Muscat, Oman
Muscat is the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman. We visited the second largest mosque in the world, Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque (the only mosque in Oman open to non-Muslims). The Persian prayer carpet which covers the floor of the prayer hall contains 1,700,000,000 knots, weighs 21 tonnes and took 600 women four years to produce. The exquisite chandelier has 600,000 Swarovski crystals, and is accompanied by 16 additional chandeliers. Take a virtual tour here.
Oman’s wealth has historically been due to oil of course, but its future (like other places in the moderate Middle East) lies in tourism. Sultan Qaboos (“cah-bus”) is beloved for bringing opportunity and prosperity to its citizens after a long rule by his dictatorial father. He is currently battling cancer, and when he returns from Germany for treatments, his loyal citizens (who can find out now via social media) celebrate, eat camel, and dance into the night. Since the conflict in Yemen began in 2015, Oman has mediated the rescue of many foreign nationals who have been unable to leave Yemen.
Our guide was proud to share many things about being Muslim with us, including the many texts of the Quran in the mosque. He demonstrated the ablution - the lengthy cleansing or purification ritual before prayer - and shared that if he had an impure thought about a woman between the ablution and entering the mosque, the entire process would need to be repeated. The main hall of the Grand Mosque is for men only of course, as "the women would not want to be among all of the men bending over praying". Their hall is much smaller with minimal decoration...
Mesmerizing morning:
I inadvertently woke up early just in time to view our entrance into the port of Muscat - a quiet, beautiful introduction to a magical land.
