simplicity. Finally, owing to the increasingly rising tensions between adherents of different religions, the paper recommends that such successful Omani experiences should be exported to other countries in the Muslim world and elsewhere.
Highlights
The multi-religious peaceful coexistence that Oman’s diverse population enjoys nowadays comes as no surprise
There is an ample evidence to confirm the Omani experience of religious tolerance, which has inevitably resulted in mutual understanding and unprecedented coexistence and dialogue seen across the country
It is argued through this paper that these established principles are the basis for what Oman has experienced of tolerance, coexistence, and dialogue
Summary
The multi-religious peaceful coexistence that Oman’s diverse population enjoys nowadays comes as no surprise. The culture of welcoming acceptance, and interfaith dialogue is deeply rooted in the country’s long history and it has become an inherent part of the nature of the indigenous people of Oman, as observed by some the Western explorers.1 This has made it very easy for the present-day Omanis to firmly hold on to the country’s doctrines of tolerance, coexistence, and non-violence. Bearing in mind that there was no pressure from the newly emerging Muslim state, as the distance between the two political entities is vast This led the Prophet Muḥammad (SAW) himself to be a witness of their accepting and welcoming nature to converse and engage in dialogue with the followers of the other religions. The paper starts by defining both ‘coexistence’ and ‘dialogue’ as keywords for the research, with justifications for the writer’s choice in this respect
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